The Revelstoke Grizzlies had more mixed results in KIJHL action last weekend – defeating division rivals the Kamloops Storm 3-2 on Friday before falling to the Princeton Posse 5-3 on Saturday.
The result on Saturday clearly had coach Kevin Kraus frustrated.
“It’s disappointing,” he said following the loss. “You work off a good game against Kamloops on Friday and you come in here and play good the first 15 minutes and you start getting in penalty trouble and it goes south from there. We have to play more consistent, stay out of the box and play better 5-on-5.”
On Friday, the Grizzlies dumped the Storm thanks to two goals from Spencer Samuel and and a 38 save performance by Aaron Brandoli in nets.
Samuel, who now leads the KIJHL in goals, scored power play goals at 8:29 of the first and 8:43 of the second to give Revelstoke a 2-0 lead.
Stefan Wood got Kamloops within one early in the third but a Spenser Baldock’s first of the season less than two minutes later put Revelstoke up for good.
On Saturday, the Grizzlies started out strong, with goals by Tyler Reay and Andrew Standish giving them a 2-0 lead less than half way through the period.
After that, Princeton took over, partly with penalty, and also due to a string of costly penalties that saw the Grizzlies spend much of the second half of the first period short handed. By the time it was over, Brett Perrine and Eric Kubis had tied it up.
In the second period, Kaleb Boyle scored twice for the Posse to make it 4-2. Devan Suidy made it 5-2 less than two minutes into the third period with the Posse’s third power play goal of the night.
Brayden Beckley made it respectable with a power play goal in the third, but it wasn’t enough to spark a comeback.
After the game Kraus had some harsh words for some players for their lack of effort and lack of discipline though he didn’t name anyone.
“You saw some true guys colours come out tonight, especially in our dressing room and on the bench,” he said. “You saw who really cares and who’s on their own page. We’ll see what happens.”
Kraus said he though the emotions might have been running “a little bit high” after Friday’s big win but it’s important to keep them in check. “Not getting too high after a win, not getting too low after a loss. You have to keep an even keel throughout the whole season.”
This weekend marks the halfway point of the season for the Grizzlies. The team travels to Kamloops to take on the Storm on Saturday before hosting the Beaver Valley Night Hawks at home on Sunday afternoon.
December 1 also marks a key deadline, when coaches must submit their final list of carded players to BC Hockey.
“A few guys are going to have show me they work hard this week or else they’ll find themselves somewhere else or not playing hockey,” Kraus said. “This week is going to be a big week for us. We have to work towards being better, being more consistent and getting our work ethic up a bit.”