Westshore faces tall order with Victoria

The Victoria Cougars begin the 10th of the 23-week Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League schedule when they host the Westshore Stingers Thursday.

Game time is 7:15 p.m. at the Archie Browning Sports Centre in Esquimalt.

It’s the first of four straight inter-divisional South Island games. After the Westshore game on Thursday, the Cougars are at Panorama Rec. Centre for a Friday, Nov. 13 game against the Peninsula Panthers.

As of Monday, Victoria was ranked second among all 35 junior B teams in B.C., six points ahead of the Kerry Park Islanders for first in the VIJHL with a 16-2-1-1 record.

Grizzlies pull out OT win over Powell River

Up against the team that knocked the Victoria Grizzlies out of last year’s BCHL playoffs in game seven of the third round, the Grizzlies earned a token of redemption on Saturday night. Grizzlies call-up Jimmy Carter potted two goals, including the overtime winner for a 4-3 Victoria win. Both of Carter’s assists came from defenceman Brad Pawlowksi, who opened the night with a fight against Powell River’s Robbie Bailey, who also scored once in the game.

The win over Powell River marked a return visit for former major midget South Island Thunderbird Steven Axford.

The Grizz split the weekend after losing 4-2 to the Alberni Bulldogs on Friday night. The team now embarks on a typical BCHL road trip, a challenging four games in five days, starting with the league-best Penticton Vees on Nov. 11. The Grizzlies are at the Langley Chiefs on Nov. 12, Surrey Eagles on Nov. 13 and Powell River on Nov. 15.

Madison Dias will return to the lineup after playing five games with Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge. Canada West fell to the USA in the final on Sunday, 2-1.

Flu slows T-birds’ Okanagan road trip

Count South Island Thunderbirds major midget hockey among the many sports teams ravaged by the flu in early November. In Kelowna to play the B.C. Major Midget League’s third-place Okanagan Rockets for two games on Saturday and Sunday, the eighth-place Thunderbirds travelled with a skeleton crew of just one goalie and 13 skaters -- down from 20 players.

Travis Stephens and Matthew Sheeran both scored for the T-birds in Saturday’s 4-2 loss but the Rockets proved too much.

Sunday, however, was worse. Outshot 30-8 in the first period, the Thunderbirds suffered a 7-0 shutout.

Missing from the Thunderbirds were second-year goalie Ryan Waldhaus, veteran defencemen Garrett Holt and Garett Kemmler, leading goal scorer Mark Walton, Taylor Hache and rookie Dane Gibson.

Gavin Meek was called up from the the Saanich Braves midget AAA to fill in as a fifth defender.

Walton was recently recognized as the South Island team’s nominee for player of the month in October for scoring nine goals in nine games.