Tag: Hunter Miska

Utah Grizzlies: Fast and Furious

Back at home again, but still down Travis Barron, Cole Cassels, Josh Dickinson, Ryan Wagner,  Ty Lewis, and now Tim McGauley, the Grizzlies’ roster looked pretty different from the last time the home crowd saw them. In were Garrett Klotz, Jack Jenkins, and Jake Jackson, while Joe Wegwerth, Mason McDonald, and Hunter Miska all returned to the lineup. Teigan Zahn drew in as the tenth forward, and Misika, hot off a highly successful AHL stint, got the start.

Both teams came out flying, Utah looking especially quick and heavy hitting, creating all kinds of mayhem (but also having to defend against it as well). Into the first four minutes, Utah had decidedly the greater zone time, but had only put up two shots to Orlando’s one.

Yuri Terao especially had some fire in his step, while Garrett Klotz made sure everyone was wide awake with a big hit in the opening minutes. The Grizzlies drew the first power play of the night with Cody Donaghey heading to the box for slashing. Taylor Richart got a couple of big shots from both points, and then Eric Williams beat Clint Windsor with a backhand shot to give Utah the 1-0 lead.

On the next shift, Peter Tischke took a cross-checking call, and the Utah PK got to work half-way through the first, and killed it off. The play that followed wasn’t the cleanest Utah’s shown this season, but it got the job done.

At 7:15, Teigan Zahn and Jake Coughler dropped the gloves at the offensive zone blue line, Zahn got the take-down, and both were sent to cool their heels in the box.

Neither goalie saw much work through the first period, but Miska was where he needed to be when he needed to be, especially as Orlando began to pressure in earnest at the end of the first. The Solar Bears’ hard work paid off, as they took over the shot lead, and with 2:22 to go in the first, made it 1-1.

Utah had a little bit of push-back at the end, and at the buzzer, Mike Economos took the butt end of a stick to the gut, causing a crowd to gather.

After 20, Orlando out-shot the Grizzlies 8-5, but the score remained 1-1.

Griffen Molino had two prime looks to start the second, and Utah headed to the power play, thanks to a delay of game penalty from Chris LeBlanc.

The Grizzlies pressed hard on the advantage, and took the shot lead again before the power play came to an end.

Patrick McGrath took a roughing call about five into the second, but Miska and the penalty killers got the job done once again. J.C. Brassard had a stand out moment of his own shortly thereafter, managing to stall at the blue line long enough for his teammates to tag up while retaining possession of the puck.

The Grizzlies got another power play just past the half-way mark of the second. However, they only really got a couple of looks from the center of the ice before Orlando returned to full strength.

Leblanc found himself back in the box for the third time in the period after slashing Zahn’s stick out of his hands, but though Utah set Richart up perfectly several times, and moved the puck well, the best PK in the league held them at bay.

Orlando got a chance on the power play towards the end of the period when McGrath took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Miska once again showed the moves that earned him a shut out in the AHL, and the Grizzlies killed off the penalty.

The second period came to an end in the midst of a lengthy rugby scrum, shots 20-20, and the score still 1-1.

The third period got off to a choppy start, and both teams fought through the neutral zone for possession. Peter Tischke and Tayler Thompson got matching roughing calls, and Miska remained stellar.

As the period progressed, both teams found themselves in their respective offensive zones for prolonged periods of time. Utah took a delay of game penalty at 8:03, but were able to kill it off fairly smoothly.

As the game entered the final ten minutes of regulation, Miska continued to coolly hold down the fort, and another delay of game penalty sent Utah back to the man advantage.

Once again, the Grizzlies created some nice chances, and made some really nice plays, but were unable to finish on the man advantage.

As the final seconds raced by, Molino whistled the puck at the net, and only just missed giving Utah the regulation win. Utah earned the point, and headed into OT.

Terao got two grade A looks in the first 30 seconds, but was thwarted first by the bar, and second by Windsor.

Fortunately for the Grizzlies, their defense keeps stepping up to fill the scoring void, and Brassard ended OT with his second of the year.

Hunter Miska was easily the best player on the ice for most of the game, but Brassard’s OT GWG earned him first star while Miska took second star, and Williams was named third. Terao and Molino were on fire the entire night, and while they didn’t capitalize, their play led to some really terrific scoring chances.

“Stellar goal-tending, same with theirs, their goal-tending was stellar as well, really proud of the way that our group played” said head coach Tim Branham in his post game comments. “A lot of the things that we worked on in practice this week we implemented. We played a full 60 minutes. I couldn’t be more proud of them. And then the way that they played, the way that they battled, they played a full 63 minutes, whatever it was, can’t say much more other than how proud I am of the way they played.”

Things have been challenging lately, but though they’ve struggled, the Grizzlies haven’t backed down. “We’ve got six forwards in the American league right now, on one team or another. Kudos to these guys who have stepped in and filled those rolls. We knew that we’re not gonna score ten goals a game, or seven goals a game. It is what it is. Our challenge is to play well defensively, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight. Special teams was good again, and it’s a work in progress. Right now this group wants it. They want it really bad, and they’re doing a great job.”

“We know that our record isn’t exactly what we want at this moment,” JC Brassard said of the team’s season so far, “But we’ve been working really hard in practice, doing all the right things, working hard in games, we just didn’t get bounces until tonight, and I think everyone is happy it paid off, and all the hard work is coming together.”

It was obvious that Miska’s return from the AHL helped as well. “When you have a goalie in net who you can trust, and you know is gonna clean up your mistakes, it makes playing a whole lot easier” Brassard added. “You play more relaxed, and you’re a lot more focused on the game as opposed to someone else’s job, so it helped a lot to have him here, and we’re really glad he’s back down.”

Despite having so much movement in the roster, the team seems to have gelled really well. “We’re all working together, we were all clicking today” Brassard said. “We got in a practice together with all the new guys. The coaches have been doing a really good job, and they get everyone informed before the game, and get everyone on the same page.”

The Grizzlies hope to bring the same mindset and execution to tonight’s rematch.

Goals

  • First Period: Williams (Lauzon, Wegwerth) (PP)
  • Second Period: None
  • Third Period: None
  • OT: Brassard (Jenkins)

PP: 1/5
PK: 4/4

 

Photo courtesy of Tim Broussard and staff

Utah Grizzlies: Learning Curve

A new season, new threads, a new captain, and 16 brand new faces. There’s a lot that’s new, but there’s still lot that’s familiar. Once again, the Grizzlies begin the year facing their long-time rivals, the Idaho Steelheads, and though there are mostly new faces, eight players have returned, and that new captain we mentioned? That’s Taylor Richart.

The first game of the season got off to a bit of a tentative start, both teams feeling each other out in the early going.

By the half-way point, returnee Travis Barron had laid a big hit, Griffen Molino had a chance, and the likes of Yuri Terao, and Peter Tischke had shown off a little of what they can do.

By the half-way point, the Grizzlies were able to string together a number of successive shifts in the offensive zone. They followed that up with several defensive zone shifts that earned some appreciative cheers, as the shot clock climbed to seven all in the scoreless first.

Josh Dickinson took the first penalty of the season at 14:01, but Hunter Miska made a number of quick saves, including a particularly nice one glove side to keep it scoreless.

Unfortunately, Zack Andrusiak made it 1-0 on the power play, and Idaho struck again quickly thereafter to make it 2-0.

Cole Cassels took a high-stick with 45 seconds to go, and the Grizzlies headed into first intermission with 1:14 of power play coming up.

Utah got a shot on the advantage to start the second, but were otherwise unable to set up until Yuri Terao snuck past everyone following the power play. Tomas Sholl turned his attempt aside, as well as a big shot from Tischke.

Ryan Black took a hooking call about 4:30 into the second, and Molino followed him to the box on a tripping call, but Utah successfully killed both.

Tischke and Keegan Kanzig headed off to the box very shortly thereafter for matching unsportsmanlike conduct minors as the game got chippy. Travis Barron got a look, and Miska made another few saves.

Dickinson drew a power play of his own about half-way through the second, and Travis Barron scored Utah’s first goal of the season—a tap in from Brandon Saigeon.

Cassels drew a power play shortly thereafter, but Idaho killed it off, and scored again out of the box with 5:16 to go. Nine seconds later, Patrick McGrath dropped the gloves with Kanzig despite giving up a good seven inches and nearly 50 pounds lighter. Both were sent off for fighting.

Molino created some buzz with under two to go, showing off a sweet shot and some nice, crisp passing, and Terao drew a late power play, but after 40 the Grizzlies continued to trail.

They were unable to get anything going on the power play, but at 1:44, Terao slid the puck past Tomas Sholl to put the Grizzlies back within one. Idaho took a delay of game penalty shortly thereafter, and Cassels nearly had his first of the season, but only just missed beating Sholl.

Barron had a big shift, but it culminated in a penalty, and the loudest boo from the fans all night. The penalty put Utah on the 5-on-3 for 1:36, but the killers went to work with a will, and between a big block from Richart, and a good stick from Yao among other things, the Grizzlies returned to full strength.

Utah picked up some momentum heading towards the final five minutes, but although they got some offensive zone cycling going, they remained unable to challenge Sholl.

Utah pressed more strongly in the third, but a soft roughing call on Cassels put them back in the box with a bit over three to go.

The Grizzlies returned to full strength after a strong kill, and pulled Miska for the extra skater, but they weren’t able to beat the clock. So the season begins with a 3-2 loss, and quite a scuffle post-buzzer, but there were definitely some positives to take away from it.

The third period was by far the best of the lot, with Utah establishing some zone time, and showing more cohesion than in the previous two periods.

Although Miska gave up three goals, he otherwise looked solid in net. You can see that all the pieces are there, but they just haven’t quite worked out how to make them all mesh just yet.

We chatted with Richart after the game about the captaincy, and the new team.

“It feels good, it’s an honor,” he said. “Great organization from top to bottom. Learned a lot from the guys before me, especially Zahn last year. He’s a great leader and he kind of took me under his wing last year. To follow him is a big honor.”

The season has barely begun, but Richart already likes how the team is coming together, both on and off the ice.

“It’s early, but a lot of the guys are gelling well We struggled a little bit in the first there, but I thought as the game went on we were feeling each other out. Outside the locker room, guys are hanging out, we’re a pretty close group. It’s fun to be around the guys, and I think everyone feels that way.”

Both Richart and Head Coach Tim Branham emphasized fact that while there’s still plenty of work to be done, they like where the team is headed.

“We started a little slow, it’s the first game, long season, we just got to get our legs going, be confident in one another. I think we’re kind of trying to do a little bit too much right now,” Richart said. Going forward “so just to build off that third period, we’ve just gotta play that way the whole game.”

“As the game went on, we got better,” Branham said. “We’ve gotta learn from that. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Definitely happy with the way we ended the game.”

“We’re learning how to play together,” he added. “We still have a lot of guys we put into the lineup that didn’t play preseason with us, then by the third period we were playing our game. We were keeping things a little more simple, I think the first two periods we were trying to beat guys one-on-one instead of driving wide and keeping things simple. Supporting the puck, creating two-on-ones, that kind of thing.

“Definitely a few things we need to clean up. I thought the penalty kill was ok, we could be better there. I thought as the game went on we were much better up ice. Power play had chances, we hit a couple of posts there in the second period, could have been different. But that’s a good team, it’s always a good team, they’ve got good defense, good goaltending, you can’t beat those guys one-on-one, you gotta play as a team against them.”

Fortunately, as the first pre and regular season games have shown, the Grizzlies have some good goaltending of their own. Of Hunter Miska and Mason McDonald, Branham said:

“We’ve got two really good goaltenders. Hunter’s played in the NHL, he’s a good goaltender. He moves really well, he’s got a great attitude, Mason’s the same thing. Mason’s a little bigger, and takes up a lot more of the net, and he’s got a great attitude as well.”

“He’s just so confident, so poised,” Richart concluded, speaking of Miska, “You know what you’re gonna get out of him every night. He plays the puck well, he’s talking, he makes the big saves, he’s a great goalie.”

 

 

Photo courtesy of Tim Broussard