WEST VALLEY, UT- The puck had barely been dropped to the ice when the Alaska Aces scored the first goal of the night, taking the opening faceoff into the Grizzlies’ zone and driving a slap shot past goalie Parker Van Buskirk. This was not exactly the “rebound start” Utah’s coaching staff had been hoping to see from the Grizzlies after a disappointing loss the night prior to the same Aces team.
Utah did welcome back forward Ryan Kinasewich after he spent the majority of his two weeks in the AHL on the Hamilton Bulldogs’ bench. Kinasewich reassumed his position as team captain, and brought with him a ray of hope to a Utah scoring campaign that had decreased significantly since his departure. Kinasewich leads the ECHL in both goals and game-winning goals, and while most around the team are puzzled as to why Hamilton would have called Kinasewich up only to have him ride the pine, they are certainly happy to have him and his hot stick back in West Valley and in a Grizzlies’ uniform.
However, Friday night’s game proved to be an ugly homecoming.
Following the early strike by the Aces, Kinasewich wasted no time firing the puck back at Alaska’s net, as he had five of Utah’s eleven shots on goal in the first period. Problem was, none of the Grizzlies’ shots landed home, and Alaska (who came into West Valley as a below .500 team) added another goal. After the quick first period, the Aces led 2-0.
And things didn’t start off any better in the second period than they did in the first, as Alaska put a third goal past Van Buskirk less than one minute after play had resumed. That forced Utah coach Kevin Colley to replace Van Buskirk with Mitch O’Keefe, who had an eight game win streak snapped by the Aces in the loss the night prior.
Not even two minutes after the change, Alaska was called for a slashing minor, and Utah went on the 5-4 man advantage. The ensuing face off was won by the Grizzlies, and Tom May followed a rebound shot for Utah’s first goal of the game, cutting the Aces lead to two. But the sparkling momentum proved to be merely fools’ gold, as the Grizzlies would fail to score another goal until late in the third period.
Behind the outstanding play of goalie Scott Reed (who entered the game having stopped 82 of Utah’s last 86 shots on goal in their previous three meetings, and ended the night with 42 saves) the Aces began to run wild. They even managed to pour in a five-on-three short handed goal as part of their three goal second period. As the horn ending the frame sounded, Alaska headed to the locker room leading 6-1, and most of the spectators at the E-Center headed to the parking lot, perhaps finding refuge in a big Jazz win over the visiting Trail Blazers in Salt Lake City.
With both teams having seemingly decided this particular hockey game had ended in the second period with the Aces’ sixth goal of the contest, the third period panned out to be a relatively quite one. Aside from a few scuffles and a meaningless second feel-good goal by the Grizzlies, the game ended without any momentum swings or pushing drives for Utah, and the Aces left the state for the last time in ’09 with a 6-2 victory.
The Grizzlies will now have to find a way to bounce back quickly from such an ugly loss, as they head into a December schedule that has Utah playing feared Idaho Steelheads three times (once on the road), a team that is far and beyond the favorite to win the ECHL championship. Also, coach Kevin Colley mentioned in his post game interview that changes would need to be made to the team, as he didn’t see “more than a few players who were willing to stick up for their teammates.” Whether he meant line adjustments or flat out trades, either way this Utah team has their work cut out for them, and not knowing who will be playing and when may prove to be a major road bump in their season.
But then again, if they can pick it back up quickly, this stretch may be less grisly for the Grizzlies than Friday night’s outcome.
Austin Horton
860 AM/1230 KFAN-2/1320 KFAN
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