Having won five of the first seven clashes against the Powell River Kings, the Victoria Grizzlies go into Sunday afternoon’s matchup against the visitors at The Q Centre with confidence.
But even while on a 10-game undefeated streak, the Grizzlies know better than to overlook the Kings, who enter the game with just two wins, seven losses and two ties in their last 11 games (prior to Saturday night’s game in Nanaimo).
“We respect them as a hockey club and we know they’re going to be prepared,” Grizzlies general manager and head coach Craig Didmon said ahead of Sunday's 1 p.m. puck drop. “We have to be us and play our way and make them adapt to our game.
“You can never take them lightly, they’re a good hockey club. Every team goes through different stages at different times,” Didmon said of the Kings’ recent woes.
But that’s something Powell River GM and head coach Kent Lewis will have to repair.
The Grizzlies are coming off a 3-0 win over Alberni Valley on Friday in which the Victoria power play went just 2-for-9 and looked individualistic at times.
Victoria also did not like the way the Bulldogs treated 16-year-old Alex Newhook, the B.C. Hockey League’s second best point-getter (prior to Saturday play) who was targeted all Friday night by overly aggressive play, with the Bulldogs taking liberties with the talented rookie.
“I didn’t like that. The kid is playing hard and teams have been good, playing him hard, but fair. [On Friday] I didn’t think they played him fair and that gets dangerous out there,” Didmon said.
“We’ll have to take matters into our own hands, if that’s the case.”
Grizzlies captain Lucas Clark echoed those sentiments.
“It’s frustrating because he’s our youngest player, but he’s also one of our best,” Clark said.
“He knows that stuff is going to come, people are going to target him and in the playoffs it’s only going to get worse.
“We do our job trying to stick up for him as best we can, when it’s needed, say if he’s hurt, but his skill is not going to shut down because of a couple of hits.
“It’s ramping up now because it’s the second half of the season,” Clark said of the physical play.
As for the Kings, Clark knows they will be a tough test even with Powell River playing its third game in three days.
“They’ve made some changes with players so we’re interested to see how that goes and how we will tweak our game to play them, but you know we’re always going to be ready,” he said of his 23-14-3-2 Grizzlies team.
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