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ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Welcome Alaska Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

November 23, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


This Week Wednesday: Alaska at Utah, 7:05 p.m. Friday: Alaska at Utah, 7:05 p.m. Saturday: Alaska at Utah, 7:30 p.m.

The Situation In their first action since losing their two leading scorers Ryan Kinasewich and James Sixsmith to the AHL, the Grizzlies reloaded to sweep the Las Vegas Wranglers this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the E-Center by a combined score of 12-3. The Grizzlies have now won five-straight games to run their record to 11-4.

Starts and Streaks At 11-4, the Grizzlies have matched their best start in the last five seasons. They started 11-4 in 2005-2006. The Grizzlies five-game winning streak is their longest since they won five-straight January 12-20, 2007. The Grizzlies only two longer winning streaks in the ECHL came from February 4-18, 2006 when they won seven in a row and October 29-November 24, 2005 when they won nine-straight contests, which tied the longest win streak in team history also of nine games from November 3-December 1, 1995.

Mitch-A-Palooza Grizzlies goaltender Mitch O'Keefe has won seven-straight starts to run his record to 7-1 on the year. He is tied for the league lead with two shutouts, is second in the league with a 2.03 goals-against average and second overall in wins.

New Guys Get Settled Quickly All four roster additions made it to the scoring column this weekend headlined by 20-year-old rookie Brett Parnham who scored three goals in three games, including the final two in Sunday's 3-2 overtime win against Las Vegas. Bobby Hughes, who was assigned by the Islanders Friday, added one goal and one assist; Jadran Beljo who was acquired Tuesday from Florida had two assists and defenseman Chris Brooks added an assist and a plus-one in his first three games back with the Grizzlies.

Scoring Streaks Forward AJ Perry (four goals, six assists) and defenseman Tim Maxwell (five assists) each carry five-game scoring streaks into this weekend's action. Perry has five goals and seven assists in his last seven games.

Team Scoring The Grizzlies have scored at least four goals in nine of their 15 games this season. In total, Utah has three games where they have scored at least six, and two games where they have scored at least eight goals.

Power-Play The Grizzlies power-play enters the week ranked first in the ECHL with a 27.6-percent conversion rate. The Grizzlies are 11-28 (39.2-percent) on the power-play over the last five games. Utah has three power-play goals each in five of their first 15 games and is an impressive 14-45 (31.1-percent) at the E-Center this season.

The Home Stand Continues The Grizzlies are 4-0 through the first four games of their ten-game home stand.

Alaska Aces Update Alaska returns to the E-Center for the first time since eliminating the Grizzlies in the playoffs April 18, 2009 as they eventually advanced to the ECHL's Kelly Cup Finals. This year's Aces team, comes to Utah at 8-7-2-0 after being swept in three-straight games this past weekend in Bakersfield in which they gave up 17 goals during the series.

7:30 Saturday The Grizzlies game Saturday against Alaska will start at 7:30 p.m. to avoid as much conflict as possible with the Utah and BYU football game that afternoon.

This Weekend's Promotions Friday, is the team's annual Teddy Bear Toss. After the Grizzlies first goal, fans will be invited to throw stuffed animals onto the ice that will be donated to patients at Primary Children's Medical Center during the all-team pre-Christmas visit. Saturday is a post-game skate with the team, where fans will be invited onto the ice after the game to skate with the Grizzlies. **A limited number of skates will be available for rent.**

On-The-Air Tuesday: 860 AM; "Grizzlies Live" From Ruby Tuesday, 7-8 p.m. Wednesday: 1230 KJQS; Alaska at Utah; 6:35 p.m. pre-game, 7:05 p.m. Face-off Friday: 1320 KFAN; Alaska at Utah; 6:35 p.m. pre-game, 7:05 p.m. Face-off Saturday: 860 AM; Alaska at Utah; 7:00 p.m. pre-game, 7:30 p.m. Face-off

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ECHL Stories from November 23, 2009


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