Of the eight players returning to this year’s Utah Grizzlies club, it could be argued that none is more valuable than Josh Dickinson. Saving his best hockey for when it mattered most, the Grizzlie forward accrued seven points on three goals and four assists in Utah’s five playoff games last season. In search of their first win of the young season and facing the Wichita Thunder, Dickinson didn’t just make a splash in Wednesday’s contest, he exploded. The second period was barely underway when Dickinson garned one of hockey’s crowns: the hat trick. The rest of the team followed suit as the Grizzlies poured it on and skated to an impressive 7-1 victory.
“We had a tough couple of games against Idaho but we put that behind us and played a complete team game tonight,” Dickinson said. “I’ve never had a hat trick before and it’s pretty wild. We’re starting to gel as a team and we feel confident going on the road.”
Not to be forgotten was fellow returnee Travis Barron. Having scored a goal in each contest against the Idaho Steelheads, the forward continued his torrid pace with a pair of goals, giving him four on the season. The first was fired from an almost impossible angle and the second was on a beautiful feed by yet another veteran, Tim McGauley. Head coach Tim Branham challenged Barron to be the team’s best player and he’s done anything but disappoint.
“I try to bring it every night and it’s my competitive nature to compete as hard as I can every night,” Barron said. “We’ve got a lot of skill and talent on this team and it came together tonight,” Barron said. “This is a good group here. It all starts in practice and coach has challenged us as a team and I felt like we did our job tonight.”
With the duo combining for five goals in the contest, the other two were registered by Griffen Molino and Joe Wegwerth, each scoring his first of the young season. And with goalie Hunter Miska having been called up to the Colorado Eagles, that paved the road for Jeff Smith’s debut in net and although he didn’t face many shots (14 total), only one escaped his pads as he recorded his first professional win.
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