Made It To Victoria & The RBC:

I made the trip up to Victoria today to catch the 2009 Royal Bank Cup. Growing up in Vernon and being a long time Vernon Junior Hockey fan, I have been very lucky to see the Lakers-Vipers in seven Centennial Cup-Royal Bank Cup Championships. This will be my second time at this great tournament. (1990-2009) I got off the ferries just after 5pm, just in time to catch tonight's opening round game, between the Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) & the Humboldt Broncos (SJHL). Victoria has a great rink, with some good features. Very nice inside, great viewing, bright colours and some wonderful skyboxes. Other then the size of the rink and the lesser seating, (compared to the Wesbild Centre) I would have to say the Grizzlies have the nicest rink in the BCHL. This being from the ones I have attended. For the Grizzlies playing in the opening game, I would have expected a sellout, as I was very surprised with the small crowd. Victoria looked very good at times, having the better of the play, but couldnt capitalize on their chances. The Grizzlies with a good 4-5 real good scoring chances, but couldnt find the back of the net. This game could have been over after the first period. Both goaltenders (Anthony Grieco & Mathieu LaRochelle) played very well. Grieco looked very strong with the glove, LaRochelle is very quick on his feet, likes to handle the puck alot, very strong puck handling goaltender. Both teams struggled on the powerplay. Humboldt has some speedy wingers but dosnt play physical. For a team that hasnt played since April 1st, the Grizzlies had lots of jump. A wild and very entertaining 3rd period, Humboldt and their fans thought they had scored the game winner with 55 seconds remaining, but the goal was waived off, due to a high stick. Then with 31 seconds remaining Victoria would get a late powerplay, but a poor decision by the Victoria d-man with just seconds remaining caused a turnover and a breakaway for the Broncos, wich cost the Grizzlies the game. Humboldt would score the game winner with just 1.1 seconds remaining. A true heartbreaker for the Grizzlies and their fans. I had the chance at meeting some very friendly people this evening from all over Canada. Nice to see a huge turn out of Bronco fans in attendance, wich made a ton of noise! Great to see! I will be trying my best to have updates and game recaps from the RBC all week.