When the Revelstoke Grizzlies take to the ice, they’ll be styling some brand new haircuts – mohawks dyed in the team’s burgundy colour.
“It was a veteran decision,” said captain Brad Friedrich, who chopped off his blonde locks for the occasion. “It’s always good for team bonding to do something wiyth your hair going into the playoffs. We thought we might as well do the team burgundy.”
The Grizzlies begin the playoffs at home against the North Okanagan Knights on Valentine’s Day, with game two taking place here on Tuesday before the series shifts to Armstrong for games 3 and 4.
The Grizzles ended the regular season last weekend with a pair of victories at home over the Kamloops Storm and the Knights.
Friday night saw Revelstoke take on Kamloops for the second time in two weeks. Last weekend, the two played a chippy, back-and-forth game that featured several dirty hits by the Storm. Revelsoke woin 7-5 but it wasn’t easy.
This Friday, Revelstoke dominated Kamloops, winning 6-1 and outshooting them 58-25. The Grizzlies scored once in the third, twice in the second and three times in the third to seal the victory.
Defenceman Lucas Hildebrand scored twice and Brandon Perger, Brendan Urban and Reid Blinkhorn all had one goal and two assists in the win.
When asked, coach Rylan Ferster said the game wasn’t about making a statement.
“I thought we did some good things, kept the game simple and that’s what it take at this time of year,” he said. “I don’t think there was any type of statement.”
Saturday night saw the Knights come to the Forum for what ended up being a preview of the first round of the playoffs. Revelstoke won 3-1 thanks to goals by Braeden Monk, Perger and Urban. Once again, the Grizzlies racked up the shots, putting 55 on Knights’ goalie Chris Solecki.
Revelstoke goes into the playoffs having swept the season series against North Okanagan, winning all seven games by a combined score of 10-1.
Still, assistant captain said to expect all games to be close in the playoffs. “They’ll all be one goal or two goals games,” he said.
Ferster said he will be spending the next day making sure the team is prepared and ready for the playoffs and the tight schedule that goes with it.
“I think anything can happen,” he said. “We’ll do as much as we can to prepare them but the playoffs are a whole different animal so you have to change your mentatlity. You play a lot of games in short nights and you have to have a short memory.”
As for captain Friedrich, one of only three returning members from last year’s Keystone Cup champions (Mobley and Bruce Silvera are the other two), he had a few words of advice for his teammates:
“Just to trust each other… Play every shift like its your last. There’s no easy games.. You can’t expect any team to fold over.”