There’s no shortage of playoff hockey to catch your attention at the moment, but there’s only one place on Vancouver Island to watch it live.
The Victoria Grizzlies play out of the Q Centre in Colwood, and are in the third round of the BC Hockey League (BCHL) playoffs.
Some late game heroics in game six on Saturday night in Colwood saw the Grizzlies beat the Cowichan Valley Caps to move on to the third round of the BCHL playoffs.
Next, they’ll face the Chilliwack Chiefs for a pair of games on their home turf starting on May 2, with the winner getting the right to play for a league title.
“Of any of the series we’ve played, this one’s gonna be a war,” said Grizzlies associate coach Suneil Karod.
The Grizzlies have a bit of everything.
“We have our skill guys, we have our grinders. Everyone can do a little bit of everything and that’s what I think makes us so special,” said team captain Jacksenn Hungle.
While some Grizzlies hail from Greater Victoria, like forward Landon Mackie, others come from further afield, like Montreal’s Tom Molson.
Molson says he’s cheering for the Canadiens this year, and there’s good reason why.
Besides coming from that province, the young forward’s dad also owns the team. Not the Grizzlies – his dad, Geoff Molson, is co-owner of the Montreal Canadiens, and they’re members of the Molson Canadian beer family.
You’d never know it by talking to Tom, according to his team
“First meeting the kid, you’d have no idea,” said Hungle.
“He’s a kid that comes in and works hard. Takes his lumps just like everybody else,” added Karod.’’
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Tom is second in league playoff scoring, and is moving on to play Ivy League hockey at Yale. The second you see him play, you know the Molson name didn’t get him a free pass.
“I think I’m crafty and creative and quick, I think those are three words that describe my game,” he said.
There are other descriptive words he hears on the ice because of his last name.
“I get chirps about it all the time,” he said.
The chirps, or trash talk, ramps up just like everything else in the playoffs, but he and the team aren’t planning on being quiet, and hope the community comes out and supports them as well.
The community helped energize the Victoria Royals, who just finished one of their best seasons ever in the Western Hockey League (WHL), losing in game five of the second round of playoffs after slugging it out in a double-overtime loss.
SEE ALSO: ‘I don’t think it ever goes away’: Royals players pack up after second round loss