Having won five of the first seven clashes against the Powell River Kings, the Victoria Grizzlies go into Sunday afternoon鈥檚 matchup against the visitors at The Q Centre with confidence.
But even while on a 10-game undefeated streak, the Grizzlies know better than to overlook the Kings, who enter the game with just two wins, seven losses and two ties in their last 11 games (prior to Saturday night鈥檚 game in Nanaimo).
鈥淲e respect them as a hockey club and we know they鈥檙e going to be prepared,鈥� Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon said ahead of Sunday's 1 p.m. puck drop. 鈥淲e have to be us and play our way and make them adapt to our game.
鈥淵ou can never take them lightly, they鈥檙e a good hockey club. Every team goes through different stages at different times,鈥� Didmon said of the Kings鈥� recent woes.
But that鈥檚 something Powell River GM and head coach Kent Lewis will have to repair.
The Grizzlies are coming off a 3-0 win over Alberni Valley on Friday in which the Victoria power play went just 2-for-9 and looked individualistic at times.
Victoria also did not like the way the Bulldogs treated 16-year-old Alex Newhook, the sa国际传媒 Hockey League鈥檚 second best point-getter (prior to Saturday play) who was targeted all Friday night by overly aggressive play, with the Bulldogs taking liberties with the talented rookie.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like that. The kid is playing hard and teams have been good, playing him hard, but fair. [On Friday] I didn鈥檛 think they played him fair and that gets dangerous out there,鈥� Didmon said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have to take matters into our own hands, if that鈥檚 the case.鈥�
Grizzlies captain Lucas Clark echoed those sentiments.
鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating because he鈥檚 our youngest player, but he鈥檚 also one of our best,鈥� Clark said.
鈥淗e knows that stuff is going to come, people are going to target him and in the playoffs it鈥檚 only going to get worse.
鈥淲e do our job trying to stick up for him as best we can, when it鈥檚 needed, say if he鈥檚 hurt, but his skill is not going to shut down because of a couple of hits.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ramping up now because it鈥檚 the second half of the season,鈥� Clark said of the physical play.
As for the Kings, Clark knows they will be a tough test even with Powell River playing its third game in three days.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e made some changes with players so we鈥檙e interested to see how that goes and how we will tweak our game to play them, but you know we鈥檙e always going to be ready,鈥� he said of his 23-14-3-2 Grizzlies team.
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