Jobs will be on the line as the Victoria Grizzlies’ B.C. Hockey League exhibition season begins.
The Grizzlies open the preseason tonight at 7 at the Island Savings Centre in Duncan against the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The two teams then shift to Juan de Fuca Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. with tickets listed at $10 for adults, $5 for children or $20 for a family of four.
A tailgate party, sponsored by the booster club, will be held prior to Sunday’s game.
“We’re looking at 50 per cent of the team playing in both,” said Grizzlies head coach and general manager Craig Didmon. “There will be a mix of guys competing for jobs and a mix of guys we’re looking at for the future.
“These kids looking to be first-year players for us need to step it up this weekend. The speed and physicality of the game will be much greater now. We’ll see how the younger guys compete.”
Didmon is expected to start Mitchell Benson in net tonight and he will split the game with Sam Gartner. On Sunday, local Chris Smith and No. 1 man Matthew Galadja will handle the netminding duties.
The Grizzlies continued training off-ice and on-ice on Friday in preparation. Afternoon practices for Teams Benn and Bozak were held at JDF, followed by an evening scrimmage.
A team meeting is slated for this morning with non-roster players for tonight’s game then skating from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Some cuts are expected to come following the game in Duncan.
Players have anxiously awaited suiting up in pre-season play and that day has finally arrived.
“Exhibition season starts [today] with a few games coming up and that will help get the pace back into it,” said rookie Tyler Welsh.
The Grizzlies will then play a home-and-home series with the Nanaimo Clippers on Tuesday at Juan de Fuca Arena and Wednesday up-Island at Frank Crane Arena.
Victoria then plays a home-and-home with Port Alberni, away on Friday and back at home a week from today, but this time at Westhills Arena. All start times are 7 p.m.
The regular season then begins Sept. 11 in Duncan against the Capitals.
IN THE DEN: The Capitals feature a trio of former Grizzlies — Ayden MacDonald and Chris Harpur, who went over as the future considerations portion of the trade for Thomas Gobeil at last year’s deadline, and the much-travelled Mitch Meek. Meek played in Victoria and Vernon and was traded in the off-season to Prince George before the Capitals made a move to pick up the veteran defenceman. … Victoria’s Brayden Gelsinger is a former Capital, traded to West Kelowna last November and picked up in the off-season by the Grizzlies for Garrett Forster.
