Time For Someone To Step Up Offensively

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings knew that their offence would suffer some with their pre-December 1st deals but now they need to count on someone besides Finn Withey to step up provide some goal scoring. They no longer have some of their top point getters including Willie Daigneault, Jake McKenzie, Joe Gage and Ty Madden. Withey continues to put up a point per game despite not having a lot of the top offensive players on the club anymore. This is a terrific opportunity for some of the younger players who are getting more ice time to take advantage of it and get increased rolls. Jacob Kruse and Jordan Neufeld have both looked good with the puck on their sticks. Unfortunately, Matteo Giomo has had trouble staying healthy and it doesn’t look like Damian Rennie will be back in the line up until sometime in the new year. Alex Wilford is also still out after that unfortunate incident. The month of December hasn’t been kind for Comox Valley as they have scored a total of just 2 goals in their last 4 games combined which includes being shutout in 3 of those 4 contests.

Tonight will be a great opportunity to score some goals when they travel to North Saanich for a rematch against the Peninsula Panthers. The Panthers, who beat Comox 3-2 last Saturday, have the second worst goals against average in the VIJHL. I expect the likes of Withey, Neufeld and Kruse to continue their strong play and if they can get strong goaltending, Comox could break their 10 game losing streak.

Head coach Jordan Butcher has strengthened the goaltending situation with the addition of Noah Giesbrecht and Braedyn Funke. He has also proved many times that he can fire up his troops after a lackluster period. Butcher has been short-handed since taking over the team because of all the injuries which have plagued the Glacier Kings this season (last game just 14 players and 2 goaltenders dressed) but has never used it as an excuse.

This is the 4th and final meeting between Peninsula and Comox. Here are the previous 3 results.

October 27: Peninsula 5 Comox Valley 2
October 28: Peninsula 4 Comox Valley 2
December 9: Peninsula 3 Comox Valley 2

The GKings next home game will be on Saturday night at 7:30 when the Kerry Park Islanders come for a visit. The Islanders will be without Forward Brandon McClintick as he has been suspended for 3 games for a staged fight with Matthew Berryman of Victoria. The incident took place at 5:16 of the third period of last night’s 3-1 Cougars victory.

Darryl Skender

Panthers Sweep Glacier Kings

After beating Comox Valley 5-2 on Friday, the Peninsula Panthers came back to defeat the GKings 4-2 last night at the Recreation Centre. Tanner Wort led the way with a hat trick while Braeden Hansen added the other goal. The Glacier Kings got both of their goals from Jake McKenzie who had one of his best games of the season. He had a number of scoring chances and created numerous others. It was a very close game throughout with the teams tied 1-1 after the first and 2-2 after the second. Undisciplined penalties in the third period proved to be the difference as Comox Valley spent a majority of the final frame short-handed. The game got ugly at one point. Looking at it from the home perspective, expect Jory Swanson and Jakob Gajda to be suspended for their roles. The team had already lost Aidan Bate-Smith to a game misconduct in the second period and Ty Madden was in the box for most of the third. It had been a very entertaining game up until that point with lots of scoring chances and a lot of big clean hits. Lost in the mayhem were a lot of huge saves by goaltender Braedyn Funke. It was the first start for Sherwood Park native (he came in relief of Matt Henwood Friday) and he made 34 saves on the night. Funke came over as part of the Scott Rademaker deal which also saw Conner Bavaro head west from Castlegar. Comox now has 3 goaltenders in the fold and it will be interesting to see what coach Jordan Butcher decides to do. Tanner Doucette was the back up with Matt Henwood sitting out last night. It was Doucette sitting out on Friday. Benjamin Bretell, Jacob Kruse and Alex Wilford also did not dress last night. We mentioned the play of Damian Rennie the past couple home games. He seems to be playing with a lot more confidence and has shown some creativity on the ice. Willie Daigneault also had a strong game. After a bit of a slow start, Joe Gage is turning into the type of player we were expecting. He’s not afraid to jump into the rush and is always there to stick up for his teammates.

The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 2-13-0-1 for the season as they remain 7 points behind the Oceanside Generals who dropped a 5-1 decision to the red hot Nanaimo Buccaneers. The Generals will be the Glacier Kings next opponent on Friday when the 2 clubs hook up at Oceanside Place. The next home is Saturday when the first place Nanaimo Buccaneers come for a visit. Nanaimo is currently riding a 13 game winning streak and are 14-1 overall.

Other observations:

• It was a beautiful day in Courtenay, sunny and 19 degrees. Just thought I’d throw that in there as I come from the prairies and yesterday reminded why I love it here.
• I didn’t end up getting any interviews despite being at the rink at 5:00 for a 7:30 game. Jordan Butcher and his team were in the video room for about an hour and half before the game. Jordan told me prior to the game he never received a text from me earlier in the day. Darn electronics. Brad Tippett, coach of the Panthers, was visiting with former NHL’er Mel Bridgeman before the game. Brad did come by and apologize after the game and said he did go back out to the lobby looking for me before the game. He’s a fellow Saskatchewan guy and I have a lot of respect for him.
• Someone that makes benches out of hockey sticks (they look really cool) approached management before yesterday’s game about possibly auctioning them off. I have no details but if it happens, they would make a terrific gift.
• I found out I won’t be able to broadcast the November 10th game against Oceanside as I will be in Newfoundland on a course (for my real job). Randall Heidt will do that game.
• Thanks to Matteo Giomo’s dad for the kind words after the game. He said he loves the job Randall and I do.
• A shout out to Marsha Webb for the job she has done this year. She doesn’t get to see any of the games as she works tirelessly outside the arena setting up tables, selling tickets, merchandise and putting out fires that arise. She always listens to me whine before every game about the coach not answering my texts or about access to interviews or that I’m having a bad hair day lol. And it’s not just me, a lot of people go to her and she gives everyone an ear (and the odd time an earful lol). After trying to straighten out everyone’s issues and missing the game, guess what she was doing afterwards… handing out a Halloween treat to the players as they left the arena. I also know she isn’t crazy about my blog because I write the blog as I call the game and it always isn’t sunshine and roses for the Glacier Kings. But she lets me do both and never questions me. So Marsha, thank you. You are sweetest person. (And also a pretty good cook.)
• Just a note for people that win gift certificates, merchandise, 50/50 draws etc. at the game. Randall and I don’t give out the prizes lol. It is Dave Dueck (the music and public address announcer) that gives you the prizes. Every game people always come to us during the broadcast lol.
• The GKings penalty killing is looking a lot better than it was earlier in the season. I just wish they didn’t get so much practice at it during the games.
• Happy Halloween everyone and we’ll see you at the rink next Saturday night!

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Fall Short In Westshore

The Westshore Wolves scored three unanswered goals in the 3rd period on route to a 5-2 victory over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. The first 40 minutes were very close as the score indicated as the teams were tied 1-1 after the first and 2-2 after the second before the Wolves pulled away in the 3rd, the final goal coming on a powerplay into an empty net. The Glacier Kings actually outshot the Wolves 22-21 after two periods but Westshore played a strong 3rd period in which they outshot Comox Valley 22-10. The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 1-6-0-1 while the Wolves improve to 4-2-0-1 and extend their first place lead over Saanich by 3 points in the South Division. The Westshore win ties the season series between the two clubs at one game apiece as Comox won 4-1 on September 15th.

The GKings got their first goal when Joe Gage picked up a loose puck on an aggressive Glacier Kings forecheck and set up Alex Wilford for his first goal of the season. Not sure why Gage didn’t get an assist on the play. Comox Valley’s second goal came on a nice rush up the ice by Cody Shepheard who somehow got the puck to Joe Gage while being checked. Gage then gave a backhand pass to a trailing Finn Withey who buried it on his second attempt for his 3rd of the season. Shepheard also did not receive an assist despite deserving one.

It was the first game behind the bench for the co-coaches Jordan Butcher and Jordan Kamprath who have stepped up and are running the team now. Both men are former Glacier Kings players with Butcher also being the bench boss here before. I met Kamprath (also known as Kamper) a few days ago. He is very eager to get the team going in a positive direction. The Jordan’s got a good effort out of their club Wednesday and will look to build on that. They will have some more practice time with the team as Comox has the weekend off and don’t play again until a week from Friday when they are in Campbell River. The next home game is Saturday October 7th when the Nanaimo Buccaneers visit.

Darryl Skender

 

Glacier Kings – Wolves Preview

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are still looking for their first win of the 2017/18 season and hope to get it on Friday night when they host the Westshore Wolves. The Wolves meanwhile play at home to Nanaimo tonight.

Westshore is coming off a 2-0 loss to the Oceanside Generals on Saturday. That dropped their record to 1-1 for the season. The Nanaimo Buccaneers come into tonight’s contest at the “Q Centre”, also with 1-1 record. The Wolves didn’t have a lot of scoring last season but the good news for them is that 3 of their top 4 scorers have returned. Brandon Tutte, Parker Ellis and Cameron Coutre, who finished 1st, 3rd and 4th in scoring on their team respectively will all be key cogs this year. Only Forward Jordan Guiney is not back as he is currently playing with the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL (0 points in 2 games so far). Their 5th leading scorer from last year is still in the VIJHL but no longer with the Wolves. Defenceman Joe Gage is now with Comox in a trade from about a week ago. However, they do have an excellent replacement for Gage as they acquired rear guard Trevor Bottomley from the Campbell River Storm in exchange for future considerations. Bottomley is a solid “1997” d-man. In net, Jordan Spandli is back for his third season (he played 2 games as a 16 year old in the 2014/15 season). He stopped 25 of 27 shots to record the win against Kerry Park last Wednesday. Westshore may only be 1-1 but probably deserve better. Their only loss was 2-0 to Oceanside but outshot the Generals 38-22 including 17-3 in the 3rd period (sound familiar Glacier Kings fans?). They have also given up only 4 goals in 2 games. Despite only playing 1 game so far, Parker Ellis leads the team with 3 points already.

The Glacier Kings on the other hand will have had 6 days off since their last game, a 4-3 loss to the Victoria Cougars. Comox showed some grit in the last half of the game. After being down 4-0, the team finally starting playing like head coach Joey Ewing has said they could play all along. Unfortunately, the comeback fell short despite outshooting the Cougars 13-1 in the final frame. The GKings have scored just 3 goals in their first 3 games and things need to get better on that front, especially considering they’re playing a team who has been very stingy on defence through the first 2 games. Finn Withey has probably been the best offensive player so far while on defence Scott Rademaker has been good. I’ve liked some of the end-to-end rushes by Brandon Napoli. His skating ability looks a lot like Marcello Pericao from a year ago. Don’t look at Matt Henwood’s stats. He has played much better than what they say. He cannot be a one-man show out there. If he stays healthy, I expect him to get 32-36 of the starts this season. He is the go-to guy. In fact, so much so that when the Glacier Kings re-acquired Zak Myrovich, they immediately put him on the trading block. Last I heard he was on a tryout with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs before that. Some good news for Friday, Willie Daigneault will be back in the line up after missing last game due to personal reasons and rookie forward Damian Rennie will make his debut coming off an injury. Rennie played 23 games for the Pacific Coast Academy Prep team last season.

Game time on Friday will be 7:30 PM at the Recreation Centre. My pre-game show will begin at 7:15 PM on HockeyTV. I’m hoping to get Cole Amado as a guest for the first intermission. He had a goal and 2 assists in last Saturday’s loss.

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Comeback Falls Short

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings dug themselves into a hole that they just couldn’t recover from dropping a 4-3 decision to the Victoria Cougars Saturday night. Starting goaltender Tanner Doucette got a rude welcome in his first VIJHL game giving up 2 goals in the first 2:51 and was pulled after the third goal at 14:23. The 1st period would end 3-0. That brought the total to 7 consecutive periods to start the season where Comox could not score. Alexander Benger would make it 4-0 late in the 2nd period and for some reason, that woke up the Glacier Kings. Cole Amado scored 25 seconds after that to make it 4-1 and Finn With made it 4-2 just 39 seconds later. The 3rd period was dominated by the Iceman but they could only score once more. It was Cole Amado with his second goal and third point of the night to make it close at the end. Comox owned the final frame outshooting the Cougars 13-1. Goaltender Matt Henwood looked great in relief. Finn Withey looks like the Finn Withey of last year, Cody Shepheard had a number of quality scoring chances and Brandon Napoli showed some wheels on a couple of end-to-end rushes. It reminded me of the #6 that played for them last season (Marcello Pericao). Joe Gage will be good. He hasn’t had any practices yet and hadn’t been on the ice in 6 months until Thursday’s game. He is already a leader in the dressing room and Joey Ewing told me he will be given an ‘A’ on his jersey. He did turn the puck over a couple times but that is expected until he gets back up to the level he was at last year when he was the captain of the Westshore Wolves. The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 0-3 on the season and 0-2 at home. The GKings still had some key personnel out of the line up because of injuries while Willie Daigneault was scratched for personal reasons. Next up it’s the Saanich Braves next Friday at the Rec Centre. Game time is 7:30. If you can’t make it to the game, Randall Heidt and myself will have the play by play starting with the pre-game show at 7:15 on HockeyTV. Randall’s three stars were: #1-Cole Amado, #2-Patrick Ostermann, #3-Finn Withey. Darwin Lakoduk was an honorable mention with his 2 goals. He now has 3 goals and 2 assists in his first 2 games.

Darryl Skender