The Victoria Grizzlies are starting on the road at the annual B.C. Hockey League Bauer Showcase, but the 2014-15 season is truly a homecoming for forwards Dane Gibson and Nathan Looysen.
The two local additions should add size and scoring punch to the club’s roster as it opens up play today at 3:30 p.m. against the Vernon Vipers, then takes on the Langley Rivermen on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.
Both are Peninsula products who return home via different routes, with Grizzlies general manager and head coach Brad Knight trading the rights to towering defenceman Jacob Kearley to the Cowichan Valley Capitals for Gibson, a six-foot-two, 205-pound power forward.
Looysen is a recent cut of the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League, where he played 57 games with the club last season after joining them from the Peninsula Panthers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
“Honestly, some people look at it as a negative. I’m taking it as a positive,” said Looysen, a six-foot-two, 180-pound forward who turns 18 in November. “It’s a blessing in disguise.
“I wasn’t going to play or get the opportunity that I wanted [in Kamloops] and so coming here, I think I will get that opportunity and I look forward to it,” he added. “You always want to come somewhere where you’re going to play.
“Playing here under Brad, I think I will get that chance and hopefully I will be able to benefit from it,” said Looysen, who scored an overtime game-winner in pre-season against the Vancouver Giants last year for the Blazers. In the regular season, he had two goals and seven assists in a defensive role.
Gibson, who recorded 20 goals and 33 assists in 57 games with the Capitals last season, is a power forward in every sense of the description.
“He can fight a little bit and he’s physical. He likes to throw the body around and I just want him to have a good year,” Knight said of Gibson. “Gibby gives you experience and a tremendous emotional commitment to hockey.
“He has such a passion to play, loves to play the game and realizes this is what he wants to do for a living.
“With Looysen, you get a real good spirit in the dressing room with a wicked set of hands down low. He’s a smart player with a good hockey IQ. I hope he’s disappointed from being released from Kamloops and wants to show people it was a mistake,” Knight added of Looysen.
Both are here to lead and secure victories for the Grizzlies.
“I’m here to win,” Gibson said rather bluntly. “I don’t think it will take long for this team to gel. There are lots of good, talented players here who work hard. We’re big, strong and it’s a good team.
“I think we’re better than last year,” declared Gibson, who is happy to be home playing as a Grizzly instead of facing them as a Capital. “It’s good to be back. I like the change. It’s a great group of guys with great coaches.”
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
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