Grizzlies Weekly: Road Trip Continues in the Black Hills

Grizzlies Weekly: Road Trip Continues in Rapid City 

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies’ first road trip of the season continues in the black hills as they take on the Rapid City Rush on Friday and Saturday night. Face-off both days are at 7:05 pm. 

The Grizzlies fell to the Idaho Steelheads 7-2 in the regular season opener last Friday night at Idaho Central Arena. Neil Shea and Mick Messner each scored a second period goal for the Grizzlies, who went 1 for 3 on the power play. Shea and Briley Wood each led Utah with 4 shots on goal. 

The Grizzlies home opening weekend presented by Smith’s is on November 1-2 vs Allen. Face-off both nights are at 7:10 pm and tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000. 

Recent Transactions 

October 20 – Utah acquired forward Reed Lebster and futures considerations as well as the playing rights to forward Matthew Wedman from the Florida Everblades for the playing rights of forward Kyle Betts. 

Lebster appeared in 5 playoff games for the 2024 Kelly Cup champion Everblades. Lebster played at UMass-Amherst for four seasons from 2019-2023, scoring 28 goals and 29 assists. Lebster transferred to Michigan State University for the 2023-24 season, scoring 19 points (6 goals, 13 assists) in 35 games. 

October 19 – Forward Keaton Mastrodonato was recalled to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.

October 15- Goaltender Adam Scheel joined the Grizzlies as he comes over from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.

Games This Week

Friday, October 25, 2024 – Utah at Rapid City. 7:05 pm. The Monument. 

Saturday, October 26, 2024 – Utah at Rapid City. 7:05 pm. The Monument. 

Every Grizzlies game can be streamed on FloHockey and audio coverage is available on the Grizzlies YouTube channel. 

Games Last Week

October 18, 2024 – Utah 2 Idaho 7. Mick Messner and Neil Shea each scored a second period goal for Utah. Idaho got 2 goals from Ty Pelton-Byce and 1 goal and 1 assist from Thomas Caron, Connor MacEachern and Connor Punnett. Utah went 1 for 3 on the power play, Idaho was 1 for 2. Idaho outshot Utah 39 to 28. Utah goaltender Adam Scheel stopped 32 of 39. Idaho’s Ben Kraws saved 26 of 28. 

Games In First Homestand at Maverik Center 

November 1, 2024 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Opening Weekend presented by Smith’s. 

November 2, 2024 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Dia De Los Muertos (Hispanic Heritage Night).

November 9, 2024 – Tahoe at Utah. 7:10 pm. Pucks and Pups (Bring your dog to the game). 

November 10, 2024 – Tahoe at Utah. 3:10 pm. 

Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000. 

Grizzlies Player Notes 

4 Utah players made their pro debuts in the regular season opener on October 18: Briley Wood, Kabore Dunn, Craig Armstrong and Tyson Upper. 

Dylan Fitze leads all returning Grizzlies with 21 goals in the 2023-24 season. 

New Utah defenseman Derek Daschke scored 16 goals with Kalamazoo in the 2023-24 season. Grizzlies have had the top goal scoring ECHL defenseman in 3 of their last 7 seasons - Josh Wesley (2023-24), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (2021-22), Taylor Richart tied for the league lead in 2017-18). 

There are 11 players with previous experience with the Grizzlies who are on the 2024-25 roster.  

Forwards (6) – Aaron Aragon, Dylan Fitze, Cole Gallant, Luke Manning, Mick Messner, Blake Wells.  

Defenseman (4) – Gianni Fairbrother, Kade Jensen, James Shearer, Bryan Yoon.  

Goaltender (1) - Vincent Duplessis. 

Grizzlies Team Notes 

Utah's home opener is on November 1 vs Allen. It is the first time in team history that the home opener will take place in the month of November. 

It's the Grizzlies 20th season in the ECHL and 30th season of professional hockey in the state of Utah (6 in the IHL, 4 in the AHL and 20th ECHL season). Utah was 1 for 3 on the power play on October 18 at Idaho. The Grizzlies went 21-12-3 at home during the 2023-24 season. They outscored opponents 121 to 115 at Maverik Center last season. 45 of Utah’s 67 standings points during the 2023-24 season came at home.

Great Crowds at Maverik Center During 2023-24 Season

With a big crowd of 9,007 on Fan Appreciation Night at Maverik Center on April 6^th the Grizzlies completed what turned out to be a memorable season with many big home crowds. The Grizzlies averaged 6,003 fans per game, which is the biggest average attendance since the Grizzlies joined the ECHL at the start of the 2005-06 season. It’s the largest average attendance in team history since the 2002-03 campaign where the AHL’s Grizzlies averaged 6,353 fans per game. The Grizzlies had 7 games with crowds larger than 8200 and 11 games of more than 7500. Since December 9, 2023 the Grizzlies averaged 6,762 fans per game (24 games). 

Utah Grizzlies 2024-2025 Roster

Forwards (13): Aaron Aragon, Craig Armstrong, Dylan Fitze, Cole Gallant, Reed Lebster, Luke Manning, Mick Messner, Cade Neilson, Nick Pastorious, Neil Shea, Tyson Upper, Blake Wells, Briley Wood. 

Defenseman (8): Derek Daschke, Kabore Dunn, Gianni Fairbrother, Chase Hartje, Kade Jensen, Kyle Pow, James Shearer, Bryan Yoon. 

Goaltenders (3): Jake Barczewski, Vincent Duplessis, Adam Scheel

Staff for 2024-2025 Season

Ryan Kinasewich enters his fourth season as Grizzlies Head Coach/General Manager. Kinasewich led the Grizzlies to a 42-27-2-1 record during the 2021-22 season, winning the Mountain Division title for the first time in team history. Christian Horn is starting his second season as Grizzlies assistant coach. Horn was an assistant coach with the EIHL’s Cardiff Devils during the 2022-23 season. Horn played with Utah in the final game of the 2019-2020 season, scoring 1 goal at Rapid City on March 7, 2020. Horn played in 24 games with Utah in the 2020-2021 season, scoring 2 goals and 5 assists. Jaxson Hibbard begins his second season as Head Equipment Manager after spending the previous 2 seasons as Assistant Equipment Manager. Collin Lee will be in his fifth year as Grizzlies Athletic Trainer. Broadcaster Tyson Whiting begins his seventh season as the “Voice of the Grizzlies”. 

Grizzlies 2024-2025 Games by opponents 

Allen Americans – 9 games (5 home, 4 away). 

Bloomington Bison – 3 games (3 Away)

Cincinnati Cyclones – 1 game (1 Away) 

Idaho Steelheads – 9 games (6 home, 3 away). 

Indy Fuel – 3 games (3 Home) 

Kansas City Mavericks – 10 games (5 home, 5 away)

Rapid City Rush – 10 games (5 home, 5 away)

Tahoe Knight Monsters – 10 games (7 home, 3 away)

Tulsa Oilers – 8 games (2 home, 6 away)

Wichita Thunder – 9 games (3 home, 6 away).