Don鈥檛 expect the cavalry to come riding in, but the odd horseman may be trotting into town to add a hand to the Victoria Grizzlies鈥� young stable of players.
With three open spots for 20-year-olds, general manager and head coach Craig Didmon is looking to add some experience to his 0-3 club, which heads to the sa国际传媒 Hockey League Showcase this weekend in Chilliwack for two games.
With 15 new players on his roster, Didmon isn鈥檛 pounding the panic button, but he is receiving calls as 20-year-olds start filtering down from various leagues, including major junior and the U.S. Hockey League.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of opportunity. It鈥檚 easy to do that, but at the same time we have a lot of good players that need to begin to find themselves in this league. They鈥檝e all scored goals all their lives and they鈥檝e been top four defencemen all their lives. They have to just relax and play their game,鈥� he said of his team鈥檚 sluggish start.
鈥淲ith the fact that we had three veterans sitting out this past weekend didn鈥檛 help. We needed that leadership. I do think that the addition of one more older player would be good to help the squad, but as far as big changes go, no,鈥� Didmon said when asked if more moves might be coming.
The Grizzlies were minus defenceman Cody Van Lierop (who is expected to play this weekend), Nick Guiney and Spencer Hunter.
鈥淭hey were three one-goal games,鈥� Didmon said of the losses. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we played to our potential, but we were still in all those games. One thing I do know is the goaltending is good and we can start there.鈥�
Backup Mitchell Benson has a 2.03 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in his one loss and Matthew Galajda鈥檚 GAA is 3.03 and his save percentage sits at .909 in two defeats. Two of the three games included empty-net goals.
Scoring wise, Brayden Gelsinger鈥檚 five assists leave him tied for 21st in the league, one point back of the lead. Cole Pickup has three goals and a helper and P.J. Conlon has two goals and two assists to sit tied for 41st. The three veterans have been playing as a line, so Didmon obviously needs some secondary scoring.
Only Kevin Massy (two assists), Alex Peck, Jake Stevens and Brett Stirling (all with one point each) have hit the scoresheet.
Didmon could also use some size up front and a 20-year-old would fit the bill.
鈥淭his is a time of the year where a lot of 20-year-olds pop up,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have agents getting a hold of us, saying are you interested? But we do like our team and we know that it鈥檚 a process and there鈥檚 no panic.鈥�
If he does add a body, a player will have to be let go to make room.
