On November 1st and 2nd, the Griz hockey team played back-to-back games against Weber State and the Utah Valley Wolverines.
* There is a vocab list at the bottom for clarification on game terms.
Game One: Weber State
Period One
The Griz took control of the start of the game after they won the face-off. The series of plays they made in this period seemed very fluid and confident. Weber had a strong defense against the Griz offensive line, who hit some very close shots. Most of these shots just missed the goal by a few inches or hit a crossbar.
Things changed quickly when Weber took more control of the game, which made it more of a 50/50 possession. About five minutes into the game, Weber’s number 7 scored the first goal off of a dropped puck that was in Griz’s zone. This noticeably affected the Griz who didn’t seem to carry the same confidence after the goal.
Right after Weber scored, number 14 for the Griz got a 2-minute penalty for roughing. Weber got a power play because of the penalty, which let them have even more control of the game.
Weber had some really good plays in the power play that the defense couldn’t stop very well. One of the plays would’ve been a goal if Weber’s player didn’t slip. This mistake helped the Griz take back the puck and have some offensive plays of their own. After Number 14 came back and the power play ended, both teams did a line change.
The Griz made some offensive plays that looked similar to their first few plays of the game. One of these plays resulted in a deflection off the side goal post, and a Griz player down. Number 26 got bodychecked into the side boards which made him fall. When he got back up, he limped over to the griz bench and got taken out of the game. He did not return for the rest of the night.
There was another line change for both teams after number 26 got taken out. Weber’s number 18 got called for holding, which gave The Griz a power play, but they didn’t have the same control that Weber had on their power play. Weber almost had a short-handed goal on a breakaway which shook the Griz defense even more. The period ended after this with Weber up one.
Period Two
The Griz started this period almost exactly how they started the game. They had more fluency than they did at the end of the first period which definitely helped them take control and almost score a goal.
A penalty was called on number 14 for the Griz, which gave Weber a power play. Nothing happened in the power play, but after it, the Griz offense kept bringing the heat with two more close shots on Weber’s goal.
Weber was close to another goal, but 33 for the Griz blocked it, which gave the Griz more chances on offense. Griz got a double power play when Weber’s number 13 was called for roughing and number four called for slashing. Nothing much comes of this power play.
Griz was given another power play because of roughing called on Weber’s number 8. All the momentum the Griz had on offense disappeared. Their defense also wasn’t in tune which let Weber get a short-handed goal. The goal ended the period with a score of 0-2.
Period Three
Weber controlled and dominated this period from the start with their offense. The Griz for at least the first 4 minutes were playing complete defense, and none of their plays held any threat.
Weber did score another goal, but they committed a penalty, so both countered each other, which resulted in no goal, as well as no power play.
Soon after Weber’s false goal, they scored another goal, and this time it counted. This resulted in a score of 0-3. The Griz had lost all the rhythm they found in the second period and couldn’t connect any pass to make a play.
The Griz player wearing number 4 got tripped/bodied by Weber’s 54. Number 4 was helped off the ice not returning for the rest of the game. The Griz got a power play from this but once again nothing happened and they got called for icing.
Line changed for the Griz and tension started to rise as players from both teams got in each other’s faces while shoving each other.
Nothing major happened for the rest of the game and it ended with the score 0-3.
Game Two: Utah Valley Wolverines
Period One
The Griz won the face-off at the start of the game. The game started with 50/50 possession right away as both teams took close shots.
Number 27 for the Wolverines was called tripping, this resulted in a Griz power play which showed some good offense and plays. There was another face-off that the Griz won but lost it fast to Wolverines number 36 who scored off of that play.
The Griz tried to get back into a rhythm offensively and had some plays but very few carried threats. Number 3 for the Wolverines got called for a blow to the head. The Griz didn’t do much on this power play. Another Wolverine plenty called on number 11. The Griz, for a short time, got a double power play and still nothing happened from it.
The Wolverines got another goal by 36, and the Griz defense was visibly shaken by this. They seemed to have lost rhythm on both ends of the ice.
The Griz started to have some good offense with some interceptions from the Wolverines defense. The possession started to look more 50/50 by the end of the period.
Period Two
The Griz come out with the aggression they had at the end of the first period but don’t keep it for long. The defense was mostly played by the Griz.
After an icing call on the Griz, they started to find their rhythm again. They had a good breakaway, and number 26 scored for the Griz to make the score 1-2. This visibly gave confidence back to the team which they carried for a while.
Roughing was called on both teams; number 8 of the Griz and 4 for the Wolverines. The possession stayed 50/50 throughout the 4 on 4.
Number 12 for the Griz got called for roughing, which gave the Wolverines a power play. The Griz had a good 2 on 2 breakaway in the power play but was called offside.
The Wolverines have a double penalty on 11 for tripping and 9 for tripping with roughing. Number 11 only had 2 minutes because it was a minor penalty and 9 had 4 minutes because it was a double minor penalty.
The Griz motley controlled the double power play, except when the Wolverines number 62 scored a short-handed goal. 62 then flipped off the announcer’s stand. The Griz had another close goal before the period ended.
Period Three
The Griz defense was the only part of the Griz team that worked at the start of the period. Icing was called on the Griz as they tried to make plays offensively.
Number 14 for the Wolverines got called for tripping and right after that call number 14 for the Griz got called for holding. The game went to a 4 on 4.
Wolverines number 91 was called for roughing less than a minute after their 14 got called. After this call, the game went to a 4 on 3.
Number 14 for the Wolverines came back making it a 4 on 4. Number 10 from the Griz gets a call for interference. The game then went to a 3-on-4.
In between all of these penalties, not many offensive advances were made by either team.
The Wolverines had one more call on them for tripping on number 3. Power plays ended for both teams after nine minutes.
After all the power plays ended, the game picked up speed as the Griz brought the heat on both sides of the ice. The Wolverines tried for some offensive advances but got shot down. The Griz offense seemed to lose steam as they couldn’t finish a play toward the end of the game.
The Griz took out their goalie, number 33, so that they could have an extra man on the ice. This turned the game into a 6 on 5.
Less than a minute after this happened, the game ended with a score of 1-3.
The Griz have some areas they need to work in, especially executing on power plays. Overall, the team has a strong base which they have shown in other games that they have played. The season still has three more months until the conference playoffs, so there is still time for the team to become a threat.
Vocab
In hockey there is some confusing vocabulary that sometimes isn’t in other sports so here is a list to help you.
Icing: When a defender hits the puck beyond their goal line and nobody touches it
Offsides: When an attacking player enters the offensive zone before the puck.
Line change: The team is subbing out players during the game. This happens all the time and is a very high-speed switch because they don’t stop the game for it.
Face-off/Dropped puck: Face-off is when one player from each team meets in the middle of the ice before the referee puts down the puck.
Power Play/ Penalties: A power play is when one team has more players on the ice than the other because of a penalty. Penalties are things that players do in a game that are illegal. Some minor penalties are roughing, tripping, high stick, slashing, etc. Minor penalties last two minutes.
