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Grizzlies charge out of the gate

(By Michael Potestio/Hockey Now)

The BCHL regular season is two weeks old and the Victoria Grizzlies, who finished last in the Island Division in 2015-16, sit atop the league with a mirror opposite start.

The Grizzlies are 4-1 jumping out the gate with four straight wins before the Cowichan Valley Capitals walked into the Q Centre and took home a W.

Cowichan forward Rhett Kingston opened the scoring with his first goal of the season halfway through the second period, but the Grizzlies would tie the game up at about the halfway point of the third on a goal by forward Kevin Mokhtari. However, Cowichan would score again just three minutes later on a goal by forward Jared Domin to secure the 2-1 win, getting revenge for a 6-1 loss back on Sept. 13 at the hands of the Grizzlies.

Last season, Victoria went winless until they defeated the Prince George Spruce Kings at the end of September.

The Penticton Vees bid to open up another long winning streak like last year’s 23-gamer failed on Saturday with a loss to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs who scored twice in the second period and held on to the 2-1 win despite a powerplay goal by the Vees in the third period.

But there are a couple of teams that still have goose eggs in the loss column so far this year.

The Wenatchee Wild put an exclamation point on a 3-0 start to the season with an 11-2 win on Saturday over the Prince George Spruce Kings. Wenatchee had eight different goal scorers, with forward Troy Conzo netting a hat trick and five points on the night.

Wenatchee also opened the season 5-0 last season in their inaugural BCHL campaign before posting a tie and a loss to start October.

The Merritt Centennials are also without a loss. They opened the season with a tie and have won back to back games since then.

Each of the BCHL’s 17 teams play their next two games at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack between now and Sept. 25, which draw the attention of many hockey scouts.

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