Grizzlies Gameday: Teddy Bear Toss and Ugly Sweater Night at Maverik Center

Grizzlies Gameday: Teddy Bear Toss and Ugly Sweater Night at Maverik Center 

Tahoe Knight Monsters (16-7-1-1-, 34 points, .680 point %) @ Utah Grizzlies (6-16-3, 15 points, .300 point %) 

Date: December 21, 2024 Venue: Maverik Center Game Time: 7:10 pm. 

Streaming: FloHockey – https://www.flohockey.tv/events/12620178-2024-tahoe-knight-monsters-vs-utah-grizzlies?nav_id=75 

Audio/Radio: Grizzlies YouTube channel. – https://www.youtube.com/@THEUTAHGRIZZLIES

Next Home Game: December 27, 2024 – Rapid City @ Utah. 7:10 pm. 

Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000. Every Grizzlies game can be streamed on FloHockey and audio coverage is available on the Grizzlies YouTube channel. 

Saturday’s Matchup

It’s the third of a five game homestand for the Grizzlies as they take on the Tahoe Knight Monsters. It’s the 8^th meeting this season between the clubs. Utah is 2-4-1 vs Tahoe this season. Tahoe has scored 50 goals in their last 9 games.

Grizzlies Star Performers

Derek Daschke has a point in 9 of his last 10 games and a point or more in 14 of 17 games this season. Daschke leads Utah with 16 assists, 20 points and a +3 rating on the year. Cole Gallant leads Utah forwards with 14 assists. 

Briley Wood has 5 goals in his last 6 games and 10 points (6g, 4a) in his last 10 games. Wood has a point in 8 of his last 10 games. Andrew Nielsen has 8 assists in 8 games for Utah. Cole Fonstad has 6 assists in 8 games. Luke Manning has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 5 games. Keaton Mastrodonato has a goal in 3 straight games. Goaltender Vinny Duplessis earned his first pro win on Friday night vs Tahoe. 

Grizzlies Team Notes 

Utah is 4-0 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 3-1 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 4-2-2 when outshooting opponents. Utah is 2-1-3 in one goal games. Utah is 4-3-2 when scoring first. 35 of their 72 goals this season came in the second period(s). Utah has 5 power play goals in their last 7 games. Utah is 6-1-1 when they score 4 or more goals. Utah has scored a second period goal in 11 straight games. 

Games vs Tahoe in December

December 12, 2024 – Utah 2 Tahoe 8 – Aaron Aragon and Luke Manning each scored a goal for Utah. 13 of Tahoe’s 18 skaters had 1 or more points. Tahoe captain Luke Adam had 5 assists. Tahoe outshot Utah 39 to 38. 

December 14, 2024 – Utah 2 Tahoe 5 – Briley Wood and Dylan Fitze each scored a second period goal for Utah. Tahoe got 1 goal and 1 assist performances from Luke Adam, Jett Jones and Jake McGrew. Tahoe outshot Utah 38 to 26. 

December 15, 2024 – Utah 3 Tahoe 7 – Keaton Mastrodonato, Luke Manning and James Shearer each scored a goal for Utah. Tahoe got 3 goals from Sloan Stanick and Simon Pinard had 1 goal and 3 assists. Tahoe outshot Utah 30 to 27. Both teams went 1 for 2 on the power play. 

December 18, 2024 – Tahoe 7 Utah 6 – Utah got goals from 6 different forwards. Briley Wood got the tying goal with 3:54 left in the third period. Derek Daschke, Mick Messner and Andrew Nielsen each had 2 assists. Nielsen was a +2 to lead Utah. Utah outshot Tahoe 41 to 36. Utah went 1 for 2 on the power play, Tahoe was 1 for 1. 

December 20, 2024 – Tahoe 3 Utah 6 – Vinny Duplessissaved 34 of 37 to earn his first pro win. Keaton Mastrodonato had 1 goal and 1 assist. Luke Manning, Andrew Nielsen and Bryan Yoon each had 2 assists. Craig Armstrong, Derek Daschke, Gianni Fairbrother, Mick Messner and Neil Shea each had 1 goal. Tahoe outshot Utah 37 to 27. 

December 21, 2024 – Tahoe at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Teddy Bear Toss, Ugly Sweater Night. 

Utah split a 2-game series vs Tahoe in November, winning 6-4 on Nov. 9 and losing 6-2 on Nov. 10. Derek Daschke leads Utah with 7 points in 7 games vs Tahoe (1g, 6a). Dylan Fitze and Luke Manning each have 4 goals and 2 assists vs Tahoe this season. Keaton Mastrodonato has 3 goals in 5 games vs Tahoe. 

The Knight Monsters are led by Sloan Stanick, who has 13 points (5g, 8a) and a +6 rating in 7 games vs Utah. Jett Jones (Currently with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights) has 8 goals and a +9 rating in 6 games vs Utah. Jake McGrew has 5 goals and 5 assists in 7 games vs Utah. 

Recent Transactions

December 18 – Grizzlies sign defenseman Cody Corbett. 

December 15 – Forward Neil Shea reassigned to the Grizzlies from Colorado (AHL). 

December 12 – Grizzlies sign forward Brayden Nicholetts. 

December 12 – Grizzlies release defenseman Kyle Pow.

December 12 - Forward Keaton Mastrodonato reassigned to Utah from Colorado (AHL). 

December 9 – Goaltender Adam Scheel was recalled by Colorado (AHL). 

Milestones

Cody Corbett will be appearing in his 200^th ECHL game on Saturday night. Corbett also has 95 games of AHL experience. Both Derek Daschke and Cole Gallant appeared in their 100^th professional games on Friday night. Daschke scored a second period goal and Gallant had 1 assist. Mick Messner has appeared in 103 professional games, all of them with the Grizzlies. Messner has played in 103 straight games since joining the club. 

Tahoe Knight Monsters

The Tahoe Knight Monsters are in their first season as a franchise. They have a record of 16-7-1-1. They have been a strong team at home (9-3-1-1) as well as being a good road team (7-4). The Knight Monsters have won 8 of their last 9 games and are 8-2 in their last 10. Sloan Stanick leads all league rookies with 28 points (12g, 16a) in 23 games. Bear Hughes is averaging a point per game with 21 points (6g, 15a) in 20 games. Tahoe is 13-3-1 when scoring first. The Knight Monsters have been a strong third period club as they have outscored opponents 39 to 24. Tahoe leads the league in goals per game at 4.16.  

Grizzlies Trivia

The Grizzlies are 4-2 over their last 6 Teddy Bear Toss Nights. Utah has scored 28 goals in their last 6 Teddy Bear Toss nights. Last year Kyle Mayhew scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal late in the first period in Utah’s 7-3 victory over Allen on December 9, 2023. 

Utah Grizzlies 2024-2025 Roster

Forwards (17): Aaron Aragon, Craig Armstrong, Adam Berg, Cameron Buhl, Dylan Fitze, Cole Fonstad, Cole Gallant, Reed Lebster, Luke Manning, Keaton Mastrodonato, Mick Messner, Cade Neilson, Brayden Nicholetts, Neil Shea, Tyson Upper, Blake Wells, Briley Wood. 

Defenseman (9): Cody Corbett,Derek Daschke, Kabore Dunn, Gianni Fairbrother, Kade Jensen, Andrew Nielsen, Dilan Savenkov, James Shearer, Bryan Yoon. 

Goaltenders (2): Jake Barczewski, Vincent Duplessis. 

2024-2025 Utah Grizzlies Regular Season Totals 

Overall record: 6-16-3

Home record: 3-7-2

Road record: 3-9-1

Win percentage: .300

Standings Points: 15

Last 10: 1-7-2

Streak: 1-0-1

Goals per game: 2.88 (14^th)  Goals for: 72

Goals against per game: 4.72 (29^th) Goals Against: 118

Shots per game: 30.96 (12^th) 

Shots against per game: 35.08 (28^th)

Power Play: 12 for 75 – 16.0 % (21^st) 

Penalty Kill: 35 for 62 – 56.5 % (29^th)

Penalty Minutes: 261. 10.44 per game. 

Shorthanded Goals: 1.  

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 1. 

Record When Scoring First: 4-3-2.

Opposition Scores First: 2-13-1. 

Record in One Goal Games: 2-1-3 

Games Decided Past Regulation: 2-0-3 

Team Leaders 

Goals: Briley Wood (8) 

Assists: Derek Daschke (16) 

Points: Daschke (20) 

Plus/Minus: Daschke (+2) 

PIM: Andrew Nielsen (30) 

Power Play Points: Daschke/Mick Messner (5)

Power Play Goals: Briley Wood (3) 

Power Play Assists: Daschke (4)

Shots on Goal: Mick Messner (76) 

Shooting Percentage: Neil Shea (15.4%) - Minimum 38 shots. 

Game Winning Goals: Cameron Buhl/Derek Daschke/Gianni Fairbrother/Kade Jensen/Keaton Mastrodonato (1) 

Wins: Adam Scheel (5)

Save %: Scheel (.885) 

Goals Against Average: Scheel (3.98) 

Streaks 

Goals: Keaton Mastrodonato (3) Craig Armstrong, Derek Daschke, Gianni Fairbrother, Mick Messner, Neil Shea (1) 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (3), Cole Fonstad, Cole Gallant (2) Reed Lebster, Luke Manning, Mastrodonato, Bryan Yoon (1) 

Points (2 or more): Daschke (4) Manning, Mastrodonato, Nielsen (3) Fonstad, Gallant, Lebster, Messner, Shea (2) 

Multiple Point Games

5 – Derek Daschke

4 – Mick Messner, Briley Wood

3 – Luke Manning, Andrew Nielsen, 

2 – Aaron Aragon, Cole Gallant, Reed Lebster, Neil Shea. 

1 – Cameron Buhl, Gianni Fairbrother, Dylan Fitze, Cole Fonstad, Kade Jensen, Keaton Mastrodonato, Cade Neilson, Bryan Yoon.