Prince George鈥檚 Rolling Mix Concrete Arena and Nicola Valley Memorial Arena in Merritt, both old and cramped but with the crowd right on top of you, are classic small Interior rinks in the sa国际传媒 Hockey League.
You don鈥檛 have to tell the Victoria Grizzlies. They will play in both venerable buildings tonight in Prince George and Saturday in Merritt against the Spruce Kings and Centennials before coming back down to the Lower Mainland to face Coquitlam on Sunday to conclude the three-games-in-three days road trip.
鈥淭hese arenas are hard to play in,鈥� said Grizzlies head coach and GM Craig Didmon, whose club sits atop the Island Division standings at 18-5-3-2.
鈥淭he Prince George rink provides very unfriendly confines while Merritt鈥檚 is small and the Centennials [11-12-6] have a great power play that takes advantage of that.鈥�
But it鈥檚 the Spruce Kings (14-10-3) who could bear the most watching this weekend.
鈥淧rince George is up and coming,鈥� said Didmon.
鈥淥verall, these are going to be a tough six points to get in the Interior, for sure.鈥�
Meanwhile, backup Grizzlies goaltender Tony Rehm will start the Sunday game in Coquitlam against the Mainland last-place Express. No. 1 goalie and NCAA Ivy League Cornell-bound Matthew Galajda will be dropped off at Vancouver International Airport prior to the Coquitlam game, where he will catch a flight to Edmonton as one of the 25 BCHL players invited to the 60-player Team sa国际传媒 West tryout camp. It begins Monday in Leduc, Alta., for the 2016 World Junior A Challenge taking place Dec. 11-17 in Bonnyville, Alta.
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