Special to the Review
By Andy Siegel
More than 700 fans filled the Forum Friday night April, 5 to watch the Grizzlies win 5-2 in the opening game of their KIJHL finals series against the Fernie Ghostriders.
The first goal for the home squad came at 5:43 when Colton McCloud and Jaylen Forsyth connected with Kesler Fyfe who found the back of the cage early in the contest.
Fernie skated hard after the initial score to hold off the Grizzlies from going ahead by two goals but it was not meant to be. Revelstoke’s Jeff Patola rushed down the left side towards the bottom of the key, slicing a perfect pass across the slot to Kuy Schmirler who snapped it into the net on the right side at 14:32.
After giving up a late score before intermission against Princeton in game six, it was the Grizzlies turn to score a crucial goal with just 45 seconds left on the clock.
Jaylen Forsyth notched his second assist of the evening, feeding Alexander Bronswyk who rifled a quick pass across the crease to the left side.
Brady Schwab was waiting in a perfect position by the key and didn’t hesitate on his shot putting it right into the net.
The scoring continued at 7:21 of the second frame on the power play when Mikkel Hrechka swept across The zone, zeroing in on the net, and lifting the puck on his backhand into the upper left corner for an unassisted score.
When asked about his tally Hrechka commented “It wasn’t a normal goal for me, I’m not a drive-to-the-net kind of guy, just usually just shoot the puck.”
Following up about not being worn down physically from the long seven-game series with multiple overtimes against Princeton, he said “The boys came in prepared with a right mindset and put in the work off the ice. What we proved tonight is that extra effort helps us recover to the best of our abilities in a short time.”
With just over two minutes left in the second period on a five-on-three power play, Revelstoke’s Bronswyk added to his assist total on the night. Feeding Nathan White the puck on the right side of the blue line, White made a semi-no-look pass to Brady Augot who one-timed a slap shot into the net for a commanding 5-0 Grizzlies lead.
When asked about his assist on Augot’s score he said “I saw Brady right there and it was kind of a no-look pass to him for the goal.”
When questioned about how the team was feeling coming into the playoffs he said “If we continue to just play our game we’ll be good this whole series. The team has faced a lot of adversity which comes with highs & lows, so we just skated hard tonight to start the game and it paid off on the scoreboard.”
The Grizzlies might not have made it to the KIJHL finals without an outstanding effort from Ethan Coventry who scored two key goals in game seven against Princeton on the road.
Commenting on matching up against the Ghostriders he said “Fernie’s a great team so anything can happen, we’re both here for a reason. My confidence is high, I couldn’t have scored in the last series without help from linemates Luke Aston and Daniel Wittenberg.”
Reflecting on skating for the Grizzlies he continued “We’re all feeling good, the best team I’ve been on, feels like one big group, we’re all brothers in the locker room, this is what we all work towards, getting to the finals.”
Wittenberg has been another top scorer for Revelstoke in the postseason. Commenting on the reason for his and the team’s success he said:
“My linemates have been helping me out pretty well so I think all three of us just keep at it trying to support the guys where we can,” he said.
We experienced a lot of adversity last series so know what it takes and how a series can switch on you so quickly. The team just takes each game one at a time and is grateful to get here.”
Saturday
Game two of the KIJHL finals was a tighter affair with Revelstoke once again coming out on top of the scoresheet with a 4-2 victory.
The Grizzlies Alexander Bronswyk had the first opportunity to open the scoring in front of the net with an unobstructed shot after a few dekes but could not find a window through the Fernie goaltender’s pads.
Almost midway through the first frame on the power play, Revelstoke’s Ethan Coventry made a pass back to the point, but Luke Aston missed the puck letting it come out of the zone.
Undeterred at the miscommunication, Aston snatched the puck circling back around the red line sprinting in on the right side making a sharp pass across to Captain Brady Schwab who snapped a shot into the upper left corner for the first goal.
Soon after the Grizzlies Bronswyk kept fighting to get on the scoresheet stealing the puck by the Fernie blue line and creating a two-on-zero breakaway but lost control before he could pass or shoot.
The Ghostriders refused to give up on tying the game when their effort paid off on a goal by Lucas Desjarlais at 8:57.
With just 37.7 seconds left till the second intermission, the Grizzlies Jeff Patola recorded his second assist of the weekend.
Passing the puck to Luke Aston on the side of the key, he shot it into the left side of the goal for a 2-1 lead before the Zamboni came out to clear the ice.
There was no scoring for the first part of the third period until 12:04 when Revelstoke’s David Ander took a hard shot at ice level from an almost impossible angle on the left side of the goal line.
The puck went into the crease snaking its way beneath the Fernie goaltender’s pads. Assist on the play was awarded to Schwab for his second point of the evening.
Less than two minutes later at 13:41, the Ghostriders’ Taylor Haggerty came storming back, scoring from in close near the crease to cut the home team’s lead to 3-2.
The Forum fans were on the edge of their seats for the last few minutes of the final period hoping to avoid overtime.
To the delight of the home crowd the Grizzlies Colton McCloud sprinted ahead of a Fernie player to catch a pass from Kuy Schmirler in the neutral zone for an empty net goal to seal the victory and a commanding 2-0 series lead.
Game three of the series was Monday, April 8, at the Fernie Memorial Arena.