The Revelstoke Grizzlies will now be headed to the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference where they will go head to head with the Kimberley Dynamiters with a best of seven series.
With the tensions rising and down to the wire, The Griz creamed the Coyotes with a whopping 4-1 win, in the barn on Sunday, March 25th.
The Kootenay Conference champion, Kimberley Dynamiters wrapped up their regular season first in points at 78 points where as the ‘the boys’ finished second in league, however took first spot with 73 in the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference. In terms of competition, both teams have a strong chance of owning the other, so this best of seven series will soon be a great tale to tell for the local hockey fans of both Revelstoke and Kimberley.
With the two teams having never hit the ice with head to head action, both teams are going into this with only digital recordings and tips from other teams and coaches as to their particular style.
Coach Derek Stuart from the Kimberley Dynamiters was watching the Grizzlies/Coyotes game live last night waiting to see who the final rival would be.
“It seemed like a good game, apart from maybe the second period it looked like Revelstoke was the better team. We haven’t seen Revelstoke at all this year so we are excited about the new opponent and the challenge.”
With the two teams having never played against each other, this will be a true to heart challenge for both teams, making the winners of this final bout a true testament to talent and understanding of how to play the game.
“You rely on some people from the other conference that may share some knowledge on Revelstoke, Some video of course, I think at this stage of the game, other than a few tendencies on power plays, it will be watching and trying to play our own game. Both teams reached the finals because they are playing the way they want to play and from our point of view, that is what we want to continue to do.”
The winner of the next round will then advance to the provincials in Richmond for the Cyclone Taylor Cup and the winner of that tournament head East to Thunder Bay for the Western Canadian Championships to claim the Keystone Cup.
Coach Parent from the Revelstoke Grizzlies caught up with the Revelstoke Current in regards to their strategy.
“We work with the video, everyone does, so we will get a good idea of how they play. We don’t want to change too much, we might change slightly, but we want them to a adapt to us. It will come down to the players and who wants it more.”
For some time, there has been talk of whether or not the City of Revelstoke will have to replace the roof of the Forum, there is a distinct possibility that a new roof will be needed when the barn roof explodes with excitement.
The schedule for this week is:
Game 1 Mar. 30 Kimberley
Game 2 Mar. 31 Kimberley
Game 3 Apr. 2 Revelstoke (Monday)
Game 4 Apr. 3 Revelstoke (Tuesday)
Game 5 Apr. 5 Kimberley
Game 6 Apr. 6 Revelstoke (Friday)
Game 7 Apr. 8 Kimberley
