The pre-season is over and another year of Glacier Kings hockey is upon us. The first of 48 regular season games begins on Saturday when the Yeti are in Nanaimo to take on the Bucs. Comox finished the pre-season 0-4-1 but it was a lot more positive than that. We should first consider that all 5 losses were by 1 goal (lost by 2 in Lake Cowichan because of an empty net goal). Every game was very competitive and could have gone either way. Also, the Glacier Kings really only dressed 7 or 8 regulars per game due to players trying out for Junior ‘A’ teams and a rash of injuries. Head coach & GM Curtis Toneff said that a coach envisions what the team is going to look like in June and July so it was frustrating not having anything close to his projected line up. He did say it was a wonderful opportunity for players fighting for roster spots to showcase their talent and for others that will be future Glacier Kings that will be going back to their minor league teams. Assuming the guys can get healthy sooner than later and that they get some key personnel back from tryouts, we should see wins on the horizon. Keep in mind that other teams will also be getting key players back after tryouts in other leagues. All in all, we start a new slate on Saturday.

Darryl Skender