They’re way up there in the B.C. Hockey League standings, but you have to look all the way down to 19th in the overall scoring race to find the first Victoria Grizzlies player.
And Anthony Carone — who’s that player 19th in BCHL scoring with 17 points — says that’s perfectly fine with his Grizzlies, who head into Friday night’s game against the Clippers in Nanaimo tied for second in the Coastal Conference with a 12-4-0 record and third overall in the BCHL.
“We have a ton of guys who can score and make plays and that is what our team has been doing,” said the 19-year-old Carone, who has three goals and a team-leading 14 assists in 16 games.
“We have a really good four lines who are all 200-foot players and that’s what we focus on and that’s what has made us successful.”
The Grizzlies’ 55 goals-for are 12 fewer than the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, the team they are tied for second in the conference with. But only three teams — Surrey, Penticton and Vernon — have fewer goals against.
Carone, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward in his second year with the Grizzlies since moving west from his hometown of Pittsburgh, played his rookie season on a Grizzlies team that had top-10 scorers in Olivier Picard and Jack Gorton. This year, it’s sophomore Carone, who’s headed to Worcester, Massachusetts-based Holy Cross of the NCAA next fall, and rookies Chase Pirtle and Charlie Gollob leading the way. Pirtle, who’s committed to the NCAA and Cornell, has 16 points, while Gollob, NCAA committed to Brown University, has 15.
The Grizzlies head into Frank Crane Arena Friday night coming off a win on home ice over the Powell River Kings last weekend. But the Grizzlies last road game, in Alberni Valley, didn’t go quite as well as they fell 5-2 to the Bulldogs.
Carone says the Grizzlies have to come out the gate strong Friday night, as the Clippers (6-7-2) are always tough at Frank Crane.
“Fast starts are really important to us on the road and in every game,” he said.
“And we prepare really well no matter if it’s at home or on the road. Obviously the home team has a slight advantage, especially at the start, but I think we’ve done a really good job of coming prepared to play and countering that.”
Following the game in Nanaimo Friday night, the Grizzlies get Saturday off and then welcome the Langley Rivermen (5-11-0) to The Q Centre on Sunday afternoon for a 2 p.m. game.
