The Victoria Grizzlies are in a good-news, bad-news situation.
The good news is their first-year players are beginning to rack up points as the likes of Tyler Welsh, Joey Visconti and Keyvan Mokhtari have recorded nine in the last two games.
On the negative side, is the fact the 2-9-0-2 team has reached a pivotal stretch of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League schedule, heading out on a tough three-day, three-game road trip that is followed by two days off, and then another three straight games.
That鈥檚 six games in eight days against teams that are a combined 49-27-3-5.
Victoria ventures to Salmon Arm tonight at 7, pushes on to Vernon on Saturday at 6 p.m., before wrapping up the trip in West Kelowna at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The following Wednesday, the Grizzlies are in Nanaimo. Then they鈥檙e home the next day to Powell River, and then play host to Cowichan Valley a week from today.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough, but at the same time we see it as an opportunity 鈥� there鈥檚 a possibility of 12 points over eight days,鈥� said Grizzlies captain P.J. Conlon. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at it positively, picking up as many points as we can and move up the standings 鈥� maybe surprise some teams in the Interior.鈥�
Salmon Arm is a solid 8-3-2-0 in 13 games and has scored a league-leading 4.31 goals for per outing. Vernon is 8-6-0-1 and West Kelowna (which lost to league-leading Penticton 4-2 on Wednesday) sits 7-5-0-2.
鈥淲e鈥檙e playing three good teams on the road here this weekend so we鈥檙e going to have to be prepared to play hard, be disciplined and pay attention to details,鈥� said Conlon, who knows fitness comes into play during a pivotal stretch like this.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a tough schedule, but we鈥檙e all in good shape and we鈥檙e prepared for it. There鈥檚 nothing better than playing hockey games,鈥� he added.
Victoria is coming off a disappointing 5-4 loss Sunday to Cowichan Valley in which the Grizzlies blew a 4-3 third-period lead. Visconti recorded his first two goals in that game while Mokhtari had a goal and a helper and Welsh had two assists.
Welsh also had two helpers in a 5-2 win over Powell River the game prior and Mokhtari also scored in that victory. Mokhtari actually has points in his last four games after having none in the first nine. Welsh has recorded two points in each of three of his last four outings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see everyone chipping in here with everyone making some progress over the past nine periods or so, even though the final result hasn鈥檛 shown that,鈥� said Conlon. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be good to go on the road and maybe bond a bit more as a team and try and pick up some wins in the Interior.鈥�
Brayden Gelsinger, who left Sunday鈥檚 loss midway through due to injury, is back skating.
The much anticipated return of injured defenceman Brett Stirling is also on tap for the Grizzlies.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Grizzlies acquired local 20-year-old forward Dante Hahn from Coquitlam in a trade for future considerations on Thursday. It鈥檚 his second stint with Victoria. Hahn had one goal in five games this season. Last year he had eight goals and 14 assists in 48 games for Langley. . . . Also Thursday, the BCHL announced Penticton was awarded the right to host the 2017 Crescent Point Energy Western sa国际传媒 Cup.
