The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are back in action tonight when they take on the Saanich Predators. The Glacier Kings lost their opener 4-2 to Nanaimo while the Preds are 1-1 after beating Kerry Park 7-3 in their opener and dropping a 6-2 decision in Westshore 2 nights later. Both teams are coming off disappointing 2024/25 seasons. Comox Valley finished 3rd in the North and were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs while Saanich had the worst record in the league with 10 wins and 23 points. Both teams won 2 out of the 4 games head to head but the GKings record was officially 2-1-1 as one of their losses were in OT. The crowds at the George Pearkes Arena for the 2 meetings were two of the smallest they had all season. The OT thriller on November 22nd drew only 58 fans, their smallest attendance all season.

If the first week of play is any indication, Saanich will have more scoring power this season. They were the 3rd worst offence last season for scoring goals. They averaged just 2.8 goals per game. Only Oceanside and Comox Valley scored less. They already have 9 goals in 2 games and are led by Elijah Kim, who has averaged over a point per game pretty much everywhere he has played. After putting up 34 points in 23 games last season for Saanich, the 5’10” 165 pound Forward already has 3 goals and 2 assists in just 2 games.  He ended last season with the Victoria Cougars putting up 7 points in 6 regular season games and repeated that stat line in the playoffs. The former Peninsula Panther Travis Swanson also has 3 goals and 2 assists in the Predators first 2 games. That includes a hat trick in the season opener. Of course, Saanich just had a trade a couple weeks ago with the Panthers where they acquired goaltender Jacob Walsh, who has started both games this season, and 6’0″ 144 lb. defenceman Jason Sekulich who has also suited up in both Predators games.

As for the Glacier Kings, they will have a bunch of new bodies in the line up this weekend that they picked up this past week. Despite 5 new players in the fold, Comox still seems a little thin up the middle. Upgrades at center are not that easy to find. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff talked about the tough task of finding one, “Unless someone really emerges as a good faceoff man or a number 1 or 2 center, those things don’t come around everyday. Our centers have really struggled so far winning faceoffs and playing down the middle. Usually everybody plays center but now we don’t have enough.”

Curtis is still looking for the team to gel a little bit more and is hoping for some of the veterans to really take on leadership roles. He still hasn’t named a captain and won’t be handing out the job to anyone this weekend as he awaits for someone to emerge.

The Glacier Kings will have to get out of the gates quicker in Saanich than they did in Nanaimo if they want to pick up 2 points. The Yeti didn’t get their game together until the 3rd period in the season opener. Comox Valley’s bench boss said they need to game into a game mindset from the beginning. “We gotta get out of summer hockey mode, stop trying to dangle guys at blue lines, make sure we have our guy, be ready from the faceoff, check with our legs, not glide around and watch .” He admits it’s every cliche from a hockey coach but there’s a reason coaches say that.

I’ll try to get the line ups out on a post later this afternoon assuming I get them before game time. You can watch the contest on FloHockey with Clay Cochrane. It’s Clay’s 9th season as the play by play broadcaster for the Predators (and Braves). The puck is slated to drop at 6:30.

Darryl Skender