Daytona Houle Leads Glacier Kings To Pair Of Wins Over Weekend

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings had a successful weekend winning both of their games. On Friday, they went into Oceanside and beat the Generals 6-4. Comox Valley fell behind 2-0 but came back on the strength of two goal performances from Daytona Houle and Caileb Berge. Lochlan Willis and Matthew Teasdale also scored which secured the first win for Adam Goody.

Then on Saturday, Comox Valley had 3 different leads in their 3-2 overtime victory over the Campbell River Storm. The scoring would start when newcomer Logan Furlong stole the puck behind the Campbell River net and immediately sent it into the slot to Matthew Teasdale. Matt kicked it from his skate to his stick and quickly slid it over to Caileb Berge who buried it past NIck Peters. The first period would end 1-0.

Campbell River would tie the game at one apiece in the second on a goal from rookie Carter De Boer. The Glacier Kings would go ahead for a second time when Logan Furlong out-fought two Storm players in the corner to free the puck up for Matt Teasdale who was checked immediately but Furlong had made his way from the corner to the slot and one-timed a shot blocker side to make it 2-1. That’s how the second period would end.

In the third, Campbell River would tie it up again when Jalen Price scored an unassisted goal with just 4:49 left in regulation time. Both teams would get more scoring chances but both Adam Goody and Nick Peters were strong in net. The game would need overtime…

In the extra session, both teams once again had a scoring chance before it ended. Just before heading out on a line change, Logan Furlong skated inside the Storm blue line and gave a very dangerous back pass to Daytona Houle. That pass was almost intercepted by Carter De Boer who would have gone the other way on a breakaway. Houle did manage to receive the dish from Furlong and then immediately gave himself a self-pass off the boards to get away from a Storm forward. He then carried the puck past the goal line, faked out the defenceman and cut in front to backhand the puck past the goaltender. His team poured off the bench to celebrate the victory. Furlong should have received an assist on the play but it was ruled an unassisted goal. You can see it here. https://twitter.com/darrylskender/status/1442198766258307084

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The win improved the Glacier Kings record to 3-2-0-0 keeping them 2 points behind the second place Oceanside Generals who also won. Campbell River fell to 6-0-1-0 and remain in first place overall in the VIJHL. Next up for Comox will be the Port Alberni Bombers on Wednesday while the Storm are off until Thursday when they travel to Nanaimo.

Other observations:

• Comox Valley is now 2-0 in games that go into overtime (1-0 in overtime & 1-0 in shootouts).
• Campbell River’s Carter Boer leads all rookies in goals with 8 in just 7 games. Mark Berry picked him as the Storm’s Game Star.
• Speaking of Mark, he did color from outside the booth (just below me) to help alleviate too many people being in the press box. Thank you Mark!
• Caileb Berge and Matthew Teasdale both recorded points so they have at least one point in all five games they’ve played in to start the season.
• The Glacier Kings penalty killing has been terrific this season killing off 19 of 20 situations including their last 11 in a row.
• Comox Valley is now above .500 for the first time since Feb. 10, 2017. That’s a span of 1688 days.
• The Glacier Kings and Storm will meet another 9 times this season. This could end up being a rivalry again just like the old days.
• This was the first time this season that Comox scored the first goal of the game and is also the first time they’ve led after the first period. They have had to come from behind in their first two wins this year.

Don’t forget you can check out the Goal Calls page of this website to hear most of the Glacier Kings goals this season. That’s it for today. I’ll see you at the rink on Saturday.

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Have Their Own Dressing Room For Upcoming Season

It’s been a long time coming. A long, long, long time coming. But the Comox Valley Glacier Kings have their very own dressing room to themselves. Up until this point, the Glacier Kings have always showed up to their home games and practices in their vehicles, got out of their cars and trucks, grabbed their hockey bags & sticks out of the back of their vehicle, slung them over their shoulder, walked into the arena and down the tunnel to Dressing Room #4. After the game, the same procedure would happen in reverse as Dressing Room #4 would be needed by minor hockey. It was always a drawback for a variety of reasons.

Things started going into action last season with the CVRD and arena management. Head coach/GM Mike Nesbitt told me last year that he made it a mission to get a dressing room for the club. So he along with the Webb’s, after countless meetings with various people, ended up getting it built and it looks great.

Despite many uphill obstacles during the process, it looks like it was all worth it. Nesbitt said it was a joint effort with joint cooperation.

“We had everybody working together. Ownership and the Comox Valley Regional District had to come together and work together. I thank the ownership and the RD for making this happen for us. The boys deserve this. I don’t know too many organizations in junior hockey that don’t have their own room. It’s a great job by everyone.”

The dressing room doesn’t just represent a place to get changed and showered, it is a place for players to bond and feel proud of their surroundings. Mike said it functions as a place to do team activities as well.

“I was just talking to my assistant coach Brad (Smith). We sere saying it will be a place for the guys to hangout after practice, maybe play some ping pong, maybe just listen to tunes, maybe watch the game from the night before. It’s a place they can go, it’s their room. They don’t have to worry about carrying their gear back their billet home. It brings an already close group even closer.”

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From a GM’s perspective, it can also be used as a great tool. The more things you have at your disposal to try and bring kids in from other cities the better. The Glacier Kings bench boss believes it can win an extra 4 or 5 games a year because it will entice players from other leagues to want to play here.

“This will help in recruiting. This will be in my recruiting package, with our team bus, our great arena, fans and everything we have to offer in the Comox Valley. “

One of the walls features a large screen tv and sound system which was donated by Andre’s Electronic Experts in Courtenay. The walls also have motivational words “Determination”, “Desire”, “Dedication”, “Discipline”. The wall as you walk into the dressing room will feature every Glacier King team picture from the past. Of course a big logo featuring the Yeti is displayed on a wall as well.

Glacier Kings co-owner Marsha Webb was thrilled with the developments over the last year. She had a list of people she wanted to include for this day to become a reality.

“I would definitely like to thank Kraft Hockeyville, the Regional District, Coach Mike Nesbitt, Arena Manager Jen Zbinden, all of the maintenance staff for everything they’ve done from painting to construction, Shane Robinson for building the player stalls, minor hockey for donating garment racks as well as Andre’s for for their generous donations.

One thing the fans will notice is where the team will now enter the ice from. They use to jump on the frozen pond from the corner but now will be making their entrance at the blue line. The opposing team will be in Dressing Room #3 on he visitors side and go down their own tunnel.

That’s it for today. Take care and be safe. Hockey is here.

Darryl Skender

Exciting Game At Sports Centre Ends In A 3-2 Loss

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings finished the weekend splitting a pair of games, both were exciting and were decided by just a goal. On Friday, they beat the Lake Cowichan Kraken 4-3 in a shootout. Then on Saturday they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Saanich Predators in Courtenay

The Predators jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal from Avery Hargitt. That would stand until late in the opening frame when Comox Valley went to the power play. Caileb Berge won the faceoff back to Jeremy Dewar at the right point, skated to the hashmarks, centered it for Berge who had circled around for a backdoor shot. Goaltender Andrew Brabender did a terrific job to get over to make the save but Matthew Teasdale backhanded the rebound into the open net. Saanich would make it 2-1 early in the second when David Edgar potted his first of the season. Later on the middle stanza, Liam Schreiber passed the puck from inside his own blue line to Matt Teasdale near center. Matt’s one-time pass went off a skate right to Jeremy Dewar. He gave it right back to Teasdale who skated over the opposing blue line and fed the streaking Schreiber in the slot. Liam fought off his check and one-timed it glove-side on Brabender. The game would remain tied until midway through the third period when Avery Hargitt would score his second of the game which would also turn out to be the game winner.

There was some controversy that came with 32 seconds left in the third period with Comox on a power play. Matt Teasdale’s stick was being held and he couldn’t free it so in his frustration he took a 10-minute misconduct. He left the ice surface and went to the dressing room because he wasn’t eligible to come back with so little time remaining. As you know, a 10-minute misconduct does not put your team in a short-handed situation. However, the Glacier Kings were only allowed to put 5 players on the ice despite their net being empty. The mix-up caused it to be a 5 on 4 instead of a 6 on 4 like it should have been. The Glacier Kings did not score and it ended up a 3-2 final. I was so confused in the press box and was saying Matt must have gotten a 2-minute minor as well as the misconduct because they only had 5 players on the ice but it didn’t make sense because it was still an offensive zone face off and there was no time put up on the penalty clock.

It was a very even game with each team having terrific scoring chances but both Brabender and Ryder Lally came up big in the nets. The shots on goal would end up being 31-24 for Saanich because of a decisive 13-4 total in the third period.

The loss drops Comox Valley’s record to 1-2 while the Predators improve to 4-1. The Glacier Kings next game is on Friday when they travel to Oceanside. Saanich is in Victoria on Thursday.

Other observations:

• It was the first time that vaccine passports were checked at the door. I wonder if that will have any effect on the crowds coming into the rinks. I do have mine. I believe all players have to have their second shot by October 24th.
• Ryder Lally, who was expected to be a back-up this season, has played so well that he has been in all 3 games and has started 2 of them.
• It was a terrific effort by the Glacier Kings who only dressed 9 forwards and 4 defencemen. They have players in junior ‘A’ camps as well as some injuries right now.
• Preds coach Brent Polischuk told me before the game  that this was the first time that he has met Mike Nesbitt in person. I jokingly asked him if Mike was as handsome as he was expecting. Brent replied, “I’ll withhold that comment for now (chuckles). We coaches have a rugged good-look to us.” We both had a good laugh about that.
• Saanich hasn’t played here since February 8th, 2020 when they beat Comox 2-1.
• How about Avery Hargitt? With his 2 goals on Saturday, he is tied for the league lead with 7 in just 5 games. Greyson Weme of Oceanside has 7 in just 3 games.
• Both Predators goal scorers (Hargitt & Edgar) are in their 3rd year with Saanich
• The booth was alive with energy last night. Here was the scene with Dave Dueck and Shannon Skender dancing to a song during one of the intermissions.

• If Comox could have pulled out a victory last night, it would have been the first time they were above .500 since February of 2017.
• The Glacier Kings special teams have been terrific this season. They are 3rd out of 11 teams on the PP and 2nd on the PK.
• Liam Schreiber is having a breakout season already. He has 3 goals in his 2 games with the GKings so far this year. He had a total of 2 last season and 2 the year before that.
• Matt Teasdale has 3 goals in 3 games and 7 goals  in 6 games including exhibition.
• Andrew Brabender played well and got his first VIJHL victory in his first VIJHL game. (He did play in 2 exhibition games.)
• There is a lot parity in the league this season. It was evident again last night with all 4 games decided by either one goal or two.

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Comeback Falls Short In Season Opener

It was the Glacier Kings season opener on Saturday night at the Sports Centre. That’s because the original home opener in Lake Cowichan was postponed due to Covid-19. There was a decent crowd on hand to watch the affair. It started with all the Comox Valley players skating onto the ice and being announced over the public address system by Dave Dueck and also had a spotlight on them in the darkened building. Oceanside would come out with a 5-3 victory in what was the Generals season opener as well.

Comox was looking good through the the first 19 minutes of the opening frame as they trailed 1-0 but fell apart in the last minute giving up 2 goals in the last 45 seconds of the period to trail 3-0.

After falling behind 4-0, Matt Teasdale got the home team on the scoreboard with a power play goal. From the offensive zone face off, Caileb Berg swung to the outside and skated back to the blue line to receive a pass from Daytona Houle. Berge would feed Tynan Klein-Beekman on a cross-ice pass on the right side. Klein-Beekman shot the puck into the slot right onto Teasdale’s stick. Matt made a perfect deflection over the glove of Ashton Sadauskas. Unfortunately the celebration was short-lived as Greyson Weme would scored 20 seconds later to regain the 4-goal lead and that how the second period would end.

The third period would be two totally different games. Oceanside dominated the first half of the period outshooting Comox Valley 12-0 but then the tables were turned in the second half where the Glacier Kings outshot the Generals 12-3 and scored the only 2 goals.

The GKings made it 5-2 when Lochlan Willis shot the puck in deep and went hard on the forecheck. He took on both defencemen who went behind goal line. The 3 players cancelled each other out and the puck came to a trailing Matt Teasdale who quickly back-handed a pass in into the slot to Caileb Berge who shot low on the stick side of Sadauskas, beating him cleanly.

The game got interesting just 2:16 after the Berge goal when Comox made it 5-3. Tynan Klein-Beekman faked a shot from the point and slid it down to Caileb Berg at the face off dot. Berge’s shot was stopped and then Willis was robbed on the rebound. Matt Teasdale would jump on the second rebound and bury it just before the net came off. The officials would discuss it afterwards but the goal eventually counted.

The Glacier Kings would pull their goalie and get a couple more chances but never got any closer.

Next up for Comox is Lake Cowichan on Friday. The Kraken have had all three of their games postponed already so we’ll see what happens. Their next home game is Saturday with the Saanich Predators visiting. The Preds are a perfect 3-0 to start the season.

Other observations:

• Thinking back, I believe this was the first (maybe second) time that I’ve called a regular season game with a female linesman. Her name was Holly Henderson and she did a fabulous job.
• Ryder Lally came in relief of starting goaltender Adam Goody midway through the second period and was terrific stopping 21 of 22 shots.
• Speaking of Lally, his mom Cori was up in the booth doing the online scoring. At the start of the game she said she wanted to help out since her son wasn’t going to be playing. Boy was she wrong lol.
• Over my broadcasting career I’ve seen many sticks get caught in the boards which stopped play. This however was the first time I’ve ever seen it where they’ve had to break the stick in two. One person on the ice and the other person on the other side of the boards both snapping it in two.

• Lochlan Willis deserved an assist on the second goal but didn’t get credit.
• Ryan Telford absolutely laid out Nolan Wyatt with an open-ice hit midway through the first period. Unfortunately he took a boarding penalty on the play.
• Greyson Weme and Jacob Thomas were outstanding all game long for the Generals. Both ended up with 2 goals apiece.
• A bright spot for the Glacier Kings was special teams. They killed off all 5 opportunities while scoring on two of their own.
• Prior to the game, Oceanside’s roster showed 3 goaltenders. A 16, 17 and 18 year old. Obviously the future is bright in net.
• It was the first regular season game I’ve ever broadcast from the Sports Centre where John Sedore didn’t do the camera. He retired at the end of last season and Dave Webb took over.
• It was really nice seeing Gens broadcaster Kyle Ireland at the game. It’s been awhile since talking in person to another broadcaster before a real game (I did see Mark Berry during the Glacier Kings ID camp in August).
• Between the three exhibition games and one regular season game, Matt Teasdale has 6  goals already.
• Thanks to Covid-19, it was 295 days between regular season games for the Glacier Kings.

Darryl Skender