The Utah Grizzlies began and ended their Beehive State debut with a bang.
The 8,274 fans who attended the inaugural game got off to a rowdy start when the Delta Center was lit up by a firework show several minutes before the first faceoff.A good portion of the hockey-hungry fans, who have been without a team since the Salt Lake Golden Eagles departed 17 months ago, carried that enthusiasm throughout the game until finally exploding when Danton Cole's empty-net shot with 11 seconds left sealed the Grizzlies first Utah victory, a 4-2 win over the Peoria Rivermen.
"You could feel the emotion in the crowd and hear that they really enjoyed the game," said Grizzlies coach Butch Goring. "They wanted something good to happen; they wanted a win."
It was evident by the reaction that the Utah fans couldn't be more pleased with their newest professional franchise. Of course, inheriting the defending 1994-95 IHL champs as your new team doesn't hurt, either.
The Grizzlies seemed to play a bit tentatively in the first period, giving up a quick goal at the 3:18 mark to fall behind 1-0.
"They were a little bit nervous in the first period," said Goring, who earned the IHL coach of the year award last season with the Denver Grizzlies. "It took a full period to relax."
A power-play goal by Grizz defenseman Jason Herter from the top of the right face-off circle tied the game at the 17:08 mark of the beginning period.
That relieved some of the early jitters and gave the crowd something to cheer about, besides good body checks.
"It was the first home game and a lot of the guys had butterflies all night and day," said Goring, who was relieved to get the first home win out of the way.
The Grizzlies improved to 2-0 on the young season with the victory.
The Rivermen again took a 2-1 lead 3:15 into the second period, but from there on out it was all Grizzlies.
Utah scored two more times in the second period to grab a slim 3-2 margin heading into the final 20 minutes.
Left winger Andy Brickley nailed a shot from the slot off of an assist by Cole to knot the game up at 2-2 at the 9:20 mark. Winger Andre Vasilijev rebounded his own missed shot, skated from behind the goal and put a short wristshot into the net for the final second period goal at 15:59.The Grizzlies outshot the Rivermen on goal 32-23.
"When you give up less than 25 shots on goal, that's all the goalie can ask for. That was a great defensive effort," said Grizz goalkeeper Jamie McLennan, who spent some time with the old Salt Lake Golden Eagles in 1993-94.
Both of the goals McLennan gave up were on power plays. That was one of the keys to the win, said Goring.
"That was good move on my part, wasn't it?" mused Goring about acquiring McLennan from the parent-club New York Islanders. "But goalies from both teams played very well."
After having a full week off since their last game, the Grizzlies were just glad to be back on the ice.
"We hadn't played in a week so we had to get rid of our practice legs," McLennan added.
Another reason Goring was pleased with the win was that the Grizzlies haven't even been together very long.
"It hasn't even been a full week since we've been together as a full unit," said Goring, who has had to drop and add players almost every day because of the Islanders solidifying their roster.
The Grizzlies play again tonight at 7:05 p.m as the first-year San Francisco Spiders will make their first trip to the Delta Center.
GRIZZ NOTES: Before the game, Goring and the Grizzlies were awarded their Turner Cup championship trophy from last season . . . The Grizz also unveiled five new banners in the rafters for winning their division, conference and league.