The Sixth Season 1998 - 99

FINAL KIJHL SEASON STANDINGS (1998/99)

Season Summary:

The 1998/99 Grizzlies went all the way to the League finals as defending KIJHL Champions, and although the end result was not in their favor, they provided an exciting season for Revelstoke.

Their season's schedule was expanded from 50 to 52 games. So the Grizzlies took advantage, besting last season's home record (19-6) by posting 21 wins while losing just 5 on home ice.

But on the road the Grizzlies suffered by going 10-14-2 after posting a 15-9-1 record last year.

The Grizzlies played six overtime games: winning 3, losing 2 and 1 ending in a draw.

Scott Robinson, who had stints in Sicamous and North Okanagan joined the Grizzlies as head coach October 24th and duplicated last season's 2nd place finish in the Eddie Mountain Division.

Revelstoke and Sicamous finished with identical points, 31-19-2, but the Grizzlies claimed 2nd place by virtue of their 6-3-1 winning record versus the Eagles.

The Grizzlies maintained 1st place up until December 11th, but after losing 5-4 in Enderby that night, the North Okanagan Kings climbed to the top and never looked back.

Ironically, it was last year's Grizzlies coach, Kevin Cheveldave, who took the reins in Enderby Oct. 30th and guided the Kings out of 4th to a 1st place finish.

The Grizzlies finished the season with a roster of nine veterans from last year's championship and twelve new comers. Two Grizzlies went to the BCHL. Jason Vos signed with the Burnaby Bulldogs and Jeremy Tisdale was released late October to the Merritt Centennials.

On the League's Dec. 1st 25 card deadline, the Grizzlies released 20-year-old defenceman Pat Madden (1 goal, 5 assists in 20 games) and traded forward Casey Torbohm (3 goals, 1 assist in 18 games). Jeff Banera joined the team from Rossland. Jeremy Meckler, from last season, returned but departed after 17 games.

The team suffered another loss when veteran Dean Maynard was gone after 38 games.

The Jan. 10th deadline to down-size to 21 players saw Luke Navrot, 18, return home to Williams Lake, citing homesickness. Luke earned a spot in the hearts of Grizzlies fans with his hard-hitting style, rattling the boards and plexiglass around the Forum. Luke played in 35 games and collected 5 goals and 10 assists.

Kyle Minnabarriet (0-2-2 in 14 games) was cut. Ryan Irving who spent the last two seasons with the Grizzlies returned to the team. Irving asked the Merritt Centennials to cut him so that he could return to Revelstoke and get more playing time.

On the eve of the player deadline, Jan. 9th, goaltender Chad Kupczyk suffered second-degree burns to his back after a bizarre accident at a team function. A candle on a low table ignited the back of his shirt and the resulting burn hospitalized him for a week. He was told to expect a three to five week recovery time. Chad returned to the lineup Feb. 18th as backup to Lee Barrick. His first action back in the net came in Sicamous Feb. 24th, game 2 of the Divisional Semi Finals, when Chad replaced Lee Barrick in the 1st period. The Grizzlies lost 3-2 in overtime.

At the end of regular season play, the Grizzlies ranked 3rd in the 11 team league, were 2nd for goals scored, 6th for goals against and were the second most penalized team.

The Grizzlies placed two players in the League's Top Ten scorers: Richard Duff was 4th (38 goals & 35 assists for 73 points) and Phil Vaugeois was 7th (34 goals & 34 assists for 68 points).

REVELSTOKE GRIZZLIES FINAL TEAM ROSTER (1998/99)
(Final roster deadline Jan. 10th)

Team Captain: Phil Vaugeois

THE ALL STAR GAME:

Played in Grand Forks Saturday, November 28th, 1998.

Representing the Grizzlies: Coach SCOTT ROBINSON and his staff, Assist. Coach DARCY PAUL, Equipment Manager ROB MISKIMAN and Trainer PETER MILLER. Six players: Goaltender CHAD KUPCZYK, Defencemen SHAUN THIBERT & MARQUIS CHRISTIAN, Forwards PHIL VAUGEOIS, RICHARD DUFF & RYAN EDVARDSEN. For the injured Marquis Christian and Shaun Thibert, KIRBY JACQUES and DYLAN SWITZER were substituted. Assist. Coach Darcy Paul was unable to make the trip so the injured Marquis Christian joined Coach Scott Robinson behind the bench for the Eddie Mountain Division All Stars. The EDDIE MOUNTAIN DIVISION won 10 to 7 over the NEIL MURDOCH DIVISION, with a little help from the Grizzlies. The Eddie Mountain Division jumped to a 3-2 first period lead and were ahead 6-5 heading into the third before pulling away from the Neil Murdoch with four goals in the final frame. Grizzlies goalie Chad Kupczyk had the most difficult task of any of the Grizzlies as he faced the best snipers from the south. In his half of the game, Kupczyk only allowed 2 goals and together with Kyle Stanton of the Sicamous Eagles, the tandem netminders stopped 32 shots. Grizzlies Ryan Edvardsen scored twice and added an assist en route to being named first star of the game. Phil Vaugeois scored once and Richard Duff had an assist. Coach Robinson said, "I totally shuffled the guys all up and nobody played with who they usually play with and the kids seemed to have enjoyed doing that." He said all of the Grizzlies who played in the game were key factors in the win.

In the pre-game Skills Competition, Ryan Edvardsen was the lone Grizzlies player to finish in the top three as he recorded the third hardest shot.

Did Not Finish Season

AP PLAYERS USED (Regular season)

Revelstoke Grizzlies Meet Sicamous Eagles In Division Semi-Finals:

At the end of regular season play: The Grizzlies and Eagles ended the regular season with an identical 31-19-2 record. Revelstoke claimed 2nd place and home ice advantage by virtue of their 6-3-1 winning record over Sicamous and out-scoring them 51 to 44.

During regular season play, home ice was a definite factor for the Grizzlies as in the Forum they lost only one game out of five while in Sicamous they were evenly split with 2 wins, 2 loses and 1 tie.

In the League's final Top Ten, the Grizzlies had two players, Richard Duff (38+35) and Phil Vaugeois (34+34). Sicamous placed Billy Collins (38+31). Overall the Grizzlies scored 27 more goals while the Eagles allowed 4 less goals against and took 24 fewer penalty minutes.

This series alternated back and forth instead of the usual two at home and away.

Series Summary

Game 1 In the Forum:
Revelstoke scored 6 power-play goals en route to an 8-3 win. The line of Richard Duff, Phil Vaugeois and Ryan Edvardsen led the way collecting 13 points, 11 of which came on the power play as they set the tone for the series.

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
1 Phil Vaugeois PP (Duff).
2 Richard Duff PP (Edvardsen).
3 Richard Duff PP (Irving & Vaugeois).
4 Ryan Edvardsen PP (Irving & Vaugeois).
5 Richard Duff PP (Edvardsen & Vaugeois).

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
6 Ben Pierce (Switzer & Trotter).
7 Richard Duff (Vaugeois).
8 Darren Cuthbertson PP unassisted.

Lee Barrick in Goal.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 45 - Eagles 31.

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Game 2 In Sicamous:
The Grizzlies scored two first period power-play goals and lost in overtime.

Grizzlies scorers: 1st period:
1 Shaun Thibert PP (Luke Brown).
2 Ben Pierce PP (Kirk Coldwell).

Lee Barrick started in Goal, replaced halfway in the 1st by Chad Kupczyk.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 36 - Eagles 26.

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Game 3 In the Forum:
Sicamous scored a power-play goal for a 1-0 lead, end of 1st period. Revelstoke scored 3 unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead at the end of 2 periods. In the 3rd, Sicamous scored 2 power-play goals but Luke Brown's 2nd goal of the game, on the power-play, stood as the Grizzlies 4 to 3 winner.

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
1 Richard Duff (Coldwell & Vaugeois).
2 Richard Duff (Vaugeois & Christian).

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
3 Luke Brown (Williams & Trotter).
4 Luke Brown PP (Thibert & Pierce).

Chad Kupczyk in Goal.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 48 - Eagles 29.

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Game 4 In Sicamous:
The game was tied 1-1 after the 1st and 2-2 after the 2nd. In the 3rd the Grizzlies managed one goal while the Eagles netted 2 to give them a 4-3 victory.

Grizzlies scorers: 1st period:
1 Phil Vaugeois (Duff).

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
2nd period: 2 Ryan Trotter (Williams).

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
3 Ryan Irving (Vaugeois).

Lee Barrick in Goal.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 38 - Eagles 25.

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Game 5 In the Forum:
Joe Leonard (AP) in jersey #10, was dressed for the game and responded by scoring the Grizzlies first goal for a 1-0 end of 1st lead. The Grizzlies never looked back after that. In the 2nd period, Captain Phil Vaugeois earned an assist and scored the Grizzlies winning goal on the power-play for a 3-2 lead after 2 periods. The Eagles were held scoreless in the 3rd and Kirk Coldwell fired in an empty-netter to seal the 4-2 win.

Grizzlies scorers: 1st period:
1 Joe Leonard.

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
2 Shaun Thibert. 3 Phil Vaugeois PP.

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
4 Kirk Coldwell EN.

Assists:
Richard Duff 2, Jeff Parsons 2, Phil Vaugeois 1, Darren Cuthbertson 1 and Shaun Thibert 1.

Chad Kupczyk in Goal.

Shots on Goal unavailable.

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Game 6 In Sicamous:
The two teams had been trading home-game wins during the previous five matches. Coach Robinson said, "We'd been talking all week about discipline that got us the lead and was the difference during this game. Plus we needed to prove ourselves on the road and we did it. In a game seven, you never know what's going to happen." Revelstoke pulled ahead with three power-play goals and whacked Sicamous 6-1 on Eagles home ice.

Grizzlies scorers:
Shaun Thibert, Darren Cuthbertson, Dylan Switzer, Ryan Irving, Jeff Pont and Ben Pierce.

Other game stats unavailable.

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Revelstoke Grizzlies Meet North Okanagan Kings For Division Title:

The N.O. Kings at the end of regular season play:
The Kings took first place in the Eddie Mountain and were second best in the League, finishing one point behind the Beaver Valley Nite Hawks. With 262 goals they were the League's highest scoring team, were third best for goals against and were the least penalized team. The Kings boasted the League's top three scorers as Dominique LaCasse (39+59=98), Dan Williams (41+50=91) and Peter Kolida (44+31+75) finished 1-2-3, followed by the Grizzlies Richard Duff (38+35=73). Ryan Lang, Osoyoos (35+37) and Billy Collins, Sicamous (39+31) were 5th and 6th and the Grizzlies Phil Vaugeois (34+34) was sixth in the top ten.

Series Summary:
The Grizzlies win over Sicamous and the two days rest before traveling to Enderby may have been a key to their success in this Divisional Final. The Kings who finished 31 points ahead of Columbia Valley and scored 78 more goals than the Rockies, were taken to the seven game limit and more. It took triple overtime in game 7 Wednesday night for the Kings to win 3-2 and advance to the finals against Revelstoke.

The Grizzlies skated into Enderby for the first two games Friday and Saturday and came home with a 2-0 series lead going into game 3 the next day in the Forum. The Grizzlies were successful during the regular season when playing three-game weekends and they proved it by winning game 3 on Sunday which gave them a commanding 3-0 series lead. Game 4 was the only game of the series decided by one goal as the Grizzlies completed the sweep. The Grizzlies held the Kings scoreless in the third period of every game in this series.

Game 1 In Enderby:
The Grizzlies led 1-0 end of 1st, scored three in the 2nd and were down 5-4 before scoring five times in the 3rd while holding the Kings off the board for a whooping 9-5 victory.

Grizzlies scorers: 1st period:
1 Kirk Coldwell (Cuthbertson).

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
2 Richard Duff (Vaugeois)
3 Ben Pierce (Duff & Vaugeois)
4 Joe Leonard (Switzer)

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
5 Jeff Pont (Downey)
6 Phil Vaugeois (Duff)
7 Kirk Coldwell (Pierce & Kupczyk)
8 Richard Duff (Vaugeois)
9 Jordan Downey (Williams)

Lee Barrick in Goal for 1st & 2nd periods: 25 shots. Chad Kupczyk in Goal 3rd period: 13 shots.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 27 - Kings 38.

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Game 2 In Enderby:
Each team scored once in the first two periods. Chad Kupczyk was spectacular in goal kicking out 42 Kings shots and shutting them out in the 3rd as his teammates scored three times for a 5-2 victory and 2-0 series lead.

Grizzlies scorers: 1st period:
1 Phil Vaugeois (Richard Duff).

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
2 Richard Duff (Irving).

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
3 Adam Williams (Vaugeois & Parsons)
4 Kirk Coldwell (Pierce)
5 Richard Duff (Irving)

Chad Kupczyk in Goal.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 28 - Kings 42.

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Game 3 In the Forum:
No scoring in the 1st period. The Grizzlies led 4-3 after the 2nd. In the 3rd, Kupczyk again shut the door. The Kings changed their goaltender and the Grizzlies responded by out-shooting Enderby 19 to 10 and Jeff Parsons scored at 6:08 to put the game away for the Grizz.

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
1 Richard Duff unassisted
2 Jordan Downey unassisted
3 Shaun Thibert (Pont & Sukhpaul Bal)
4 Adam Williams (Trotter & Pont)

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
Jeff Parsons (Pont & Williams)

Chad Kupczyk in Goal.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 52 - Kings 46.

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Game 4 In the Forum:
The game was tied 1-1 after the 1st and 2-2 after the 2nd. In the 3rd at 17:23, it was Jeff Parsons from Jeff Pont for the game and series winner.

Grizzlies scorers: 1st period:
1 Richard Duff unassisted.

Grizzlies scorers: 2nd period:
2 Phil Vaugeois PP (Christian).

Grizzlies scorers: 3rd period:
3 Jeff Parsons (Jeff Pont)

Chad Kupczyk in Goal.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 37 - Kings 28.

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Revelstoke Grizzlies Meet Beaver Valley Nite Hawks For League Title:

The Nite Hawks at the end of regular season play:
Beaver Valley was the League's top team and were third in League goal scoring. Their top scorer was #18 Ryan McCotter (31+31=62) and he was tenth in the League's Top Ten point players. Beaver Valley had solid goaltending with the League's best goals against record. Rocky Dickson sported a 2.631 goals against average (92% SV) which earned him the KIJHL's Year End Best Goaltender and Most Valuable Awards.

Series Summary
It took both teams ten games to advance to the finals. The Nite Hawks took Castlegar four games to one and likewise Osoyoos. The Nite Hawks won the 1996-97 KIJHL championship prior to the Grizzlies 1997-98 title.

Game 1 In Fruitvale:
The Grizzlies had a rough start in the opening game losing 6-3.

Grizzlies Scorers:
Ben Pierce, Phil Vaugeois with 2. Game stats unavailable.

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Game 2 In Fruitvale:
The Grizzlies opened up a 3-0 lead only to watch the Nite Hawks fight back to tie the score 4-4 and send the game to overtime. With 10 seconds left in OT the Nite Hawks found the net to take a 2-0 series lead.

Grizzlies Scorers:
Kirby Jacques, Jeff Parsons, Richard Duff, Jeff Pont. Game stats unavailable.

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Game 3 In The Forum:
Beaver Valley scored twice in the 1st and 2nd periods. Revelstoke's scoring was all in the 2nd period. The only scoring in the 3rd was an empty-netter by Beaver Valley for the win.

Grizzlies Scorers: 2nd period:
1 Shaun Thibert (Sukhpaul Bal & Pierce)
2 Ryan Trotter (Pont & Switzer)
3 Richard Duff (Vaugeois & Parsons)

Lee Barrick in Goal until 16:23 of the 2nd: 20 Shots. Chad Kupczyk finished the game: 19 Shots.

Shots on Goal: Grizzlies 48 - Nite Hawks 39.

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Game 4 In The Forum:
The Grizzlies trailed 2-1 after the 1st, 3-2 after the 2nd and were held scoreless in the 3rd.

Grizzlies Scorers: 1st period:
1 Ryan Irving (Pont).

Grizzlies Scorers: 2nd period:
2 Richard Duff unassisted.

Chad Kupczyk in Goal.

Shots unavailable.

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Grizzlies Play Off Scoring Stats unavailable due to missing Game Sheets.

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After The Series:
A special mention has to be made in regards to the Grizzlies going down in four straight games. The second game in Fruitvale that went into overtime cost the team dearly that night on their return to Revelstoke. The late game caused them to miss their ferry connection so the team spent the night in the bus at Galena Bay. Besides having three regular players out of the lineup, flu and strep-throat plagued the entire team throughout this series. Joe Leonard (AP) helped to fill in the Grizzlies battered lineup. The Grizzlies never let up and the players gave the best effort they could muster giving their fans a team they could be proud of.

KIJHL 1998-1999 Eddie Mountain Division Winners: Revelstoke Grizzlies

KIJHL 1998-1999 Neil Murdoch Winners: Beaver Valley Nite Hawks

KIJHL 1998-1999 League Champions: Beaver Valley Nite Hawks