Myles Fitzgerald scored three goals — making it five in two games — as the Grizzlies downed the Cowichan Valley Capitals 5-2 on Sunday night, sending 900 fans home in a festive spirit from Bear Mountain Arena.
Brody Coulter and Dante Hahn also scored for the Grizzlies who capped a perfect weekend with three victories in three days, including a quick trip to Port Alberni on Saturday. Overall, Victoria has now won five consecutive outings.
“We talked about that, we talked about running the table,” said Grizzlies general manager and head coach Bill Bestwick. “You never know for sure what could happen, so it was one game at a time and things worked out.”
Thanks to hard work and determination on the team’s part.
The Grizzlies are on such a fine roll that one almost hates to see it interrupted by the holiday season as Victoria has reached the 22-win mark, that’s one more victory than all of last season.
“We’re all really tired,” said Myles Fitzgerald, who was named first star for the second straight night after scoring twice in his native Port Alberni on Saturday. “This has been so special. No one thought our team would do this well and we’re proving everybody wrong.
“Now it’ll be nice to see family and friends,” he added of the break. “It’s incredible to see how fast things can change by changing a couple of ingredients to a team.”
The transformation has been amazing, starting with Bestwick and his right-hand man Craig Didmon.
“It’s been a real nice run, but the kids really need this break and deserve it,” said Bestwick. “It’s timely and it’s opportune for everybody to get away and re-charge. A lot of these kids haven’t seen their family for five months, so it’s a good time for them.
“At the end of the day, it’s the kids who have made a choice,” Bestwick said of the success. “They knew that they appreciated the people they are surrounded by and they’ve made good decisions. We’re discovering different ways to win, but we’re learning how to win. That’s what good teams do.
“I think we’re starting to believe that we’re a pretty good team and that if we take care of the little things the big things happen and that’s in the win column. It’s a good group of kids and we’re proud of them.”
The team — which is 6-1 in December — will get back together on Dec. 27, two days prior to facing the Nanaimo Clippers at Bear Mountain Arena.
On Sunday, Jesse Neher and Keyler Bruce replied with goals for Cowichan Valley in a game that was tied 2-2 after the first period before the Grizzlies struck for two second-period goals, out-shooting the Caps 18-2 over the 20 minutes.
Brady Rouleau returned to the Grizzlies’ net and stopped 18 shots. Derek Dun faced 46 shots in the Cowichan goal.
Victoria improves to 22-8-0-2 on the season, just one point back of league-leading Penticton, which has played one more game and the Grizzlies now have an eight-point lead on Alberni Valley in the Island Division.
