Stingy Galadja eager to lead Grizzlies to promised land
Matthew Galajda looks back at the finish to the 2015-16 B.C. Hockey League season and — like his teammates — is left to wonder, what if?
The Victoria Grizzlies netminder and his teammates were living large in early January, winning seven straight to turn around what was a very average season to that point. Then it all quickly turned around again with a sevengame losing skid, followed by a 3-3 finish over the last six.
The young club missed the playoffs by a mere two points and players were left to ponder where it went wrong.
Now Galajda, back for his second season, and 11 other returnees want a re-do.
“I guess the numbers were there, but I definitely wanted to be better. I think I can be way better this year,” said the Aurora, Ont., product, who posted a respectable 2.70 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He also had four shutouts in his 43 games played. “My confidence is high and I hope to be the best goalie in the league. That’s my goal this year.”
His record in 2015-16 was 18-22 and not where he wanted to be. But to be fair, neither he nor backup Mitchel Benson — who is also back for 2016-17 — received strong scoring support offensively. The Grizzlies tallied 173 times last year on their way to a 24-30-4-0 record. They were the fourth-lowest-scoring team in the 17-team circuit.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s goals against (178) were lower than 10 other clubs. In the first five games of 2015-16 the Grizzlies scored just eight times, with one win recorded — a 2-1 overtime affair.
“Early on in the league it was tough and we lost some key guys at the end of the year,” said Galajda. “I don’t know where we were mentally, we kind of just choked. That’s the way it goes, but hopefully we’re going to have a better season this year. That’s what I’m expecting.”
Benson finished with a 6-12 record in 22 games, with one shutout, a 3.34 GAA and .900 save percentage. But it will be a more mature and experienced team in front of the netminders this season.
“I’m excited for the year, with a lot of returning players and a lot of returning defencemen, so we’ll be familiar with them and we’ll all be familiar with our system,” said Galajda, who turns 19 on Oct. 7 and is one of those players hoping for a NCAA Division I scholarship for 2017-18, already talking to couple of schools.
Galajda is slated to play pre-season games on Friday and Saturday. On Wednesday the Grizzlies began their exhibition slate with a 6-4 victory over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs at Juan de Fuca Arena. Veteran forward Nick Guiney led the way with a pair of goals. They head to Duncan tonight to face the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
“There was [a lull in scoring] at the start last year, but we got things rolling, scoring more and we won those seven straight,” Galajda said, looking at the positives of last year. “We do have scoring, we just have to be more consistent and with the players we’re adding, we’ll be better with that. And I’m hoping to have my best season yet.”