The pre-season is over and another year of Glacier Kings hockey is upon us. The first of 48 regular season games begins on Saturday when the Yeti are in Nanaimo to take on the Bucs. Comox finished the pre-season 0-4-1 but it was a lot more positive than that. We should first consider that all 5 losses were by 1 goal (lost by 2 in Lake Cowichan because of an empty net goal). Every game was very competitive and could have gone either way. Also, the Glacier Kings really only dressed 7 or 8 regulars per game due to players trying out for Junior ‘A’ teams and a rash of injuries. Head coach & GM Curtis Toneff said that a coach envisions what the team is going to look like in June and July so it was frustrating not having anything close to his projected line up. He did say it was a wonderful opportunity for players fighting for roster spots to showcase their talent and for others that will be future Glacier Kings that will be going back to their minor league teams. Assuming the guys can get healthy sooner than later and that they get some key personnel back from tryouts, we should see wins on the horizon. Keep in mind that other teams will also be getting key players back after tryouts in other leagues. All in all, we start a new slate on Saturday.
Curtis Toneff was thrust into a difficult position last year. He took over as the Glacier Kings bench boss and GM well after the 2024-25 VIJHL season had begun. It’s a situation that he is used to however. This is the 4th time that Toneff has taken over as head coach of a team mid-season. He loves the challenge and is excited about his first full season behind the bench in Comox Valley. His motto after taking over last year was to give the players on the current roster first chance at staying on the club but was forced to make some hard decisions to better the team. He was able to bring back some key players such as Austin Montgomery-Parsons, Brigham Nye and Mason Windsor after the Elliot Lake Vikings were forced to take a leave of absence from the NOJHL because of ongoing issues of their hockey rink. (The Vikings never had a single game or practice at home because of Rogers Arena being closed. They played all 27 games on the road until they were forced to drop out of the league during the Christmas break.) Former GKings coach Mike Nesbitt, now head coach & GM of the Westshore Wolves, had originally brought the threesome over to Ontario when he became the head coach/GM of the Vikings. Despite bringing the 3 players back to Comox after Christmas, December would the Comox Valley’s best month going 4-2-0. Curtis would also acquire a big defenceman at the deadline in Dylan Lamberto from Nanaimo.
During the off-season, Toneff spent a lot of time all over the province between recruiting and hosting/attending hockey camps. However, he did also take a break from hockey to recharge his batteries. Curtis said, “For the first time in a long time, I took a little time away from the game. Hopefully it will pay off in the Dog Days of the Season. In the last few years, basically spent the whole summer doing hockey camps every week. This year I made sure to take at least a couple weeks where I don’t think too much about hockey. For me as a coach, that was important to refresh and be ready to go.” Hopefully that pays off in the long season that lasts at least 8 months including tryout camp, pre-season, regular season and playoffs.
Darryl Skender
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Darryl Skender – Former Play by Play Broadcaster of the Comox Valley Glacier Kings
