Consistently delivering great hockey and winning game after game looks a lot easier than it really is, but the Grizzlies continue to do both, winning back to back games at The Forum this weekend first against the North Okanagan Knights 3-0 and then against the Penticton Lakers 5-1.
No matter how you cut it, dominating a KIJHL division is tough to do and the Grizzlies remain at the head of the pack.
In their Saturday game, Riley Spraggs scored at 4:42 in the first period from Brad Friedrich who scored himself at 15:07 in the second from Caleb Lister and Reid Blinkhorn. The team’s last goal of the game came with just 28 seconds remaining int he second when Luke Richardson scored with an assist from Jordan Bledsoe.
There were no penalties assessed against either team in the first period, but they racked up 10 each in the remaining two periods. The shots on goal almost say it all. Knights’ goalie Chris Solecki faced 34 shots, while Revelstoke’s Cole Buckley, who was enjoying his first home start, had only 28. Buckley and Friedrich were the First and Second Stars of the Game while Solecki was the Third Star.
In Sunday afternoon’s game the Grizzlies got the jump on the Lakers early on with three goals in the first period. Alex Spadoni started the scoring with a goal from Jakob Reichert and Kyle Ceretzke at 17:40. The second came on a power play at 10:05 from Jordan Bledsoe off of Luke Richardson and Reid Blinkhorn. The team finished their first period scoring run with goal by Dayton Martens at 6:11 off of Ceretzke and Cody Abbey. Penticton scored its lone goal at 6:11.
Revelstoke’s Brad Friedrich scored the fourth goal on a second period power play at 9:07 with a little help from Alex Spadoni and Brad Irving. The fifth and final goal was delivered by Faiz Khan from Irving and Rylie Gallagher at 5:06.
There were 23 penalties in this game. Only seven were by Grizzlies, which may be a measure of the Lakers’ desperation on the ice. And desperate they were. Laker Goalie Adam Harris was almost overwhelmed with 54 shots on goal while Grizzly Andrew Parent faced a mere 27 shots on goal.
The three stars all went to the Grizzlies: Alex Spadoni, Reid Blinkhorn and Brad Irving, in that order.
The Grizzlies’ next game is on Dec. 9 at Art Holding Memorial Arena in Chase where they face the Chiefs.
Here’s where they are in the standings:
| DIVISION: Okanagan/Shuswap Conference: Okanagan Division |
| TEAM | GP | W | L | T | OTL | PTS | GF | AVG | GA | AVG | PCT | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revelstoke Grizzlies | 29 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 47 | 125 | 4.30 | 76 | 2.60 | 0.810 | 6-3-0-1 |
| Sicamous Eagles | 28 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 122 | 4.40 | 93 | 3.30 | 0.661 | 7-3-0-0 |
| Princeton Posse | 28 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 129 | 4.60 | 108 | 3.90 | 0.643 | 6-1-0-3 |
| Chase Chiefs | 31 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 35 | 118 | 3.80 | 98 | 3.20 | 0.565 | 6-3-0-1 |
| Kamloops Storm | 31 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 33 | 106 | 3.40 | 112 | 3.60 | 0.532 | 2-6-0-2 |
| Penticton Lakers | 29 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 81 | 2.80 | 136 | 4.70 | 0.276 | 2-7-0-1 |
| North Okanagan Knights | 30 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 88 | 2.90 | 157 | 5.20 | 0.167 | 2-8-0-0 |
And for all you fans of Staci Thur’s great hockey photos here’s a selection from the weekend:
