Grizzlies Conclude Homestand With President's Day Matinee

Grizzlies Conclude Homestand on President’s Day

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies conclude the 6 game homestand on Monday afternoon against the Kansas City Mavericks for a Maverik Monday at 1 pm.

The Grizzlies were shut out last Saturday night 3-0 as Mason McDonald stopped all 18 shots for the Mavericks in the win. A great crowd of 8674 were at Maverik Center on Saturday night for Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend Presented by Stadler. Utah was wearing specialty jersey’s that were auctioned off after the game and $16,350 were raised at the auction and will be donated to local charities.

Caleb Herbert returns to the Grizzlies lineup for the President’s Day game after a week with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Herbert leads the team with 25 goals, 27 assists and 52 points on the year. Herbert is averaging 1.36 points per game.

Face-off is at 1:00 pm for the President’s Day matinee. Get your tickets now at utahgrizzlies.com or the Maverik Center box office. If you can’t make it to the game, you can hear it on ESPN 700, espn700sports.com.

Later this week the Grizzlies hit the road for games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Allen.

Kansas City Mavericks (25-19-4) at Utah Grizzlies (31-14-5) 1:00 p.m. MT

Utah is in first place in the Mountain Division with 67 standings points. Idaho is tied for 2nd with 66 points with Tulsa. Kansas City is in 4th place with 54 points.

● 6th and final season meeting between Utah and KC but the first time at Maverik Center. Grizzlies have a 2-2-1 record. 2 of the 5 games have been decided in overtime.

● Grizzlies are third in the league with 28.02 shots-against per game.

Grizzlies 8 game point streak ended with Saturday’s 3-0 loss. Utah has standings points in 8 of their last 9 games.

Ryan Walters has 7 goals in his last 7 games.

Rubber Match

Today is the rubber match of the 3 game series. Utah won in overtime 4-3 on Feb. 15th as Gage Ausmus scored the game winner. It was the only goal Ausmus has scored in 70 games in a Grizzlies uniform. On Saturday night Kansas City shut out Utah 3-0 as the Mavericks got goals from 3 different skaters and Mason McDonald picked up his 3rd shutout in the month of February. Joe Cannata stopped 27 of 30 shots. Saturday’s game had a good crowd of 8674 at Maverik Center for Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend Presented by Stadler. $16,350 were raised on the jersey auction after the game with the proceeds going to local charities. Saturday’s shut out was the first time Utah had been shut out since December 1st at Rapid City.

Caleb Herbert Returns

Caleb Herbert comes back from spending the past week with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Herbert has 25 goals and 27 assists on the season. He’s tied for 6th in the league with 52 points.

Previous Week's Record: Utah went 1-1 vs Kansas City

Grizzlies won 4-3 in overtime on a Gage Ausmus GWG om Feb. 15. Utah lost 3-0 on Feb. 16. 

Overall record: 31-14-4-1

Home record: 18-8-1

Road record: 13-6-3-1

This Week's Games: (Utah is home vs Kansas City on Feb.18 and at Allen on Feb 22nd, 23rd and 24th)

Last 10 games: Utah is 7-2-1

Goals per game: 3.46 (6th in league). 

Goals against per game: 2.76 (5th). 

Shots per game: 31.16 (17th). 

Shots against per game: 28.02 (3rd). 

Power play: 21.6 % (Tied 4th). 

Penalty Kill: 85.5 % (6th).

Grizzlies Swept Idaho

Saturday night a crowd of 9065 saw the Grizzlies win 4-2 to sweep the Steelheads in a 3 game series. Utah outscored Idaho 12-6 for the week, scoring 4 goals in each of the 3 games.

Kansas City This Week

It’s the 5th season meeting between the two teams.

Jake Marchment has 1 goal and 3 assists vs KC This year. Josh Dickinson has 1 goal and 3 assists in 3 games vs KC

November 3rd – Kansas City won 5-4 in overtime as Mark Cooper got the game winner. Grizzlies got goals from 4 different players.

January 25th – Utah won 5-1 as Jack Walker, Austin Carroll and Josh Dickinson each had 1 goal and 1 assist.

January 26th – Kansas City won 4-3. JT Henke had 1 goal and 1 assist.

February 15th – Utah won 4-3 in overtime Gage Ausmus game winning goal. Grayson Downing 1 goal, 1 assist. Josh Dickinson 2 assists.

February 16th – Kansas City won 3-0. –KC outshot Utah 30-18. Mason McDonald got the shutout for KC. KC 1-8 on Power play, while Utah was 0-1.

Grizzlies Sign Forward Joseph Mizzi

Utah signs forward Joseph Mizzi, who had been playing with the Aurora Tigers of the OJHL (Ontario Junior Hockey League). He had 5 shots on goal in his Grizzlies debut on Feb. 15.

Mizzi has 32 goals and 33 assists in 45 games. Mizzi is 5’10” tall and 180 pounds. He’s 20 years old.

Injuries

JT Henke is out of the lineup with a lower body injury. Henke has 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points in 31 games this season for Utah. Defenseman Nolan De Jong was hurt last Saturday vs Kansas City and has missed the last 7 games. Forward Austin Carroll is out with an upper body injury and Jack Walker is out with a lower body injury. Cole Ully remains out of the lineup since getting hurt on December 29th vs Allen. RT Rice is also out for Utah.

Grizzlies Among League Leaders

Caleb Herbert is 4th in the league with 25 goals on the season. Herbert is also tied for 6th in the league with 52 points, despite 3 different stints in the AHL this season. He’s averaging 1.36 points/game.

Joe Cannata, currently leads the league with 4 shutouts. Kevin Carr is tied for 2nd in the league with 3 shutouts. Teigan Zahn leads all defenseman with 12 major penalties.

Who’s Been Great Lately

Ryan Walters has 7 goals and 2 assists in the last 7 games.

Mike Economos has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 7 games.

Jake Marchment has 3 goals and 8 assists in his last 11 games and is a +4 in that span.

Josh Dickinson has 1 goal and 9 assists in his last 11 games.

Watch Out for Special Teams

The Grizzlies were 0 for 1 on the power play, while KC was 1 for 8 last Saturday. Grizzlies are number 6 on the penalty kill at 85.5 percent as well as tied for 4th on the power play at 21.6 %. The power play is 4 for 25 this homestand while the penalty kill is 21 for 25.

Good First Periods

Utah has outscored opponents 54-41 in the first periods this year. The second periods have been even better, where Utah has outscored opponents 63-46.

Best Winning % in the Division

The Grizzlies have the best winning percentage in the Mountain division at .670. It’s tied for the second best rate in the Western Conference. Cincinnati has a .755 win %. Utah is tied with Toledo for 2nd.

If the playoffs started today Utah would face the KC Mavericks, who have 52 standings points.

Idaho would be the number 2 seed and face the Tulsa Oilers in the first round.

2 goal games for Utah this season.

Caleb Herbert and JT Henke – 5 times.

Matt Berry– 4 times. Cole Ully, Ryan Walters and Jake Marchment – 2 times 

Tim McGauley, Austin Carroll, Mike Economos , Julien Nantel and Mitch Maxwell– 1 time.  

Award Winners

December Rookie of the Month: JT Henke.

November Co-Player of the Month: Caleb Herbert & Cole Ully.

Player of the Week: Matt Berry – November 19th-25th.

Goaltender of the Week: Joe Cannata – November 19th-25th, October 12th-14th.

This Homestand

February 6th – Steelheads at Grizzlies – Utah Wins 4-1. Julien Nantel 2 goals, 1 assist. Ryan Walters 1 goal, 1 assist. Josh Dickinson 2 assists. Mike Economos 1 goal. Kevin Carr 19 for 20 saves.

February 8th – Steelheads at Grizzlies – Utah Wins 4-3. JT Henke 2 goals (5th 2 goal game of the year), Turner Ottenbreit 1 goal, 1 assist. Caleb Herbert got his 24th goal of the season.

February 9th – Steelheads at Grizzlies – Utah Wins 4-2. Mitch Maxwell 2 goals. Caleb Herbert and Ryan Walters also tallied goals. Kevin Carr wins his 3rd game of the week.

February 15th – Mavericks at Grizzlies – Utah Wins 4-3 in OT. Gage Ausmus GWG. Grayson Downing 1 goal, 1 assist. Josh Dickinson 2 assists.

February 16th – Mavericks at Grizzlies – Utah loses 3-0.  

February 18th – Mavericks at Grizzlies – President’s Day Matinee. Maverik Monday (Buy One Get One Free Tickets with Maverik Adventure Card).