Grizzlies look to end Clippers’ season

After a disappointing 3-0 loss at home in Game 2, the Victoria Grizzlies believe they owe it to their fans to wrap up their opening series against the Nanaimo Clippers tonight at 7 at The Q Centre.

Up 3-1 in the best-of-seven affair, the Grizzlies can close out the Clippers and try to get some rest, like the Powell River Kings who have already advanced to the Island Division final after an overtime victory in Duncan on Wednesday.

“I think it would be a good way to show appreciation for the fans. I think we should have a decent crowd,” said Cole Pickup, who played hero with the game-tying and game-winning goals in the third period of Wednesday’s 4-3 win in Nanaimo. “We don’t want to go back up [to Nanaimo]. We’d like to finish it off.

“It’s a tough place to play,” he added of Frank Crane Arena, which has produced some chaotic scenes behind the Grizzlies’ bench the last two games with unruly fans. “They play a good game in their own arena, but no matter what, they bring an intense game.

“I think their coach gets them fired up for games and, for sure, they’ll be ready for Friday. I know they’ll have some 20-year-olds on that team who don’t want to end their season on Friday,” added Pickup.

The Grizzlies leading scorer knows the value of rest.

“It would be nice to get a couple of days off. The guys, of course, would like to get it done on Friday, but at the same time we can only focus one period at a time and break those periods into five-minute segments and make sure we win each one of those.”

Since the Game 2 setback, the Grizzlies have responded to plenty of adversity, having lost defenceman Brett Stirling to a four-game suspension while also losing the services of Cam Thompson to a game misconduct and Lucas Clark to injury on Wednesday.

“There was plenty of adversity and, to be a good playoff team, you have to overcome adverse situations like that,” said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon.

“It’s a very hostile rink. There was trouble in the crowd again behind our bench,” he added. “We don’t have a lot of playoff experience and, all of a sudden, you see these boys growing into men and I’m very impressed with their level of battle.”

Now they come home with a huge advantage.

“We still need to put a 60-minute game together. We had a lapse in the second period,” Pickup said of allowing two goals to fall behind 3-2 on Wednesday. “We need that full 60 minutes on Friday night or it’ll go another game.”

“We want to do this for our fans,” added Didmon. “We didn’t play well in Game 2, we know that, and we owe it to our fans.”