It seems a little peculiar to even suggest the ninth game of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League season should be a must-win situation.
But when you start the campaign at 1-6-0-1 for just three of a possible 16 points 鈥� with two of those losses to Island Division foes the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 鈥� then it鈥檚 fairly safe to do so.
The Victoria Grizzlies are in that exact predicament as the Bulldogs come calling tonight at 7 at The Q Centre.
The Grizzlies can鈥檛 afford to slip much further behind the pack, especially the 2-6-0-0 Bulldogs, whose only two victories came at home over Victoria.
Ask a veteran and he鈥檒l tell you the importance of this game.
鈥淎 goal for any team on the Island is to make sure we have a better record, more wins than losses, against any other team on the Island,鈥� Cole Pickup said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not worrying about Alberni. We know we can beat them. We know where we stand with them.
鈥淥bviously, they got the two wins against us and, yeah, it鈥檚 a tough place to play 鈥� I鈥檒l give them that and they sure come out in front of their fans. We just have to work on getting that first goal in the first period and build on that momentum.鈥�
It鈥檚 a clich茅, but the Grizzlies need to tackle this one shift at a time.
鈥淭he clich茅 quotes are usually the ones that are right,鈥� said Pickup, who has three goals and four assists, behind only Brayden Gelsinger鈥檚 team-high nine points (one goal and eight helpers). 鈥淥ne shift at a time, one game at a time and it comes to one little battle in the corner at a time. We need to win more battles. Those little battles are the ones that win you games.鈥�
Tied for the BCHL basement with the Prince George Spruce Kings (the only team Victoria has defeated in an overtime game), the Grizzlies are 11 points behind Island Division-leading Powell River. Nanaimo is nine points up and Cowichan Valley is seven ahead.
Playing three times in three nights, travelling to Cowichan Valley (4-2-1-1) on Friday before returning home to play host to Surrey (2-6) on Saturday, the locals need at least a pair of wins in this three-game set.
鈥淭he first month is always a tough month with a new team. We鈥檙e obviously not happy where we are, but at the same time we鈥檙e not worried,鈥� said Pickup. 鈥淲e know what type of team we have. I think it鈥檚 just a matter of time before we find what the word is that defines our team.
鈥淚n previous years we were that skilled, hard-working team. I think we do have the skill and we just need that hard-work ethic going.
鈥淭he players are sticking together, that鈥檚 the big key,鈥� added Pickup. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 think about where we want to be a month from now. We need to think where we need to be by the weekend or even at 10 o鈥檆lock Thursday night.鈥�
They鈥檒l have to do it tonight without injured defencemen Brett Stirling, Jake Stevens and Drayson Pears, which makes the task that much tougher.
The Grizzlies also need a scoring spree, currently recording just 15 goals in eight games.
鈥淎 couple of division rivals, we need to get the points and get back on track to start climbing the division,鈥� said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon. 鈥淐ertainly you don鈥檛 want to get too far down the standings. We need to start with the two points on Thursday and carry on from there.鈥�
