The Victoria Grizzlies are hoping a little of the Kraft Hockeyville hoopla will carry over to their home opener Thursday night (Oct. 1) at The Q Centre in Colwood.
The Grizzlies, forced to play away from their home ice, first by stablemate Victoria Shamrocks for the Mann Cup lacrosse series, then by the NHL for last week’s Hockeyville game between the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks, celebrate their homecoming with a 7 p.m. B.C. Hockey League game against the Coquitlam Express.
To bring the community back into the fold, the team is offering free popcorn for the first 1,000 fans, has a fun photo booth on hand and will draw a name for someone to shoot for a car courtesy of Galaxy Motors.
Winless in their first four road starts on the ice, the Grizzlies posted their first win on Sunday in Chilliwack.
Veteran forward Kevin Massy bagged the winner 4:02 into overtime to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings at the Bauer BCHL Showcase.
Massy and linemate Cole Pickup set up Brayden Gelsinger for the 1-0 goal in the first period Sunday, but the Kings tied it late in the third. Mitchel Benson picked up the win in goal, making 26 stops in all.
The win salvaged the weekend for the club, after they lost 4-0 to the host Chiefs on Saturday.
Grizzlies go high-tech ...Today the team unveiled two new mobile phone features for fans, the Victoria Grizzlies team app and the Bear Hockey app, sponsored by BC Transit, a variation on air hockey.
"The Grizzlies App will make it even easier for our fans to access the information they want, and become more engaged with the team throughout the season," said Sonya Saujani, vice-president of operations. "Being able to buy tickets through the app, check in on our social media buzz, see the standings and listen to the broadcasts through your mobile phone will bring more fun to following the Grizzlies, no matter where our fans are."
Visit victoriagrizzlies.com or Grizzlies Official Home on Facebook for more details about the team and the new apps.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com