The Comox Valley Glacier Kings played in a couple of really tight games last Thursday and Saturday. On Thursday, they travelled to Victoria and dropped a 2-0 decision to the Cougars before driving to Parksville on Saturday and coming out with a 4-2 come from behind victory. It was a couple of solid performances and gives hope that this club can play with the better teams in this league. They have proven it in the past beating Peninsula once, Westshore twice, Oceanside 3 times and Nanaimo once. The Glacier Kings have been playing a physical, defensive style that has been working. The team may not have its full chemistry yet with all the changes they’ve made but they are having good efforts and are really backing up each other as well.

They may not have won on Thursday but playing a team who is one of the best in the league and coming within a disallowed goal late in the 3rd period of going into overtime is a real accomplishment. It was definitely a disappointment not coming away with any points but it also showed the fight in this team. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff liked some things and wasn’t crazy about other aspects in that contest, “For not playing in about 12 days, going into a tough building against a very good hockey club, to keep it 0-0 until the ten minute mark of the third period or whenever that goal was scored, I thought it showed that we took pride in defending. It showed in our effort, blocking shots and doing the things you need to do to be successful. I didn’t love our willingness and ability to go to the inside part of the ice in the offensive zone. Maybe it was just a product of not having those game reps the last number of days before because of the all-star break. That was addressed but overall we did a good job. I think Victoria is a very high-end team. If they (Victoria) would have just hit a couple more pucks they would have had more chances for success. They decided to make one or two extra passes all night. I would have been frustrated coaching that kind of talent just to be that fancy. It made our life easier in the long run.” The Cougars had 8 different goal scorers in their 10-0 win last night. Joseph Melichar continues to be the league’s best player.

As for Saturday’s game, Comox made up their minds that they were going to be physical. That same approach was taken by the Oceanside Generals and it made for some good old-time hockey. The fans got their money’s worth no matter which side they were cheering for. This is as close as a series can be with each team winning 3 games. This is also a possible playoff match up come end-February. Coach Toneff said his guys played with some spirit, “It was kind of a strange game, it was an emotional game for our team in a good way. We wanted those 2 points. A couple times it got intense on the bench and in the room with guys holding each other accountable. To give up a goal with 0.6 seconds left in a period, you can’t let that tell the story for the rest of the night. We come back to tie it and get the winner from an unsung hero like (Haden) Parker was a good sign. I thought our quote-unquote 4th line was really good the last two games. That was Mateo Morro, Gavin Munro and Cohen Kallin like we were talking before before we started recording, just their buy-in to their role, creating a little bit of energy, establishing some trust and us putting them out there in some certain situations was nice to see.” Between Oceanside’s loss, and Nanaimo’s win over Saanich yesterday, the Gens now find themselves in second place in the North.

Now that the weekend is over, it’s back to practice this week for the Yeti. There will no doubt be some bumps and bruises after Saturday’s game and some of the players may need a couple days off. Curtis talked about the week of practice ahead, “I made today’s practice optional, it’s a skills day. Guys can be there or they can take another day of rest, it’s up to them. We’re going to have a really good battle day tomorrow to get us back in that mindset. Systems on Wednesday and Thursday as well as special teams leading up to two really hard hockey games this weekend.” Those 2 games he is talking about are going to be against Peninsula and Victoria, a couple powerhouses to say the least.

With only 9 games left in the regular season, it appears that Comox will finish either 3rd or 4th unless Nanaimo or Oceanside have a complete collapse. It appears any team can beat any team in the North so it may not matter who finishes 3rd and who ends up 4th. You have to make it into the playoffs first and the Glacier Kings magic number to clinch is down to 5 (any combination of Comox wins and Port Alberni losses).

Darryl Skender