Tag Archives: Brandon Taylor

Toneff Likes The Physicality His Team Is Showing

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have been playing very good hockey in the past couple months and one of the reasons is because of their grittiness. Unfortunately the GKings aren’t the type of team that can rely just on skill alone like some other teams in the VIJHL. They rely on fundamental defensive hockey, good goaltending and the aforementioned grit. So far it has been working and as the season goes on, the players are buying in more and more and are being given more freedom to do more offensively.

It seems that head coach/GM Curtis Toneff is getting a lot out of his club right now but he sees that his guys can still do more. When it comes to being physical, he says he’s happy with some aspects but other parts can improve, “I like our d-zone physicality, I think we can go in and be heavier on the forecheck. I really liked our ‘protect the team’ mentality. Some guys, I’m not gonna lie, have kept their jobs because they’ve shown that the team and the logo on the jersey is more important than themselves by sacrificing and putting their body on the line. You know a guy has gotten a cheap shot 3 of the last 4 games and there’s a guy right there answering the bell and holding them accountable. Social media can be positive and negative, let’s face it everyone can see everything. Clearly seeing these fights, people will think twice before taking liberties with our players in vulnerable spots.” Comox is averaging 19.5 penalty minutes per game. Some of that is from being over-physical and a lot of it still stems from being undisciplined. In the North Division, the teams with the 3 least amount of penalty minutes are also the bottom 3 teams in the division. Maybe sometimes taking aggressive penalties is necessary. Nanaimo has the most PIM’s followed by Oceanside and Comox Valley and those squads are 1-2-3 in that same order.

Hockey has always been a rough sport compared to a lot of other ones. Over the past decade or two, rules have been put in place to try and stop players from getting hurt. There was a big backlash from fans and players themselves saying that certain rules make it easier for certain types of incidents to happen because there can be no recourse. Doesn’t matter what side of the fence you sit on, it has been a much talked about topic. I am onboard with the old school way of thinking. If you intentionally take a shot against a team’s star player, goalie or much smaller opponent, you may have to answer the bell when it comes to making sure it doesn’t happen again. In the past couple games, we have seen examples of where Glacier Kings teammates have had each others backs. On Thursday in Victoria, Joseph Melichar kneed Tee Hagel and Brandon Taylor immediately stuck up for his teammate. Then on Saturday in Oceanside, Brodie Wade caught Cameron Collins with a huge open ice hit and Easton Sangris answered the bell for his linemate. I asked Toneff if the game is changing since the VIJHL became independent of Hockey Canada. “With our rules, it’s obviously not something we encourage and I never thought the game would go back like it has a little bit. If you look at the big picture, there’s not a ton of head shots like there was 4 or 5 years ago when maybe these kids were wearing cages or when there was big suspensions for fights. We don’t encourage 16 and 20 year old kids to punch each other in the head but at the end of the day it’s kind of helping the honor of the game in my opinion. I’m a little bit old school and most guys would tell you that but if the head shots are going down, guys have more respect for each other and you create a bigger team environment around it as long as you don’t go back to the barbaric days like the old ‘jungle’, it’s how the game is played.” I still watch those old clips of junior hockey when it was the ‘wild west’ with tons of scoring and tons of fighting. Comparing those days with todays games… both are entertaining but today’s game is a better calibre of hockey and also a lot more safe.

Brandon Taylor has played in 22 games (16 with Comox) this season as he has been trying to earn minutes. Going into Thursday’s game in Victoria, he had never had a fighting major in his VIJHL career which started in 2023. He did not hesitate to go after Joseph Melichar once he saw that the referee wasn’t going to call a penalty. Curtis liked that he had his teammate’s back, “Brandon Taylor is a guy that, you know he was out of the line up, had limited minutes and was kind of on the fringe there for a little bit. I think he knew that. He would do ‘that’ (fight on Thursday) and then had a really good game in Oceanside on Saturday. He’s been in the league for three years and it’s nice to have that veteran depth back there and a local guy. He is very low maintenance and has been a sneaky good pick up for us.” The 5’10” defenceman from Courtenay has 2 assists and 9 penalty minutes since coming over from Nanaimo earlier this season.

As important as being physical is, the Glacier Kings obviously have some skill as well. And recently, they just upgraded in that department by signing Rolan Amin who is a familiar face in these parts. Amin has not only been able to rack up points wherever he has played but he has also played in leadership roles. The Yeti signed the 20 year old about a week and a half ago after playing in the BCHL. The Glacier Kings bench boss talked about the Burnaby native, “Rolan was committed and playing in Humboldt at the start of the year and they had a big trickle down from the Western Hockey League which ended up costing him his spot there. It’s never easy when that happens. There was about a week where he was wondering where his future was at with hockey. He decided to play at home in the ‘PIJHL’ but I think a couple weeks in or a month in he really missed the environment in Comox, being with his teammates. He still had that desire to get to the next level but after Christmas he decided to come back and it didn’t really cost us anything to get him back because his rights belonged to us in our league. It’s nice to get him back. We now have three former captains, we have our current captain Kyle Mayenburg, Rolan wore the ‘C’ for us last year and we have Gavin Munro who wore the ‘C’ with the Nanaimo Buccaneers last year. I think our leadership in our room is or should be as good or better than any team but I think we can improve in a lot of areas and luckily we have 9 more games to do so.” For the Yeti last season, Amin put up 10G, 22A, 32Pts in 28 games. He also amassed 29 points in 23 games with the Burnaby Steelers this year before becoming a Glacier king for a second time on January 19th.

It’s ‘Gameday’ tomorrow and Comox will be taking on the class of the VIJHL. The Peninsula Panthers come into their home game with a 31-5-1-0 record. Comox has handed the Panthers one of those five losses but overall have been outscored by a 23-7 margin in their 3 meetings. It’s their final head to head game in the regular season and it would be a nice accomplishment if they could tie the season series. I will have a full preview of that matchup tomorrow as well as the GKings lineup in the “Gameday Lineups” page on this blog. Have a good Thursday everybody.

Darryl Skender

Nail Biter In Victoria Goes Cougars Way

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The Comox Valley Glacier travelled to Victoria to take on one of the best teams in the VIJHL and gave the Cougars everything they could handle until finally dropping a 2-0 decision to the league’s second most potent offence. The game had a little bit of everything… great goaltending on both sides, a fight, a disallowed goal and a big missed opportunity at the end. All in all, I think the Glacier Kings can be proud of their performance but disappointed with their result.

Midway into the first period, Quinten Harvie had a glorious chance on Comox Valley’s first PP as he took a back door pass at the side of the net from Rolan Amin but was robbed by goaltender Finn Wilson. That power play netted a bunch of great chances but they couldn’t beat Wilson. Shortly after Cohen Kallin made a nifty pass to put Westin Churchill on a breakaway but was once again stoned by the home team’s netminder. The period would end scoreless. Shots were 7 apiece.

The second period had a few chances but was mostly a defensive frame which was an advantage for Comox who likes that style of play. With less than a minute left, Joseph Melichar kneed Tee Hagel right in front of the referee and it wasn’t called so defenceman Brandon Taylor took matters into his own hands and went after Melichar.

This is the knee right in front of the ref…

Then Brandon Taylor looked at the referee with his hand up asking if he’s going to call it…

Since there was no call, Taylor went after Melichar and the 2 squared off…

The whole incident should have been avoided by the referee making a call. And wouldn’t you know it the Glacier Kings took a penalty just 12 seconds later. The game remained 0-0 heading into the third with Victoria on the power play. Shots were 8-6 for Comox in that period.

In the 3rd, Comox killed off the remainder of the penalty and would accomplish the same feat when they took another one just 46 seconds after they were finally at full strength. Thanks to some wonderful saves by Lane Maarhuis, the contest was still at goose eggs. However a third penalty would do them in. Grady Slugget carried the puck to the right faceoff dot and quickly slid it across to the opposite circle where Joseph Melichar wristed it short-side on Maarhuis. That made it 1-0. The Yeti would get a power play shortly after. They won the faceoff and had several chances as the puck didn’t leave the zone but unfortunately the goaliekicked the net off its pegs really hard to stop play.

The posts are as secure at the Archie Browning Arena as they are at the Comox Valley Sports Centre unfortunately. The Glacier Kings pulled their goalie late and appeared to tie the game when Leon Mikhalchuk beat Wilson but it was waved off for goaltender interference. I looked this one over about a dozen times. Sheldon Alexander was line up along the boards. Comox won the faceoff and he headed straight for the net. Alexander stopped and tried to lean back into defenceman Jacob Bernardo. However Bernardo side-stepped him and Alexander lost his balance and his momentum was taking him into the goaltender. Bernardo gave him the slightest shove with the stick but it appeared that Alexander was going into the goalie regardless. Tough bang-bang play for the official as Wilson did get up just as the shot took place. I hate to say it but probably a good call. This photo is just as Alexander is falling on his own…

And this is a shot, just as the puck crosses the line…

The 4 officials got together at center and decided to stay with the call on the ice and placed the faceoff outside the blue line. The Glacier Kings pulled their goalie again and looked to have a sure goal when Alexander fed a terrific cross-ice pass to Rolan Amin who had a wide open net and shot it in between the goaltender and the front of the net.

You can see him on the right side of the picture put both hands up to his head in disbelief. The Cougars would ice the game when Tyler Delli-Carri scored an empty net goal.

What a tough way for the game to end as it looked like Comox tied it up on 2 separate occasions. Shots ended were 14-4 for Victoria in the final 20 minutes.

The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 18-15-4-1, still in 3rd place, 8 points behind Nanaimo and 2 points ahead of Campbell River. The Cougars improve to 25-8-3-0, also in 3rd place, just 1 point behind Westshore. Comox next travels to Oceanside to take on the first place Generals. Victoria is off until Sunday when they host Kerry Park.

Other Observations:

  • The Cougars first goal was unfortunate because while shorthanded, GKings d-man Gavin Mowat broke his stick. Quinten Harvie tried to hand him his twig during play but missed so it was basically 5 against 3.5 players. Mowat was without a stick in the defensive zone for 32 seconds which was when the goal was scored.
  • Joseph Malichar’s goal extended his goal streak to 6 consecutive games with at least 1 goal (has 9G, 5A in those 6 games).
  • Melichar has a 13 point lead in the scoring race and has actually played in 2 less games than the players tied for 2nd.
  • First start in net for Lane Maarhuis for Comox after being acquired from Victoria just a couple days prior and he was outstanding.
  • It was also goaltender Finn Wilson’s first appearance for the Cougars since coming from the Greater Ontario Hockey League and he registered a shutout.
  • This is the second time this season the Glacier Kings have been shutout. (Sep. 12-25 @Saanich)
  • The Cougars are now a perfect 4-0 in January.
  • Good flow in the first period which saw 7:23 of action without a whistle (8:32 to 1:09).
  • Westin Churchill remains 2nd on his club’s scoring (24 points) despite being pointless in 5 straight games. (Ethan Gobel has more but is currently with the Powell River Kings).
  • Nice to see Carter Crabb back in the lineup for Victoria. He hasn’t played all season waiting on surgery but decided he wanted to get back to playing hockey while waiting on a date.
  • Kudos to Brandon Taylor for sticking up for his teammate after getting hurt. The hometown kid is played just his 15th game for Comox after coming over from Nanaimo.
  • Very unselfish play by Grady Slugget on the 2-man breakaway to pass to Delli-Carri to let him score the empty net goal.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk had his 3-game point streak and 2-game goal streak broken.
  • Cougars forward Ben Wetterberg left for the dressing room with about 4 minutes left in the 2nd period and did not return. I went back to look at his last shift but didn’t see anything that would indicate an injury. He spent the 3rd period with his uniform on at the end of the arena.
  • Victoria’s Jordan Ramsay had his 3-game point streak snapped (4G, 4A)
  • These 2 squads have 2 games left against each other. (Jan. 31 & Feb. 14 both in Courtenay).

That’s it for today. Have a good day everyone!

Darryl Skender

GKings Comeback Falls Short

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The Nanaimo Buccaneers scored three goals in the second period and held on for a 4-3 win over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. The loss is the Glacier Kings second in a row and 3rd in their last 4 games while the Buccaneers won their 3rd straight and are now victorious in 5 of their last 6 contests.

It was a very even opening period which saw Nanaimo having a nice power play and with the Glacier Kings had big chances by Ethan Gobel and Westin Churchill. However it took almost 17 minutes before the first goal. Brandon Taylor took a shot from the point. It appeared that Westin Churchill may have got a stick on it to deflect it high in the air. The puck landed behind goaltender Aaron Pichette where Gavin Munro poked it into the net.

The lead wouldn’t last long. Less than 2 minutes later Jaxin Karst won an offensive zone faceoff. The puck would get tipped back to Dreyton Hayward at the blue line. The 5’9″ defenceman wristed a shot that went through a maze of bodies to beat Anthony Ganoung blocker side.

That goal made the score 1-1 and the period would end with that score. Shots were 11-7 in favor of Nanaimo.

In the second period, the Buccaneers would take their first lead of the game on an innocent looking play. Zach Spafford gave a 10 foot pass up to his own blue to Jack Barrett and by the time he got to center he skated between both defencemen to go in on a clear cut breakaway. Barrett quickly went backhand-forehand and beat Ganoung stick-side before the second period was three minutes old.

The Bucs made it 3-1 on a power play goal. Jaxin Karst won the faceoff and the puck subsequently never left the Glacier Kings zone after that. Madden Cruickshank eventually took a shot-pass to the side of the net where Porter Williamson deflected it behind the goalie.

Davis Young made it 4-1 with less than a minute to play in the 2nd period as he crept in from the blue line undetected and took a rink wide pass from Jaxin Karst and one-timed it between the arm and body of Ganoung.

The middle frame ended 4-1. Nanaimo outshot Comox 10-9.

Curtis Toneff must have fired the team up during the intermission because the Glacier Kings started off fast. After Nanaimo won the opening faceoff into their own zone, Comox Valley forechecked hard and Kyle Mayenburg did a good job keeping the puck in at the blue line. He directed the puck towards the net and a scramble ensued. Cameron Collins found a loose puck among the bodies and buried it past Pichette to make it 4-2.

That goal took 16 seconds from the drop of the puck. Unfortunately, the Yeti never got any momentum after that goal as Nanaimo tilted the ice afterwards dominating the play. However late in the 3rd period after Comox took a penalty, you could see that they were thinking offence. Cohen Kallin poked the puck off a Nanaimo stick at the Glacier Kings blue line then passed it up to Isaac Dunsire for a 2-man breakaway from center ice. Dunsire went in and snapped the puck past Pichette on the glove side for a shorthanded goal and it was suddenly 4-3.

Unfortunately the Yeti would take another penalty for “Too Many Men On The Ice” when they had possession inside the offensive zone with 19 seconds left. I’m guessing it was a good call because you could see the crowd and the Buccaneers bench pointing and yelling for a penalty. Pichette made a big save with 4 seconds left and that’s the way the game would end. Shots were 11-7 for the Bucs.

The win improves Nanaimo’s record to 11-5-1-0 for 23 points and are 3 points ahead of 2nd place Oceanside. Comox Valley drops to 7-9-2-1 for 17 points and remains in 4th place in the North. They will host the Oceanside Generals Saturday night. The Bucs are in Victoria on Sunday.

Other Observations:

  • Jaxin Karst had 3 assists to extend his point streak to 5 games (3G, 6A)
  • It took the Bucs 11 seconds to score their PP goal in the 2nd period after an offensive zone “Holding The Stick” penalty against the GKings.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk has 5G, 3A in his last 8 games.
  • The Yeti have only drawn 2 power plays in their last 200 minutes of hockey.
  • That was Gavin Munro’s first goal as a GKings player since coming over from Nanaimo. After his goal he pointed up to the stands at the NIC.
  • It was nice to see former Buc Brandon Taylor stick up for Thomas Scobie-Gyug after he got hit from behind. He went after the much bigger Rhys Wilcox who is 4″ taller and and 50 pounds heavier. He simply pushed him before getting into a scrum with Koen Gauthier where Taylor got his helmet taken off. I didn’t love that the referee making it a 4 on 4 instead of a PP for Comox.

  • Despite being outscored 3-0 in the second period, I thought it was a very even period. With that being said, I thought Nanaimo outplayed Comox in the 3rd despite being outscored 2-0.
  • Cameron Collins has 1G, 4A in his last 5 games.
  • Brandon Taylor picked up his first assist as a Glacier King with an assist.
  • The Yeti are 1-7-1-1 when trailing after the second period.
  • It is so refreshing to listen to Larenzo Jensen do play by play, a true professional, not biased, very descriptive. Good job Larenzo!

Darryl Skender