The Revelstoke Grizzlies had their first game of the preseason last night (Sept. 1), taking their first victory against the Golden Rockets.
The Grizzlies are hot off their Cyclone Taylor Cup win at the end of last season and looking to keep their success going into this season. The Grizzlies are also ramping up the intensity to have a strong start to their inaugural Junior ‘A’ season since the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) ascended last year from Junior ‘B’. Grizzlies’ Daniel Wittenberg opened the team’s scoring for the season in less than a minute against the Rockets.
Wittenberg scored just 34 seconds into the game, assisted by David Yoon and Diego Smith. The goal was the first of three unanswered goals in the first period by the Grizzlies, with two more goals scored by Nicholas Buckley and Corey Humphreys who capitalized on the powerplay.
The Golden Rockets started strong in the second period with an early goal from Draeden Bear at 1:18, assisted by Isaiah Stotz and Chaz Jaeb. The Rockets’ next goal wouldn’t come until nearly 14 minutes into the period when Liam Flynn scored on a powerplay.
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Reid Ashcroft scored the Grizzlies’ fourth goal of the night at 17:57 shorthanded in the second period. Less than thirty seconds later, the Rockets answered the goal with one of their own scored by Hayden Barr on the powerplay.
The Rockets opened the scoring in the third period with a powerplay goal at 13:11 from Cam Whitelaw. The Grizzlies got a goal within a minute of the Rockets with Zane Irion finding the back of the net at 14:14 on the powerplay. The final goal from Irion brought the score to 5–4 for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies are back in exhibition action tonight (Sept. 2). The team will play their first home game of the preseason against the Golden Rockets for the second night in a row. The action starts at 7 p.m. at the Revelstoke Forum.
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@ZacharyDelaney
zach.delaney@revelstokereview.com
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