The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have been racking up points as of late which pleases the coach but he is still not thrilled with their overall game. The team has picked up points in 8 of their last 9 games going 6-1-2-0. There is a lot of optimism with this team going forward but oddly enough… it was their last win that has some people with a few doubts. The good news is they beat the Kerry Park Islanders but the bad new is how they struggled at times in that game. They needed to come from behind in the 3rd period to win it with just 1:42 left in regulation.
I think most of us can be happy with the 2 points and move on despite only squeaking out a 4-3 win over a club that has just two wins in their first 36 games. After all, they outplayed the Islanders but had trouble in some areas. One person that didn’t like the game was head coach/GM Curtis Toneff. He said he wanted to see more from his players. “Didn’t play a full game. We got away from ourselves and what makes us who we are. We were a little bit undisciplined and frustrated. We are going to meet a lot more diversity than that and we have to be able to handle it better. We as a group are addressing some of the things we did before Christmas, the last 5 or 6 games up until now. We have to be smarter.” The win moved Comox to a very respectable 18-14-4-1.
Despite the bench boss not being overly impressed with his club’s performance, he does admit that they are better than at the start of the season. That however isn’t good enough in his eyes as he feels the time is now to make a move. “I think we made up for our poor start (0-3-1) standings-wise but our actual play could still be better and it starts with our discipline. If our discipline is better, we’re in the box a little bit less, not having to kill as much, we can focus on other aspects. I’m hoping in the next 2-3 weeks our lines will develop some chemistry. Our d-pairs have been pretty stationary (same pairings) so we’ve left them alone and let them build a lot of chemistry back there. Now I hope to let our forward crop get to know each other a little more out there.” One might say that after 37 games the team should have better chemistry but there have been so many changes to the line up this season, it can be hard to keep track. Keeping the lines together now should give the players a lot of synergy.
With only 11 games left in the regular season, the Yeti looked poised to make the playoffs. Some players have risen to the challenge and others have been left behind. I thought it would be interesting to ask Curtis who his top defenceman has been and it wasn’t really that much of a surprise. “Our captain Kyle Mayenburg has really taken a step in the last number of weeks. He went to Powell River for about 3 weekends in a row before Christmas. I don’t know if that’s when a light came on or what but he’s had a lot of confidence in his game of late. He seems to be emerging into a true leader… he’s a lead by example kind of guy. He’s walking the talk and has definitely been the best defenceman the majority of the nights this year.” The 18 year old has 18 points in 30 games for Comox Valley and has played another 8 contests in the BCHL for Powell River.
The more interesting question is which forward has impressed him. It was probably an unfair question putting him on the spot as there are way too many variables. Toneff gave an interesting answer. “Up front is a tough question. I might have said Ethan Gobel a month ago but I think a guy like Westin Churchill has taken a step in his game. He’s been moved around on different lines, he’s been asked to play center, he’s been asked to play wing. Most of the nights he’s rising to the occasion and he’s also protecting his teammates. He’s turned into a 200 foot player we can rely on in a lot of the key moments in hockey games.” Of course Gobel was the leading scorer for the GKings before being snatched up by the Powell River Kings. Gobel actually scored a goal in his first game with the BCHL Kings on December 5th and had 2 goals in his last game with the VIJHL Kings on December 21st. As for Churchill, he is 2nd on the active roster in goals and points.
That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll discuss the special teams, their practices during their layoff as well as the lack of games the Glacier Kings have played since December 21st. Is it good or bad? Until then, have a great evening.
Darryl Skender
