The Comox Valley Glacier Kings will have their leading scorer back in the line up for the upcoming 2020-21 season. Jordan Neufeld will play out his final year of junior eligibility in Courtenay. There was a question at one time whether or not he would be able to return because of personal and work commitments but that has all been worked out and he can’t wait to suit up for the first game of the regular season (whenever that will be).
During the off-season, Neufeld has been working two jobs while trying to keep himself in shape on his off-time. He works at Crown-Isle doing construction with teammate Matthew Teasdale during the day and then he works for a restaurant chain in the evenings. Since moving out of his grandparents house and into his own place, things are a little more expensive than he anticipated. Jordan now lives with his girlfriend and a buddy and says he is loving being on his own and has no regrets since doing it a few months ago. But as everyone in the Valley knows, rent is very high here so a steady income is extremely important. He and Teasdale have worked out a deal with Crown-Isle to move over to the Maintenance side so that they can go to work a little later which means they can make it to early morning practices with the team.
The Glacier Kings just finished their Summer Id Camp which ran from August 7th to 9th. Neufeld was impressed with the crop of new recruits.
“There was tons of young talent out there and I was extremely impressed with a lot of them. A lot of those young guys had good, quick feet to go along with good hands. It’s exciting to see what the team is becoming now.”
The 20 year old forward led his team in scoring by a wide margin last season. In fact, he had more assists than any of his teammates had total points. He said he puts a lot of pressure on himself to produce offensively.
“I have high expectations on myself. I expect to be a goal scorer and provide a lot of offence for the team. Also I can be very physical out there. As long as I’m doing my role, hopefully everything will work out for the team. All I want to do is win this year.”
The local product also said that he has set goals for himself. He would like to be at least a ‘point per game or better’ player this season.
“I’ve never scored more than 15 goals in a season but I should be able to exceed that. With the team that we’re building and my own capabilities, I know I can score more than that.”
Head coach Mike Nesbitt has said in the past that he would like to formulate a solid number one line which features Jordan. With that being said, Neufeld stated that it doesn’t really make any difference to him who ends up being his linemates.
“It doesn’t really matter who, it just depends on the chemistry I have with that player. Last year I played with Matthew Teasdale and it seemed like we had pretty good chemistry. Whoever the coach throws my way, I’ll be happy to play with.”
I also asked him if there was a young rookie who impressed him at the Summer ID Camp which featured 40 players (2 teams of 20).
“One kid that was on my team in Summer Camp that caught my eye was Kevin Okuma. He’s a local defenceman that plays for the Silvertips. He’s very quick, very speedy, tall too, like 6’1″ or 6’2″. He should be a very good addition for us.”
The club is looking like it is getting closer to being set as there have been more signings in the past couple weeks with more to be added by possibly the middle of next month. Neufeld believes that there are good veteran players that will lead this year’s squad.
“I think we have a great group and core. Right now our ’20 bombs’ like Rennie, Murray, Bailey and Fairfield combined bring a good aspect to the team and I expect nothing less than making the playoffs and making a run as well.”
The Glacier Kings are certainly shaping up to be the oldest team that we have seen over the past few years. Jordan, who will be donning an ‘A’ on his jersey for a third consecutive year, will be a key cog to the the team’s success. Next up will be Main Camp which is slated to take place from August 28th – September 4th at the Comox Valley Sports Centre.
Darryl Skender
Above The Pond 