This past season, the Victoria Grizzlies finished sixth in the Coastal Conference with a final record was 26-20-5-3.
The season saw several changes for the organization. The Grizzlies hired Rylan Ferster as their new head coach and general manager and later added Geoff Grimwood to the coaching staff as an assistant.
On the ice, several new players joined the roster. Veteran players like Owen Bohn and Olivier Picard provided critical offense while new goaltenders Oliver Auyeung-Ashton and Ansel Holt helped backstop the team.
A new coaching style
Former Grizzlies head coach Craig Didmon had a distinct coaching style where he relied on his top goal scorers to power the offense. Players like Matthew Wood, Ellis Rickwood, Connor Eddy, Clark Hiebert, and Kalen Szeto each scored 45 points or more in 2021-22. Wood, who’s projected to be selected in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft, alone scored 85 points as a 16-year-old.
Current head coach Ferster relies more on defense, and it shows in the structure that he and the coaching staff have installed. The structure didn’t emerge immediately because it took time for the players to learn it. When they grasped what the new coach wanted them to do, the Grizzlies surged in the standings.
This defensive structure allowed the Grizzlies to upset the Penticton Vees in a shootout on February 4th. The Grizzlies were one of only four teams to beat the Vees during the regular season. The dedication to defense allowed Victoria to be competitive against the other Coastal Conference teams.
Three leading scorers and the emergence of Auyeung-Ashton
This season saw Bohn, Picard, and Jack Gorton as Victoria’s leading scorers. The trio provided the majority of the Grizzlies’ offense during the regular season. Gorton finished with 45 points, while Bohn tallied 47 points, and Picard, as leading scorer, notched 58 points.
Of the three top scorers, Picard was the most penalized with 50 penalty minutes, compared to Gorton’s 30 and Bohn’s 28.
Because of his penalty totals and style of play, I compare Picard to two Boston Bruins players. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron are two of Boston’s top scorers and are usually among the team leaders in penalty minutes.
Bergeron and Marchand are infamous for getting on the opposing team’s nerves and I can’t help but compare Picard’s style to the legendary Bruins’ forwards.
Heading into next season, Auyeung-Ashton is the unquestioned starting goaltender. The rookie’s play earned him the starting role over Ansel Holt.
Initially, I believed Holt would be the new starter for 2022-23 because he has veteran experience at the junior A level with the Maine Nordiques of the North American Hockey League.
Auyeung-Ashton is a rookie goaltender, but his play helped Victoria win several close games. One such match-up was that February 4th game against the Vees.
With Holt heading off to West Point Academy this fall, the Grizzlies will have a new backup goalie next season. They’ve already recruited Owen Bresson from the Selects Academy as noted in a previous article.
Looking ahead
In the 2023 Fred Page Cup playoffs, the Grizzlies were swept in the first round by the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. For several players, game four against the Bulldogs on April 5th was their last outing in a Grizzlies jersey.
All three of the Grizzlies’ top scorers depart the team this off-season. Picard ages out of junior hockey while Bohn is off to Cornell University and Gorton will attend Boston University.
Auyeung-Ashton has three more seasons of junior hockey eligibility before aging out and should be the unequivocal number-one goalie next season. As for Ferster, he’s put his stamp on the team with an emphasis on defensive play. A large determination of the Grizzlies’ style in 2023-24 will depend on which new players Ferster brings in this off-season.
