Andy Siegel
Special to the Review
Saturday night was the second home game of the season for Revelstoke and the local fans didn’t disappoint with a large. fully vaccinated crowd attending to support the Grizzlies.
It was a fast paced start to the game with a few crunching hits in first four minutes.
The 100 Mile House Wranglers looked very fast on their skates and similar to the first home game the Grizzlies looked like the smaller team.
At 5:59 from beyond the top of the key Revelstoke’s Carson Reinson took a solid shot, tipped in on a beautiful play by Jake Wallace.
This was exactly the break the Grizzlies needed to start the game with an early lead.
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They were giving a terrific effort to get the crowd behind them, dominating from the beginning with an 8-2 advantage on shots.
Revelstoke’s Kaleb West took a solid snapper from the point before the halfway mark of the first period which almost ricocheted in but the 100 Mile goalie made a great save through the crowd in front of the net.
Soon after both teams were assessed back-to-back penalties resulting in a number of good scoring chances but no goals.
As the Wranglers penalty expired they were again called for tripping sending Colton Thon to the box for two more minutes.
23 seconds into the power play Grizzlies defenceman Brandon Gallo took a pass from Brady Augot lofting a great wrist shot from the point which floated perfectly into the back of the net.
With a huge smile on his face he immediately skated to the boards in front of the beer garden checking himself into the glass, sharing his celebration with the home crowd.
Revelstoke went to the locker room for intermission with a 22-5 lead on shots.
The home team continued their dominating play less than a minute into the next period with Augot getting his second point of the night scoring an unassisted goal.
It was a heads-up play on a rebound off the boards from a dump in which the 100 Mile House defenceman missed allowing Augot to shoot it between the goalies legs through the five hole barely dribbling into the net.
Shortly after the Grizzlies had a barrage of shots from a few rushes, the last one being a gorgeous give and go that the Wranglers goalie made an incredible save on.
At 6:24 Revelstoke’s Collin Kozijn received a penalty for holding giving 100 Mile House the chance they needed to get back in the game down 0-3.
They desperately needed a goal to boost their morale since the Grizzlies we’re still dominating the contest up 28-7 on shots.
Right after the penalty expired Revelstoke had a great triple-pass give and go that just missed going in the net, Wranglers goalie Casey Thomson was really keeping his team in the game at this point.
Soon after Gallo set one of the opposing players up for his biggest hit of the night at the exact spot in front of the beer garden glass where he celebrated his goal.
Immediately after this Kaleb West got a charging penalty for a tough mid-ice check knocking the Wrangler player off his feet.
With about three minutes left in the period a Grizzlies player made an outstanding move to get a scoring chance just missing tucking the puck in on the right side of the net.
Seconds later West got his second goal of the game on a shot from the left boards that dribbled between the Wranglers’ goalie pads.
Shots were 40-17.
Two minutes into the final period Gallo made a great pass to an open Grizzlies player on the left side of the net who just missed slapping it in for a goal.
On the rush back up the ice Gallo tried for an open ice hit just missing direct impact bouncing off the opponent.
The Wranglers were not giving up creating their next offensive chance on the right side of the net just missing an upper corner shot.
On the ensuing rush Brady Aston made a terrific, unselfish pass which just missed on the shot resulting in a penalty for the visitors.
Aston made a terrific effort on the power play to tap the puck in right in front of the goal but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Shortly after the Grizzlies’ Bennett Kuhnlein was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty.
On the power play it appeared that Revelstoke was up a man at times spending a majority of the penalty in the 100 Mile zone forcing shots on the net.
Halfway through the third the Wranglers goalie lost his stick but not one of his teammates offered theirs to him or tried retrieving it.
This display seemed to sum up their lack of cohesion all evening as a team.
With 8:40 left in the game 100 Mile House pulled their net minder but there were no goals scored.
At this point the home crowd in the beer garden was looking for something to cheer for so a few fans pointed to a high stack of cups to top of the glass motioning Gallo to knock them over starting a chant for him.
He almost rewarded the crowd for their enthusiastic support with a great shot from the right side of the net but the Wranglers goalie who was back in net made an excellent save.
The visitors used both goalies throughout the evening facing a large number of shots, they played an outstanding night despite losing the game.
With under four minutes left the “warm up the bus” chant from the home crowd combined with the Hit The Road Jack song over the loud speakers signaled the inevitable loss for 100 Mile House.
At 17:15 the first scrum of the game erupted from the Wranglers’ Tanner Hooper getting into a half shoving-punching match with a Grizzlies player but one of his bigger teammates skated over to get involved in case the larger Wrangler wanted to drop the gloves.
The referees wisely tossed the opposing player out of the game avoiding any late altercations.
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Within 21 seconds of the seven-minute major penalty Revelstoke’s Porter Trevelyan snapped a beautiful shot into the upper right corner putting an exclamation point on the final 5-0 score.
Before the final horn sounded Gallo got in his last hit of the evening smashing into two players at his favorite spot on the glass in front of the beer garden to the delight of the remaining dedicated fans.
Final shots were 60-22 indicating how the home team never let up in their quest to win a second consecutive game for the home fans.
The Grizzlies’goalie Brandon Weare had a terrific night, earning the well deserved shut out.
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