Glacier Kings Held Main Camp Over Weekend

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings held their Main Camp over the weekend (Aug. 27-29). Unfortunately, I was unable to attend as I was up in Yellowknife for 5 days working. From all accounts, things went well with a lot of hard work and skill being shown.

It was a little lighter in numbers than usual as a lot of teams are facing the same issue. A lot of players that will be on the roster are not here yet. Head coach/GM Mike Nesbitt talked about the camp.

“I think the big things as a coach and GM, you’re just happy to see your vets return when they get back into camp. A few of them were missing from summer camp. Seeing guys like Jeremy Dewar come in, a nice addition we just added was goaltender Adam Goody out of Columbia Valley. He has a midget ‘AAA’ background in Okotoks which is a hotbed for hockey in Alberta. He’s going to fill the number one spot right now. Ryder Lally will back him up right now. We still have a young guy in town Logan Moorehead, he’s still part of the mix.”

As of right now, it looks like the back end is going to be the strength of this Glacier Kings roster. They have some returning players and are expected to beef it up even more in the near future. Nesbitt spoke of the rear guards.

“I’m really happy with our defense. I know we lost Abbott but when all my additions get here and with the players we presently have, our 6 defensemen will be strong every night. As for the forwards, it’s a work in progress. We obviously have our number one line with Bergey and Swanson and waiting on a decision from a player or two that could fill out as the third member of that line. Teasdale and Telford and Lochlan Willis will help out the mix. They will play against the other teams number one line, checking them and shutting them down. Then it’s taking the young guys and developing them as players of the future.”

There is still a lot of work to be done before the start of the regular season as all teams await junior ‘A’ cuts. The second-year bench boss said he is still looking for more guys to fill out the roster.

“We’re looking to add a few more players. Every AJHL camp just finished this weekend, now they’re going into exhibition games, same with the SJ and MJ. I’ve also got a couple of connections in Northern Ontario who are getting ready to send me a few guys as well. It’s a waiting game right now.”

The first real game action against another team takes place on Tuesday against the team that most people are picking to win the North Division. Nesbitt talked about the routine.

“We’ll have a morning skate tomorrow at 7:45.  We’ll cover the paces of a regular day going over line drills and power play and get ready for Campbell River tomorrow night.”

The Storm are the perennial favorite, just like every year. It should be a good test for the Comox Valley to see where they are at. Remember, a lot of these players haven’t played meaningful games in a year and a half. Mark Berry will provide the play by play of the game on HockeyTV . The puck drops at 7:30.

Darryl Skender

Day 3 – ID Camp (Part B)

The Comox Valley – Coquitlam Duo id camp wrapped up on Sunday evening around 6:00 PM. The final 2 hour ice session was dedicated to having a game between Team White and Team Black. It was a final chance for these young men to show their talent in front of both GM’s and any scouts that might have been in the arena. It was a lot of drills and scrimmages over the 3 days but this game was the showcase as the score clock was on, the public address announcer & music extraordinaire Dave Dueck was there, ice cleans between both intermissions, officials would even call offsides, icings and penalties. It was a real game. The play of both teams certainly was not indicative of the score at the end.

The game would end up 8-1 in favor of the Blue team even though shots were just about equal. Manav Kandola scored twice while Josh Henderson, Tynan Klein Beekman, Kyle Crewe, Brandon Taylor, Brad Cimaglia and Kiern Ho-Gillis each scored once. Matthew Teasdale had the lone goal for the White side. Both teams were scoreless on 2 power play attempts.

Shortly after the game, exit interviews were conducted and the players were on their way. All in all, it was a successful camp and the hard work put in by many was worth it.

With all the terrific moments from this weekend on the ice, I see myself reflecting on some of the other little things that wouldn’t be so noticeable. Things like seeing Dave Dueck having fun in the press box again, being in a t-shirt because of the warmth of the arena on an August evening (in 2 months it will be freezing), the smell of sweat from the dressing rooms as I walked by pre-game, how gracious both GM’s were for their time (Glacier Kings Mike Nesbitt and Tali Campbell of the Express), the smile on Marsha Webb’s face when she came into the booth, Ryan Telford telling me in the tunnel that there’s still a little rust and the sadness of seeing the empty rink after it was all over.

A couple of funny moments on the ice during the game would involve the officials Damian Rennie and Jordan Neufeld who donned GKing jerseys the past few years. One was when the White team was going to make a late change and Rennie put his hand up saying it was too late. I could see the smile on his face from high above. The other one when Neufeld disallowed a goal. I could tell he felt bad but he was emphatic it was not a legal goal. He was smiling at his buddies on the ice as well. In case you were wondering, it was a good call as the puck was definitely kicked in.

In the end, some of the players will go to their junior ‘A’ camps, some will go to the Glacier Kings Main Camp later this month and some will go back to their minor hockey teams. One thing is for certain, it was a positive experience for everyone.

Just before the end of the third period, Glacier Kings HC/GM Mike Nesbitt came up to the booth. I wanted to get his take on the camp overall.

“I think it was very successful. We got to see some ’06’s from Comox and that’s my job. I want to bring these young guys up and want them to be Glacier Kings. Today we showed them the life of a Glacier King and we hope they strive to be here.”

This was a duo camp and the Coquitlam Express were here evaluating players as well. Mike talked about the relationship of these 2 organizations.

“I met Tali Campell when he was with the Clippers last year. He seems like a very good business man. With me coming to the island, it was very good to hook up with some very good, smart business hockey people to help me out with my general manager job as well.”

The next order of business for Coquitlam is to prepare for their all-star camp next weekend. For Comox Valley, they have their Main Camp in just over 2 weeks. Nesbitt talked about that.

“We’re hoping to see 40 kids. junior ‘A’ id camps will start dwindling down. We have lots of invited kids out there. I hope to see 20 on each team. Hopefully we’ll get down to 27 or 28 before our first exhibition game against Campbell River on August 31st. We start Main Camp here on the 27th. I might bring them in here a day early for dry land.”

After the actual team is set, the coach hopes to have a 2-day trip for the players to get together and start team bonding.

Each player and some of us as well each got a free t-shirt courtesy of the Express. They left shortly after the game.

It turned out be a lot of fun hanging out at the Pond all weekend. Seeing old faces, meeting some new ones and sharing something we all have in common. That’s our love of the greatest sport in the world… hockey. Enjoy the rest of your summer, the Glacier Kings first exhibition game is in 3 weeks.

Stay safe,

Darryl Skender

Day 3 – ID Camp (Part A)

Sunday morning’s ice time was the rescheduled session for Saturday evening’s cancellation because of a power outage at the Comox Valley Sports Centre. It went from 11 AM to 12:30 PM. The conclusion had players stretching out before leaving the ice.

There were different drills this morning. Some of the drills were a little more aggressive like one on one puck battles in the corner, “keep away” inside the faceoff circles and race against another opponent to centre ice to get the puck first and go one on one against the goaltender with a defender right behind. There were also drills such as practicing the 3-man breakout unopposed as well as some two on ones.

Once it was time for the Blue vs White scrimmage, the teams went 5 on 5 and played hard. They know there is only one more chance this weekend to catch the coach’s eye.

The one play that seemed to catch everyone’s attention was the Clayton Bono slap shot. He was skating down the left side and from just inside the circle, wound up and shot a bullet to the far top hand corner of the net past the goaltender. It was a thing of beauty.

It was nice to see former Glacier Kings Jordan Neufeld and Damian Rennie in the dressing room afterwards. They have officiated all of the scrimmages this weekend and will do so again in tonight’s final game.

Glacier Kings head coach Mike Nesbitt once again watched and evaluated from the stands. He talked about why he implemented the battle drills.

“I just wanted to see who wants to be here. That’s a good thing. What I tried to do today with the ’06 and ’05 players from Comox Minor Hockey is show them the day and life of a Glacier KIng with some of the things we might do with a pre-game skate before going on the road and see how they would react and how hard they would work.”

Tonight will be a little bit different. It will be more of a real game style atmosphere instead of a scrimmage style. With things being a little more realistic, it should give a better indication of how a player reacts under certain situations. Nesbitt talked about Sunday night’s game.

“We’re going to go full out like a Glacier Kings game. We have Dave Dueck in the booth to do the music and the sound. We’re going to have 2 intermissions and 2 floods, a warm up before the game then we’re going to let White battle Blue and have some fun.”

Once the game is complete it will be time for the assessments. This will allow players to go home and work on shortcomings as well as be proud of the positives. Mike will be handling the critiques.

“We’ll do our evaluations afterwards then conduct our exit interviews. I’ll be telling the guys what to work on and tell which guys I want to come back for Main Camp.”

The Comox bench boss already has a good idea of who is coming back for Main Camp but tonight’s game will be important for borderline players to show they deserve a shot.

I had some terrific company up in the press box with me for a second day in a row. Yesterday was Mark Berry, today it was Coquitlam Express GM/VP Tali Campbell. He is well-known for his hockey knowledge all over BC including here on the island where he used to be the GM of the Nanaimo Clippers. I got to talk hockey with him for about an hour. He is a professional with a keen eye for talent so it was a privilege to pick his brain.

Campbell has been paying close attention to the action on the ice. He said he was happy to be here.

“I’m very excited to work with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings at this ID Camp. It’s pretty late in the season but with Covid regulations we had to move dates around from the June dates that we had previously scheduled. It’s still awesome to see about 40 guys out here.”

While sitting with him, I asked about his relationship with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings and what interested him partnering up.

“I met Mike Nesbitt when I was the general manager of the Nanaimo Clippers. I think it was early last year when he took over as the head coach of the Glacier Kings. In a weird term, I fell in love with his desire and passion to make the program better. He has also come to a program that has struggled in the past couple years finding its way to the scoresheet and in the standings. Mike has done an incredible job battling through all the adversity and running the Comox Valley Glacier Kings team. Obviously with Covid last year, he kept spirits very high. He’s a great communicator which obviously for me in junior ‘A’ is key when I’m talking about players and guys moving up. When I was in Nanaimo, we were only an hour apart. Now that I’m in Coquitlam, it’s a little further but we still have strong ties. I’ve obviously worked with Marsha as well to put this camp together. Building a partnership here was a priority of mine when I took over as GM in Coquitlam.”

The Express finished one point behind Powell River for second in the Coquitlam Pod last season. Tali said he believes that his club is going to surprise people this season.

“We’re going to be a competitive team this year. I’ve been telling people we’re going to be like the St Louis Blues of a couple years ago. People probably won’t look at us as the number one team in the BCHL in terms of our roster on paper. I expect our team to be in every single game. We are going to battle hard and fight hard and compete to the final buzzer. I think we are going to be a team that is going to sometimes shock people in games. When it comes to playoffs of course, who knows what can happen? We’ve have a good core of returning guys coming back to the Express this year. We’ve got a very supportive ownership group who believes in the development. We’ve made a lot of changes in the offseason. I kind of hit the reset button back in May, hired a brand new coaching staff, we added new positions which weren’t there previously to try and ensure our program has everything to aid our players in their on-ice and off-ice development.”

Coquitlam is hosting their own all-star camp next weekend.

The final ice session of this weekend’s ID camp is going to begin at 4:00 PM. Exit interviews will commence somewhere around 6:00 PM so that players can get on their way.

Darryl Skender

Day 2 – ID Camp (Part B)

It was a strange feeling when I pulled into the parking lot at the Comox Valley Sports Centre Saturday evening. The lot was empty except for one other car. There were a couple people standing in front of the doors so I drove over with my window unrolled. I was told the building was closed. The evening session of the Comox Valley Glacier Kings id camp has been postponed. I’m assuming that high winds and heavy rain caused the Sports Centre to lose its power. The scheduled 5:15 PM session has been moved to 11:00 AM tomorrow. The 4:00 PM ice time tomorrow is still going to be the last of the camp before the exit interviews commence at 6:00 PM.

Darryl Skender

Day 2 – ID Camp (Part A)

The first of 2 ice sessions on Saturday is complete at the Comox Valley Sports Centre and it was as different as night and day from yesterday for a couple of different reasons. Yesterday had Team Blue dominate Team White. Today was the opposite with Team White taking it to Team Blue. The other difference in this morning’s camp was the fluidity (I’ve wanted to use that word for a long time). The passing was much better. There were some really good two and three-way passing plays for scoring opportunities.

Defenceman Keagen Abbott was very strong offensively and defensively both days. Incorrect information was passed to me yesterday where I said he was trying out for Selkirk. He has signed with the Steelers and is on the team. He told me at the intermission that he has to be in Selkirk before August 26th. That will obviously be a huge blow to the Glacier Kings but much deserved for Keagen.

Speaking of defencemen, Brad Cimaglia had a highlight reel goal shooting the puck between his legs beating the goaltender blocker side. The blue-liner was shaken up near the end of the game when he was rushing the puck over the blue line, took a hit into the boards, kept skating, cut in front of the net, tried to put the puck between between his own legs to get by the second defenceman and got body checked into the end boards. He got up slowly but appeared to be ok afterwards.

There were a lot of nice plays during the 9:30 AM – 11:30 ice block. Stuff like Matthew Teasdale’s breakaway goal where he deked the goalie. A hard shot from well-out by Terry Learmouth that went top corner past the goaltender. Ryder Lally made some terrific saves. A tick-tac-toe setup between Terry Learmouth, Aodhan Hildobrandt and Matt Teasdale which unfortunately ended with a shot just wide of the post. Caileb Berge looked like he was in top form. There was one shift in the second period where he set up his teammate’s four times for point-blank chances, yes four times in one shift.

The last 10 minutes was used as a shootout at both ends. It was very entertaining. Some really nice goals were scored including one from Terry Learmouth where he went bar-down. The shoot-out loosened things up after a more serious game. Even the 2 officials, Damian Rennie and Jordan Neufeld took part in the breakaway challenge.

In the end, it was a much better scrimmage. Assistant coach Ron Gerlitz and scout Colin Parsons agreed it was a better day.

Something else that made it a better day was I was joined in the press box by Campbell River Storm play by play broadcaster Mark Berry. We had a good chat talking hockey. When Glacier Kings owner Dave Webb came by, I told him jokingly that his favorite broadcaster was visiting. Dave quite often bugs me about Mark interviewing him more than I do lol.

After all the festivities on the ice were over, I had a chance to speak with HC/GM Mike Nesbitt about this morning’s events. He agreed things went well.

“I liked the drills at the start, the long tape to tape passes. You could see the play picking up from Day 1. We got some really good news coming out of today’s camp. Aodhan Hildobrandt, an ’04 local boy has signed a card today. He signed this afternoon. It’s great to find a local kid who can come in and play.”

There are 4 goaltender in camp. Nesbitt discussed that situation.

“We have an ’05, an ’06, an ’02 and an ’04 which is Ryder Lally. Ryder is going to be a big piece for this team going forward. I think he’s going to have a shot at Junior ‘A’ one day down the road. If that doesn’t work out for him, the GKings are in good shape.”

As I mentioned earlier Mike did like the progression of the guys which he saw today from the stands. He talked about the game itself.

“Today’s the best skate of the two. The White got dominated pretty bad yesterday. Blue took over the game with a lot of Junior ‘A’ guys on their side. But today on white, my top guys took over and started playing the way they can.”

A new twist to today portion of the three-day camp was the shoot -out at the end. The second-year Comox coach talked about why he threw that in.

“I wanted to get the goalies some exposure. Usually in these camps, we’ll get 6-8 goaltenders but it’s different this year with lots of local camps this weekend. We didn’t do a goaltender session which we would normally do. The shootout showed us what the goaltenders showcased what they’re capable of.”

That was the first of 2 sessions to take place today. The Glacier Kings bench boss previewed the second one later this evening.

“We’re going to do the same. We’re going to run through a couple more drills, get the boys going and then jump right into 4 on 4 and then see some 5 on 5.

I will have Part B to today’s id camp after tonight’s session which is from 5:15 PM – 7:15 PM.

Darryl Skender