Grizzlies Gameday: Wednesday Night Fun in Boise

Utah Grizzlies (11-12, 22 points, .478 Win %) at Idaho Steelheads (20-3-0-1, 41 points, .854 Win %) 

Wednesday, December 21, 2022. 7:10 pm. Arena: Idaho Central Arena

Broadcast: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7760073-2022-utah-grizzlies-vs-idaho-steelheads

Audio: YouTube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s the first of a 2 game series against the Grizzlies and Steelheads. It’s the 8th of 18 meetings between the clubs in the regular season. Idaho is 11-2 at home this season, with both losses coming against Utah.

Dakota Raabe has been hot lately as he has a point in 9 of his last 10 games (3 goals, 9 assists). Utah’s power play is 22 for 82 over their last 17 games (26.8 %).

Games This Week

December 21, 2022 – Utah at Idaho. 7:10 pm. Idaho Central Arena.

December 23, 2022 – Utah at Idaho. 7:10 pm. Idaho Central Arena.

You can catch every game on FloHockey and audio on the Grizzlies YouTube channel.

All times mountain.

Games Last Week 

December 17, 2022 – Kansas City 3 Utah 6 – Keaton Jameson earned a Gordie Howe Hat Trick after scoring 2 goals, 1 assist and a fight. Tarun Fizer and Connor McDonald each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Trent Miner saved 26 of 29 in the win. Tyler Penner and Vladislav Mikhalchuk each scored a goal. Utah had 2 shorthanded goals and 1 power play goal. KC outshot Utah 29 to 21.

December 18, 2022 – Kansas City 0 Utah 3 – Lukas Parik earned a 32 save shutout. Utah got goals from Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Tyler Penner and Keaton Jameson. Both teams went 0 for 6 on the power play. James Shearer had 2 assists. 

• Keaton Jameson led Utah with 4 points in 2 games last week (3 goals, 1 assist). Jameson was 1 of 3 Grizzlies players who were a +3 in the series (Tarun Fizer and James Shearer) are the others.
• Lukas Parik now has 2 regular season and 1 playoff shutout in his pro career. All 3 shutouts involved the Grizzlies as he had 1 regular season and 1 playoff shutout against Utah last season as a member of the Rapid City Rush. Parik has a .924 save percentage and a 2.44 Goals Against Average.
• James Shearer returned to the Grizzlies lineup after missing 18 games due to injury. Shearer had 2 assists in the 3-0 win over Kansas City on December 18.

Recent Transactions

December 19 – Goaltender Trent Miner Reassigned to Colorado – Miner was reassigned to Colorado (AHL). This season Trent is 3-7 with a 3.39 GAA and a .898 Save %. Miner has the Grizzlies all-time shutouts record with 8. He had 7 shutouts in the 2021-2022 season and has 1 clean sheet this season.

December 15 – Grizzlies Acquire Jordan Martel from Fort Wayne for Neil Robinson – Forward Jordan Martel was acquired by Utah for Neil Robinson. Martel had 6 assists in 13 games for Fort Wayne this season. Martel had 2 goals and 1 assist in his 2nd pro game vs Wheeling on April 16, 2022. Martel played with the University of Quebec Trois Rivieres in 2020 and 2022, scoring 34 points in 38 games (20 goals, 14 assists). Jordan played in the QMJHL with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar from 2015-2019. His best statistical season in the QMJHL came in the 2017-2018 season where he scored 77 points (39 goals, 38 assists) in 66 games.

Robinson had 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 11 games with Utah this season.

December 14 – Goaltender Garrett Metcalf Loaned to San Diego – In 6 games this season Metcalf has a 5-1 record with a 3.16 GAA and a .913 save percentage.

7 Players in the AHL

There are 7 players who have appeared in 2 or more games with the Grizzlies this season who are now in the American Hockey League.

Kyle Betts – 12 games in Belleville (AHL) 0 points, 9 PIM, -3 rating. In 2 games with Utah he has 1 assist.

Nate Clurman – 3 assists, +5 in 14 games with Colorado (AHL). He has 3 assists in 8 games with Utah.

Brandon Cutler – Appeared in 3 games with Belleville (AHL). Cutler is currently in Hartford (AHL) where he has played in 4 games and has 4 penalty minutes and a -2 rating.

Ben Tardif – 1 goal, 2 assists, +2 in 13 games with Colorado (AHL). Tardif has 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 7 games with Utah this season. Tardif led Utah with 39 assists and 59 points last season.

Zach Tsekos – Zach has played in 5 games with Colorado (AHL). Tsekos has 8 goals and 6 assists in 16 games with the Grizzlies this season.

Garrett Metcalf – Loaned to the San Diego Gulls on December 14. Metcalf has played in 3 games with San Diego and has an 0-3 record with a 5.70 Goals against average and a .828 save %. The Goaltender went 5-1 with Utah this season. Metcalf has previous AHL experience with Lehigh Valley and was in training camp with the Calgary Hitmen.

Trent Miner – Appeared in 11 games with Utah this season. Trent is in the 2nd of a 3 year NHL Entry Level deal.

Grizzlies Player Trends

Dakota Raabe – Raabe has a point in 9 of his last 10 games (3 goals, 9 assists). Raabe has 3 multiple point games in his last 9. 

Keaton Jameson – Jameson has 4 points (3 goals, 1 assist) in his last 2 games. Jameson got the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with 2 goals, 1 assist and 1 fight on December 17 vs KC. It was his first multiple point game since April 16, 2022 vs Idaho in the regular season finale.

Cameron Wright – Wright leads the Grizzlies in shots on goal (73) and game winning goals with 3. Wright leads all active Grizzlies forwards in plus/minus (+4). Wright leads all Grizzlies forwards with 16 points and 6 power play assists.

Andrew Nielsen – Nielsen has a point in 6 of his last 7 games (3 goals, 7 assists). Nielsen leads all league defenseman in assists (19) and points (23). He leads the league with 13 power play assists and 15 power play points. Nielsen has a point in 12 of his 19 games. Andrew has 2 power play goals in his last 6 games. Nielsen has missed the last 2 games.

Johnny Walker – Walker has 4 goals and 3 assists in his last 7 games. He has 9 goals in his last 17 games. Walker leads all league rookies with 85 penalty minutes (2nd most in the league). 5 of his 9 goals have come on the power play. Walker has 2 games with 2 goals this season (November 5 at Kansas City, December 2 at Idaho).

Dylan Fitze –Fitze has a point in 6 of his last 10 games.

Victor Bartley - Bartley has 4 points in his last 6 games (1 goal, 3 assists).

Brycen Martin – Has a point in 4 of his last 9 games.

Tyler Penner – Penner has 5 goals and 1 assist in his last 9 games.

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Notes

Utah is 22 for 82 on the power play over the last 17 games. Utah is 5-3 in one goal games. Utah is 8-2 when scoring first. Utah has outscored opponents 30 to 20 in the second period this season. Utah is 4-0 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 8-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 2-0 in overtime this season.

Utah has 9 goals in their last 2 games.

Sunday Best

Utah goaltenders have 2 shutouts this season. Both of them have come on Sunday afternoon games at Maverik Center. Trent Miner saved 30 for 30 in a 4-0 win vs Trois Rivieres on November 27. Lukas Parik stopped all 32 Kansas City shots in a 3-0 win on December 18.

Grizzlies Ironmen

There are 4 players who have appeared in all 23 games this season: Dylan Fitze, Tyler Penner Dakota Raabe and Johnny Walker. Penner was 1 of 2 Grizzlies along with Mason Mannek, who appeared in all 72 games last season.  

Martel and Mikhalchuk Each Made Home Debuts

Jordan Martel and Vladislav Mikhalchuk each made their Grizzlies Maverik Center debut on December 17 vs Kansas City. Martel had 1 assist and was a +1 in the win. Martel had 6 assists in 13 games with Fort Wayne earlier this season. Mikhalchuk scored a power play goal in his home debut. It was his first goal in a Grizzlies uniform. Mikhalchuk also scored on December 18 vs KC. Mikhalchuk played at Maverik Center last season as a member of the Jacksonville Icemen on Feb. 3-4, 2022.

Match-Up With Idaho

It’s the 8th of 18 regular season meetings between Utah and Idaho. Utah is 2-5 vs Idaho this season. Utah has a 2-2 record this season at Idaho Central Arena. The rest of the league is 0-11 at Idaho. Idaho is 20-3-0-1 this season. They are 15-1-0-1 when playing teams not named the Utah Grizzlies. Idaho leads the league by averaging 4.29 goals per game. Idaho also leads the league in goals allowed per game at 2.00. Idaho has a +55 goal differential this season, scoring 103 goals and allowing 48. Idaho also leads the league in shots per game at 36.63. They are 4th in the league in shots allowed per game at 28.21. Owen Headrick has a current 14 game point streak. Idaho’s team save percentage is .930. Matt Register leads the league in plus/minus at +26.