GAME DAY: TRAIL VS. VICTORIA
7: 15 p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena
Nolan DeJong is very aware of the differences between this year's Victoria Grizzlies and last season's version of the B.C. Hockey League team, and it's more than just comparing records from the respective clubs.
This year's rendition is a comfortable 8-4-0-1 heading into tonight's matchup against the Trail Smoke Eaters at 7: 15 at Bear Mountain Arena. Last year, Victoria got off to a horrendous 0-5 start (outscored 32-16) then battled back to 4-6 by this same time last October.
"It's a huge difference. The biggest thing was coming out of camp with the structure that Bill [head coach and general manager Bill Bestwick] had," said DeJong. "It's very much defence-first strategy, but once you get it into their zone there's lots of room for creativity, which we have lots of.
"I think it's a different group of veterans, too. I wouldn't say there's much more leadership, but much different leadership. I think we're tighter as a group, which is a big factor."
And it shows in their play.
In 13 games this season, the Grizzlies have been involved in nine one-goal outcomes, winning six, including three in overtime. The team has battled back from a number of deficits and the only game that the Grizzlies truly haven't been in was a 6-2 defeat in Powell River two weekends ago after playing at home the night before and enduring the difficult trip.
"We can come to the dressing room being a couple of goals down and know that we're going to have a chance to win, which is a huge change in culture from last year," offered DeJong.
"Personally, and as a team, I think we keep growing every game, learning every game and the character of our team is showing more and more in every game that we play."
The Grizzlies have played a wide-open brand of hockey that has provided plenty of scoring opportunities, at both ends, but has struggled in putting the puck in the net. To date, the Island Division leaders (who are also tied for second overall) have scored 33 goals for and allowed 32 against.
"It's certainly not by design," said Bestwick. "Our intention going out isn't to win a defensive-minded game. We need to concern ourselves with our positional play and our defensive structure, but by no stretch of the imagination are we intending to play in low-scoring games.
"I think we're a more end-to-end, open-it-up hockey club. We've been a little anemic on the power play, but for me, moving forward, the statistics are more about the past than the future."
They've definitely learned how to win the close games - stealing two of them in 3-2 overtime results last weekend alone - and 8-4-0-1 speaks volumes for a club that got off to a late start recruiting and building with major organizational changes.
"I don't know if we would have been able to predict anything better than this for this hockey team right now," said Bestwick. "We're not content by any stretch, but we're certainly pleased with the effort all the players have put in."
