Grizzlies ready for rested Chiefs
GAME DAY: VICTORIA AT CHILLIWACK, GAME 1 7 p.m. at Prospera Centre
Jason Tatarnic is a firm believer in self motivation so the Chilliwack Chiefs general manager and head coach wasn’t about to get into a war of words when presented with his opponents’ blast across his bow two days earlier.
Victoria Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon stated his beliefs that the Chiefs were a good hockey club, but then stressed Chilliwack: “Knocked off a team [Wenatchee] that was made for the regular season and now we’re going to go after them. We’re going to show them what a playoff team looks like.”
Tatarnic chose to take the high road when asked his opinion of the slight as the two teams get prepared to play Game 1 of the B.C. Hockey League Coastal Conference final — or league semifinal — tonight at 7 at Prospera Centre.
Game 2 goes Saturday before Games 3 and 4 head to The Q Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday in the best-of-seven affair.
“I guess he’s entitled to his opinion. If you have to rely on that for motivation to win, then you’re not prepared to begin with,” added Tatarnic. “At this time of the year, if you’re not motivated to win, then there’s a problem. That shouldn’t be our sole motivation to this series.”
In fact, it doesn’t come close, he suggested.
“When you start every season, your goal is to make it as far as you can. A league championship is what our goal has been through this season and I’m sure that’s no different than any other team. … We’re still in the first steps of our goal,” added Tatarnic.
“We’re in the semifinals and they’re the team that stands in front of what we want to accomplish. The problem is the other team is a pretty good hockey team so that presents the challenge.
“They’ve played two good teams in Nanaimo and Powell River. I would never discredit what either team brings. We battled Nanaimo the last two years in the round-robin format and Powell River was an excellent team throughout the season. All we can do is worry about what we’re doing. We’ve played two really good hockey teams and we’re about to play another, that’s our focus.”
Didmon and the Grizzlies have the same aspirations.
“I’m really happy for the group, but we’re only halfway there. Our goal is to get the league title and we’re halfway there,” he said.
Both teams had strong regular seasons. The Chiefs were 41-11-6-0 for 88 points, while Victoria was 37-12-5-4 for 83 points. In the playoffs, the Grizzlies used five games to down Nanaimo in Round 1, then seven games (including five overtime periods) to edge Powell River.
In 10 playoff games the Chiefs — who feature 10 players with NCAA Div. I commitments — have scored 36 times while surrendering 22. They allowed just six to Wenatchee, the regular-season champs. Victoria has tallied 30 times in 12 games and allowed just 25.
In the regular season, the Chiefs dumped the Grizzlies 3-1 in Victoria in what was Chilliwack’s third game of a three-game road trip. Victoria then earned an overtime win on the mainland.
Didmon and Co. have a strong belief that they are a much more fit club and that endurance paid off against Powell River.
“I felt like at the end of every period [against Powell River] we were the ones pushing because we’re in great shape. We’re just looking after our bodies. We’ve been looking after our mind and bodies for a long time and it’s showing,” said Didmon. “They’re healing and we’re all fresh. We don’t have any injuries right now and it’s great.”
“Throughout the year we’ve been working on conditioning, going for sprints on the soccer field out back or at the gym and hitting the bikes hard. We knew it would pay off and we just have to keep going at it,” said Keyvan Mokhtari, the hero of Monday’s Game 7 double-overtime thriller.
“For us, it was just making sure we just wore down their defencemen during the game and you could tell by the first overtime they were gassed out and we took advantage.”
However, the Chiefs have had eight days off to rest while Victoria was pushed to the brink, which could factor in.
The Grizzlies also feel they have a difference-maker in goalie Matthew Galajda, who was a league runner-up as most valuable player and is bound for the Cornell Big Red of the NCAA next season.
“He’s been stellar all year. He’s our driving force. It starts with him and moves out and without him, we wouldn’t be here right now,” said Mokhtari.
“When you have a guy in net like Galajda, as a coach you know that you have something special there and you have to do something with it,” added Didmon. Tatarnic was not disputing that. “Obviously, Galajda is a good goalie and their defence can all play. There’s no weak link back there,” he said.