Sure, the Victoria Grizzlies are staring at a 1,544-kilometre trip this weekend as a three-game set begins tonight in Coquitlam, before moving on to Merritt and then Trail, in the southeast portion of the province.
But not much tends to bother you when you鈥檙e on a five-game sa国际传媒 Hockey League win streak.
鈥淎 lot of guys are playing with a lot of confidence. No one鈥檚 gripping the stick tight anymore and it鈥檚 making everyone鈥檚 job a little easier,鈥� veteran forward Cole Pickup said of the team鈥檚 successful run.
There鈥檚 plenty to look ahead to, as well, as the Grizzlies will also venture to Nanaimo on Wednesday before starting a stretch of five straight at home and nine of their next 12 at the friendly confines of The Q Centre prior to an elongated Christmas break.
鈥淭hat鈥檒l be a big benefit to us to get through these next four then have that stretch at home before Christmas,鈥� said Pickup. 鈥淓ven going to Powell River, just for one game in bad weather, makes for a hard trip. But it鈥檚 not like we get run down during the week.
鈥淐raig [GM and head coach Craig Didmon] does a great job of getting us prepared for these.鈥�
Victoria is coming off a 5-2 win in Powell River on Tuesday night in which it recorded its fifth consecutive victory to improve to 8-12-0-2 on the season. In their last 10 games, the Grizzlies have gone 6-4 and on this trip they will play fellow teams that are below .500 in Coquitlam (8-10-1-2), Merritt (8-14-0-1) and Trail (8-12-0-0).
A look at the extended stats page shows Coquitlam at 3-6-0-1 in its last 10; Merritt at 2-7-0-1; and Trail 4-6 over that same stretch.
Still, it is a grind of three games in three days and then a seven-plus-hour trip back.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be a great test for us, for sure,鈥� said Didmon. 鈥淚t will be interesting to see if this streak can continue, playing in three very different elements. They are all different rink sizes, which tends to favour home teams.
鈥淲e鈥檒l stress getting pucks to the net,鈥� added Didmon, who will start Matthew Galajda in goal tonight at 7 at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
IN THE DEN: Mitchell Barker returns from his two-game suspension and will slot back in on a line with Pickup and P.J. Conlon. All three members of the Tyler Welsh, Keyvan Mokhtari and Nick Guiney line take a five-game point streak into the game. Welsh, who was injured briefly on Tuesday, will play.
