Tag Archives: Cohen Kallin

Glaciers Kings Win

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It took a little longer than most people expected but the Comox Valley Glacier Kings played a complete game, start to finish, and earned a 5-1 victory over the Kerry Park Islanders. It was a well deserved win for the Yeti who outshot the Islanders 57-19 including 20-3 in the first period. Comox had been knocking on the door in their past couple games but finally got it done on Saturday.

The first goal of the game came on an odd man rush after Kerry Park’s Hudson Closson’s shot from the right dot went high and the puck ricocheted  around the boards out to centre ice. Mateo Moro was the first to get to it and he quickly passed it up to Zaya Morro who went down the right side and took a shot from the top of the circle. Joshua Dubreuil made a kick save but the rebound went to Ethan Gobel who buried it at 9:16 of the opening period. The Glacier Kings made it 2-0 on another odd man rush. Cameron Collins started from his own blue line after a turnover, he actually got checked coming over the opposition blue line but the Islanders defenceman Owen Robertson partially fanned on a clearing attempt and gave it right to Westin Churchill who made no mistake. The goal was credited to Zaya Morro who wasn’t even on the ice. The first period would finish 2-0.

It was more of the same in the 2nd period. Just a couple minutes in, Comox Valley won the faceoff and controlled play without ever relinquishing the puck. They had 2 fantastic chances but were stoned by Dubreuil before Joel Schmidt pulled the puck out of the corner skated along the boards back to the blue line, curled into the slot and fired a wrist shot past the netminder. Declan Johannesen got credit as he was standing in front of the net but didn’t appear to touch the puck. The Kings would make it 4-0 before the middle frame was complete. It was an innocent looking play to say the least. Suhaan Nagra skated with the puck behind the Islanders net and went towards the corner. About halfway to the corner he turned and shot from a terrible angle and it found its way into the back of the net. Shots were 20-7 in that period.

Comox goalie Silas Dromarski would lose his shutout bid midway through the 3rd period. Tomasz Ptaszek was a one-man wrecking crew as he won the offensive zone faceoff, and would also eventually end up in the slot, take a pass, quickly go from forehand to backhand to forehand in traffic and beat Dromarski blocker side. It was a well earned goal. There would be one final goal at the end of the game. It happened on a scramble in front of Kerry Park’s net. Ethan Gobel was parked in front of the crease and went forehand to backhand to slide the puck past the goaltender’s pad. That’s how the game would end.

It was a pretty chippy game at times, especially in the 3rd period but the Glacier Kings did what they needed to do to get the ‘W’. That improves their record to 1-3-1. The loss drops the Islanders to 0-6-0. Up next for Comox will be a tough one in Campbell River Friday night. Remember these 2 teams battled into overtime in their first meeting. The Islanders are off until Saturday when they will play host to the Saanich Predators.

Other Observations

  • Comox had the first 13 shots of the game before Kerry Park notched their first.
  • For the second game in a row, Comox had a goal disallowed. It looked like Kyle Mayenburg scored in the 1st period but it was waved off for goaltender interference.
  • Shots at one point the second period were 33-4 on the score clock.
  • Comox’s 2nd fight of the season happened late in the 3rd period when Cohen Kallin caught Tate Wilkinson with a massive hit behind the Islanders net. The refs deemed it a clean hit. Head coach Curtis Toneff left Kallin on the ice and then couldn’t take him off after a Glacier Kings icing. The Islanders put some tough customers on the ice and after the faceoff Reece Miyoshi, Jayan Biring and Nick Scott all went after him with Scott getting him to fight.
  • Somehow Kerry Park got 2 of the 3 stars in this game… nope I won’t get into it again!!!
  • Congratulations to Silas Drobarsky in his first VIJHL game getting the victory.
  • Comox was not shorthanded in the game. When is the last time you saw that?
  • The Glacier Kings have 4 PP goals in their last 2 games.
  • I’d like to leave this segment by asking everyone to never forget Kerry Park assistant coach Phil Downie who passed away last February unexpectedly. I’m stealing a quote from the Islanders that said, “Phil was so many things to so many people. A friend, a coach, a mentor, a husband, a son, a father. He was one of the great ones.” Well said by a classy organization. Mr. Downie, you will always be missed but you never be forgotten.💔

Darryl Skender

Controversial Ending Extends GKings Losing Streak

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings got off to a quick start but couldn’t hold on as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Oceanside Generals on Friday. The game was action packed with plenty of chances both ways but the GKings will start the season 0-1-1 at home.

The first period was a little slow at times in the first half of the period but there was a ton of action in the last half. About 11 minutes in, goaltender Anthony Ganoung was tested with 2 close in shots. The first by Sloan Kroeker and then the rebound by Max Boyle. About 3 minutes later, a huge chance for Comox when Ethan Gobel stole the puck at the left side faceoff circle and turned around and gave Leon Mikhalchuk a perfect cross ice pass. Mikhalchuk had a wide open net but partially fanned on it and shot wide. Then a few minutes after that, Zaya Morro was sent in on a breakaway by Landen May but was robbed by Ethan Suhr and 10 seconds later, Morro would have another chance from the edge of the crease but was stoned again. Gobel picked up the rebound but hit the post. The game was scoreless after the first period.

Early in the 2nd period and with time running out on the Glacier Kings power play, Cameron Collins had a terrific chance on a wrap-around but couldn’t bury it. With the puck loose in the crease, Maxim Lefebvre poked at it but Suhr was there to make the save. The first goal of the game would be on a power play… yes you heard that right a power play. Ethan Gobel won the faceoff back to the point to Tommy Scobie-Gyug who slipped the puck up to Leon Mikhalchuk. He quickly fed it across the ice to a wide-open Suhaan Nagra who walked into the faceoff dot and wristed the puck past Suhr. Cohen Kalin got an assist but it clearly should have gone to Scobie-Gyug. Comox went up by 2, again on the PP, when Ethan Gobel dug the puck out of skates behind the Oceanside net and passed back to the faceoff dot to Leon Mikhalchuk who made no mistake wristing it short side past Ethan Suhr. That lead would be cut in half just 1 minute later. Sloan Kroeker gave a ‘point to point’ pass to Braeyen Newans who took a hard wrist shot that was deflected in front by Jacob Leamy and the Gens were on the board. They weren’t done there. Oceanside would tie the game late in the 2nd stanza when Westin Churchill lost control of the puck inside his own blue line. Jacoby Leamy fished it out along the boards and passed it through the slot to Ryken Lay who one-timed it past Ganoung with just 1:10 remaining. 

In the 3rd period, both teams were 4 on 4 fairly early. Hunter Toth took a pass at his own blue line and skated up the right side, beat the defenceman and then got the puck past Anthony Ganoung from the circle. It may have hit a skate in front before entering the net. The Generals led 3-2. However the Yeti PP would come through again. It started with a great play by Kyle Mayenburg to keep the puck in at the blue line. He passed across to Cameron Collins who gave it right back to Mayenburg. The big defenceman took the shot which was stopped by Suhr but a big rebound came to Westin Churchill who potted it home. Again, the Gens would take the lead. They ended up with a rare short-handed 2-man breakaway goal. Jackson Bostock slid the puck over to Ryken Lay for his second goal of the game. Late in the 3rd period, the GKings appeared to tie the game with their goalie pulled. Generals d-man Levi Green appeared to push Ethan Gobel into the Oceanside goaltender. The referee was standing right beside the play and did not call goaltender interference which would mean that Gobel was pushed in. A few seconds later Suhaan Nagra tipped a shot past the netminder who was still down. The referee immediately waved the goal off. The ref then marked the ensuing faceoff outside the blue line which would depict Gobel initiating the contact. I’ve looked at the replay several times. Gobel definitely got pushed but the question is if he embellished that shove to make contact with the goalie.

Comox Valley outshot Oceanside 44-29 including 17-6 in the 3rd period but couldn’t pull it out. The Yeti drop to 0-3-1 while Generals improve to 2-3-0. The Glacier Kings are right back in action tomorrow night in Kerry Park while the Gens is off until week from tomorrow when they host Lake Cowichan.

Other Observations

  • This is the first time this season the Glacier Kings have scored first and also the first time that they have had a lead at any point in a game.
  • The first PP goal for Comox Valley broke a 0 for 14 streak.
  • Their 2nd PP goal took just 6 seconds (see what happens when they win faceoffs).
  • Kudos to Comox Valley Play by Play broadcaster Matt Parnell for picking 3 Stars fairly. It doesn’t happen much in this league. Clay Cochrane for Saanich is very fair as well.
  • Oceanside has not scored on their last 23 PP opportunities.
  • This is the Glacier Kings worst start to a season since 2019 when they were 0-12 before recording a victory.
  • Ryken Lay now has 5 goals which is tied for 3rd in the league (at the time of this post)
  • Despite a good start on Friday, Comox still just has one 1st period goal in their 4 games.
  • Westin Churchill has goals in back to back games.
  • Jacob Leamy has points in 3 straight games and 4 of his last 5 including his time with Saanich.

Darryl Skender

Coach Working On All Aspects During Practices

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have 1 point in their first 3 games to start the season so there is obviously a lot of work ahead to right the ship. It does seem like the Glacier Kings are getting closer every game but it hasn’t converted into wins yet. Therefore, head coach & GM Curtis Toneff has the boys focusing on different aspects every practice to try and fine tune a lot of the details. Yesterday, Toneff talked about what they have been working on, “We’ve hammered away everyday over the past week and a half, we’ve picked one thing and have tried to hammer away at it. For instance, yesterday was ‘tracking’. Today was D-Zone, tomorrow will be exits, Thursday will be a variety of things with an emphasis on special teams. We do have a game skate now which will help with our touches and keeping the flow going for the guys confidence. I like our day to days right now. I think we’re getting better and getting in better shape. It’s easy to do that in September, it’s nice out, everyone’s playing right now but we’ll see the true character come through in about a month, or after that 3 in 3 at the end of next weekend when things aren’t going as much as some guys would like. The 3 games in 3 days he’s taking about is September 26-28 when Comox travels to Campbell River on the Friday, are at home to Nanaimo on the Saturday and then have a late afternoon match up in Peninsula on Sunday. That will certainly be a test considering Nanaimo and Peninsula are the top teams in their respective divisions and the Storm are above .500.

It’s not just games where players need to try and step up and be noticed. They have to put the work in at practices. It’s still early so the coach hasn’t named a captain or assistant yet. The only player with a letter on his jersey right now is Haden Parker as he wore the ‘A’ on his jersey last year. Curtis said that has seen some players rising to the top as leaders, “I think Zaya Morro has been pretty darn good in that aspect, Kyle Mayenburg has a great presence to him and has a good hard hat, work boots type mentality. I think Cohen Kallin has stepped up, he’s kind of a glue-guy in the dressing room. There’s a lot of different faces from different places. There have been some hiccups but it’s good to have the hiccups early and then you can gel and emerge forward in a positive way as a team.” The bench boss did also say he will probably attach some letters to players fairly shortly. He has admitted he is practicing ‘patience’ in evaluating more than in any other year that he has coached and acknowledged that you get excited in the summer but it really needs to be a careful decision even if it takes 5 or 6 games.

I’ll get more into the goalie situation on tomorrow’s post. It seems they have a couple good ones with possibly another one returning. Have yourself a great Wednesday!

Darryl Skender