Tag: Yuri Terao

Utah Grizzlies: Slow Start

After a spirited end to Friday’s game, the tilt on Saturday promised to be a a good one, complete with specialty jerseys for Epilepsy night. Mason McDonald got his first regular season start in a Grizzlies’ jersey, while Mike Economos and Teigan Zahn drew in for Connor Yau, Ryan Black, and Colin Jacobs.

Although the Grizzlies looked much more together from the get-go, Idaho struck first, 1:26 into the frame.

However, Utah got right back on their collective horse, and were able to string together several shifts in the offensive zone. Despite the zone time, by the five minute mark, Idaho held the shot lead 5-0 as well as the score lead.

Kevin Davis kept his feet moving, and drew a power play shortly thereafter. Although it wasn’t reflected on either the shot counter or the scoreboard, the team looked more cohesive.

Despite all that, Idaho made it 2-0 before the Grizzlies had hit their third shot on goal.

Economos tried to get something going after Taylor Richart got into a little bit of a shoving match, but Idaho declined, and Economos was sent to the box for roughing.

Utah killed off the penalty off, but Joe Wegwerth took a roughing call in the after-buzzer crowd.

The Grizzlies spent large portions of the kill in and around the offensive zone to start the second, and Travis Barron continued to have a second strong game, earning some cheers following a big hit.

Barron followed that up by drawing a power play, and Utah got a couple of really nifty chances, but were again unable to beat Tomas Sholl. They were able to narrow the shot deficit however, 18-14 after the 16-9 first period.

Just when it looked like the Grizzlies were getting themselves sorted out, and playing some solid hockey, they coughed the puck up right in front of McDonald, and Spencer Naas made it 3-0.

Zahn took a boarding call with four to go, and Barron continued to be the Grizzles’ most standout all-around player going into second intermission.

Less than a minute into the second period, Barron drew another power play, and then ruined Sholl’s shut out by banking the puck off an Idaho defenseman and in.

The Grizzlies drew another power play at 7:06, and took over the shot lead shortly thereafter.

The players had a couple of great ideas in the minutes that followed, but shot just wide, or were just out of reach. Tischke took a cross-checking penalty with about six minutes left and the cantankerous spirit escalating.

Utah pulled McDonald with 1:30 to go, but they were unable to draw within one, falling 3-1 regulation.

Barron was, once again, one of the more noticeable Utah players, drawing power plays, laying hits, and driving play throughout the game.

Overall, it was a better start than Friday, and once again improved greatly in the second and third periods, but the slow start and the second period turnover proved costly.

“Same script as last night, except I thought we played better.” Tim Branham said after the game. “Not the first period. First period was terrible. Second period was fabulous until we had one turnover, one shot, goal. And that’s what happens. That’s what happens when you think…I don’t know if you think it’s gonna be easy, but the way you play you think it’s gonna be easy. This league will kick you in the butt. And that’s a good team over there. That’s a goalie that’s always one of the best in the league every single year, and he proved that this weekend for sure. He was their number one star. But you’ve got to find ways, you’ve got to take his eyes away, be more tenacious. I thought we did a lot of good things in the second and third period, we had that fire in our gut, and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got that fire in our gut from the drop of the puck.”

Travis Barron continues to impress, and came in for some high praise from his coach.

“He’s really stepped it up, that’s for sure. I thought both games he was our best player. We’re challenging him to be our best player every single night, and that’s what it’s gonna take to move up. He’s done really well, from penalty killing to power play to the physical aspect of the game, making plays, great attitude, leading on the bench, leading in the dressing room, he has done a really good job so far.”

Barron stood head and shoulders above the rest, but he wasn’t the only one who has shown flashes. One such player is Cole Cassels, who has two assists, and Griffen Molino. Another has been Yuri Terao, who isn’t always the most noticeable player, but always seems to appear exactly where he needs to be.

“Yuri competes. He’s a good player. For a language barrier, it’s tough sometimes, and he does a really good job. A lot of good things out there. He’s got good cut backs, good skill, and I think he’s just gonna get better the more he gets used to this North American style.”

As has already been said, the pieces are all there, and they’re starting to come together, but there’s still work to be done. Fortunately, it’s only game two, so there’s still plenty of time yet to sort it all out.

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