Revelstoke is quickly living up to its title as a true Hockeyville in the past few weeks. With well our Hockeyville bid being accepted for 2019, and over 400 in attendance on Friday, Nov. 6 to watch the Grizzlies host the Chase Chiefs, it was a welcomed, familiar sight to see the Grizzlies getting the support they’re due for their diligence in the KIJHL.

The Grizzlies went into the game with several players out of the line-up. Leading scorer Faiz Khan was scooped to play for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks for two games this weekend. Brad Friedrich is out with a knee injury and Josh McKissock is sidelined likely until January.

To fill the holes, the Grizzlies called up local product Kris Powell and signed Caleb Lister. Both impressed greatly in their debuts.

The Chase Chiefs are normally a spirited, tough team to play against but this years’ squad showed many deficiencies in a one-sided match against the Grizz.

Assistant captain Dayton Martens started off the scoring with his first of two on the night with a whirl-around wrister that surprised veteran Chiefs’ goalie Riley Wall. Reid Blinkhorn added the second Grizzlies’ goal with an accurate, low snapshot from the left side on Wall. Newcomer Caleb Lister assisted on both goals with some outstanding effort. Brad Irving was tossed early for a checking-from-behind penalty. The Chase player appeared injured following the hit but was back on the ice not long after.

The Revelstoke Skating Club’s Marissa Sessa, Madison Barton, and six-year-old Paige Mackenzie impressed the crowd in the intermission with some great figure-skating!

The Grizzlies showed their class and skill as they potted another four consecutive goals. These came from Dayton Martens again, and an amazing one-man show display of skill, speed and grit by Reid Blinkhorn as he tucked in his second of the night. Vet Caleb Roy drilled in this first of two power play goals as well, continuing his dominance as the Grizz’s go-to-power play quarterback. The Chiefs responded with an ugly goal that was banged in by cagey vet Brandon Mistal. The period ended with a score of 6-1.

The third period saw the Grizzlies’ ‘Young Guns’ line of Jakob Reichert, Kris Powell, Brendan Burge and Riley Gallagher get increased play time. They returned the favour to Coach Mick by slamming in another two goals to finish the game off at 8-1. Kris Powell showed that he belonged, getting two goals and an assist, along with being the first star of the game in his Grizzlies’ debut.

It started to get ugly near the end of the third with Grizz Alex Spadoni taking the decision in a fight against Jordan Wood. Spadoni just missed getting the ‘Gordie Howe’ hat trick as he only needed to score on his partial breakaway in the second. The fight of the game came for the crowd when Dayton Martens unloaded a flurry of fists on Chase’s vociferous David Harrison.

In the end, the Grizzlies were indubitably better than Chase, outworking them in all aspects of special teams, attack and overall effort. The puck was predominantly in the Chase end for most of the game. Andrew Parent faced 22 shots, while the Grizzlies pasted Riley Wall with 44 shots.

“We worked on special teams all week long in practices," said Grizzlies coach Troy Mick. "I wasn’t completely happy with the team’s performance last Sunday and the message obviously got through.”

The next night, the Grizzlies headed off to play the North Okanagan Knights.

The Knights drew first blood in the first period on a goal by Kevin Swales. The Grizzlies responded a minute later as newcomer Jared Barendregt scored his first of two quick goals. The Knights fought back on a goal from Kurtis Hagen to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the second period.

Versatile speedster Bruce Silvera scored the game-winning goal and his eleventh of the year to give the Grizzlies a 3-2 victory in the end. Coach Mick is impressed with Silvera's work. “He earns his ice time and helps us anywhere from the fourth to first lines," he said. There was no scoring through the rest of the second and third, as the Grizzlies held on to give Cole Buckley his first win in net. Lucas Blinkhorn took over the team lead with 27 points in 20 games.

Coach Mick was impressed with the overall effort and results from his beleaguered team and credits their success to sticking to the systems and work ethic that has carried them to first place overall in the KIJHL with a total of 36 points. Spokane (31) and Fernie (30) round out the top three.

“We out-chanced them tremendously and played strong defensively," said Mick. Buckley faced only 14 shots from the Knights.

"We’ve also had to deal with a lot this week as a team, persevered and won the games," said Mick. "We’re looking forward to playing Princeton and showing them some good old-fashioned Revelstoke hospitality!”

Something to note, the Grizzlies are always looking for causal work for many of the players and can be reached at (250) 837-5588. Talk to Mike Roberts.

The next Grizzlies’ home game is a double-header in Revelstoke against the Princeton Posse on Nov. 13 and 14. With the Posse handing the Grizzlies their only regulation loss this year back on Oct. 9, they’ll be out to get some recompense. See you at the Forum!