Revelstoke Grizzlies coach reflects on 2024-2025 season

Revelstoke Grizzlies raise their sticks to the crowd while skating around the spot in front of the Revelstoke Grizzlies net. — The Revelstoke Grizzlies saluted the home ice crowds at their final game of the Teck Cup playoffs. **Photo by Matthew Timmins/Matthew Timmins Photography**

Revelstoke Grizzlies wrapped the 2024-2025 season in the final series of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) Teck Cup playoffs. The defending champions couldn’t quite keep the Grand Forks Border Bruins from claiming the cup with the Bruins winning the series in a four game sweep.

“I would describe the season as successful, for sure,” Jiri Novak, Revelstoke Grizzlies coach told Revelstoke Mountaineer. “We just didn’t get the final result we wanted. There are another 19 teams who would like to have been where we ended up. I think what this group achieved is still a pretty big success.”

The Grizzlies were crowned the KIJHL Okanangan/Shuswap champions before heading to the finals against the Border Bruins, winning four of the five games against the 100 Mile House Wranglers. Some of the Teck Cup highlights for Novak included the team’s wins against rival Princeton Posse, which was one of the top teams throughout the regular series.

“It was a tough series. We had to start on the road, but we found a rhythm, how to play against a really good team. I think it squeezed us emotionally a bit, but it was one of the best series of the playoffs.”

Novak took one of his biggest lessons from the season from that particular series, sharing that next year, he and the rest of the coaching staff will focus on helping players remain calm no matter how games are panning out.

“We had some really young players this year, this was their first junior hockey playoffs experience. I think we dealt a bit with some overwhelm.”

Still, Novak has seen older players on the team creating a culture of focusing on the next game and not letting momentum stall out at every hurdle. Team captain Jacob Smith, assistant captains Colton McLeod, Kesler Fyfe and Nathan White and players Daniel Wittenberg and Austin Wooley are now aging out of the KIJHL and heading off to new adventures, and Novak wanted to thank them for their time with the Grizzlies.

“You get to see these guys grow up. They came here as young kids and now you can see them transform into these young men.”

Their leadership on and off the ice, along with volunteering for events such as the CPKC Holiday Train, Emergency Services Food Drive and celebrating literacy week has left a mark on the team Novak is sure younger players will be ready to fill.

“We have such a community that supports us and so much you see the players wanting to give back.”

From fans who came out for every home game to volunteers who have taken on various roles, to the billet families who create a second home for players not from Revelstoke, Novak said the list of those who make the Grizzlies one of the top teams of the KIJH is long.

“Every time I see how the people stay behind the team, no matter what. Revelstoke is a very special place for that. I don’t see that level of support often. I thank every single one of them.”

The end of the season might still be fresh and even a little tender for the team and coaches, and Novak said there are no larger plans for the off-season or next season just yet. But he does still have one prediction to make for the 2025-2026 hockey season.

“They will be hungry, and they’ll be ready to use that experience from this year and bring it for a new season.”