Tag Archives: Curtis Toneff

Goaltending A Strong Suit For GKings

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings still do have a few holes in their line up but one of them is not the backstop. The Glacier Kings have the third best goals against average in the North Division at 3.26 including empty net goals or 3.10 not including empty netters. Not bad considering they gave up an 11-goal game and a 9-goal game, both to Peninsula. The GAA would drop to 2.89 if you erase those 2 games off the schedule and 2.79 not including any empty netters. More recently the club has surrendered 7 goals in their last 3 games including one empty net goal. The goaltending is a huge reason for that but of course the team’s defensive system has to be given a lot of credit for how the guys execute it.

Comox Valley recently brought in Lane Maarhuis from the Victoria Cougars. Since coming over, he played against the second highest scoring team in the league and allowed just 1 goal (other one was an an empty net goal). Then he played against the first place team in the North (at the time) and only allowed a pair of markers. His stat line in his 2 games is 1-1-0-0, 1.51, .950 and overall with both teams he’s 11-4-1-0, 2.17, .928.

He will most like get at least one of the starts this weekend with Anthony Ganoung on the shelf with an injury. I asked head coach/GM Curtis Toneff of what he has thought about the 6’6″ goaltender, “He did what he needed to do. The expectation for a goalie, you stop the ones that you should stop and you make the odd save on shots that you maybe shouldn’t stop. You’re not going to stop every one. I think to me that’s a sign of a good goalie. They save the ones that they should and then they make the odd good save and that’s what Lane did for us the past two games. With play like that, we’ll have a chance to win every night. Say what you want about size. You look down and see a guy that big filling the net, you think twice. As the opposition you’re saying, ‘what do I do here’ because he’s taking up so much net. Also, sometimes when you’re that big, the puck sometimes just hits you. It’s nice to have the different looks in net that we have. We have (Anthony) Ganoung, he’s kind of that acrobatic that has his own style. Lane is kind of the big type and he’s a veteran with it being his second year in the league, has experience. And there’s Silas (Dromarski), 6’2″, a good size guy to challenge for position in the net. It’s kind of a nice problem to have in there. To answer your question, we’re really happy with Lane’s starts so far. We hope that he continues on the path that he’s on.” The 19 year old Chilliwack native also played with the Cougars last season and the Dawson City Kodiaks of the NWJHL the season before.

Anthony Ganoung has been the starter for most of the season. He has been a pleasant surprise in between the pipes in his first year of junior hockey. The 18 year old is out of the line up right now with a lower body injury and isn’t expected to be suiting back for another two or three weeks. Decision-making is easy when you’re carrying two tenders but the rotation gets trickier with three. I asked Toneff about what happens to that rotation when Ganoung is back, “Depending on the week, whether we play back to back, you just kind of go back and forth and whoever has shown the best will get that first start in the playoffs. They’ll both get their looks. As for all players and goalies, they’ll have to try and peak at the right time and challenge each other. I think they’ll do exactly that. While Anthony is out, we’ll get a good opportunity to pump two guys, that way they know it’s their net and they have to stop the puck.” The 18 year old Ganoung hails from Battle Ground, Washington which is a small city about 11 miles north of Vancouver, Washington but played his ‘AAA’ hockey in Wenatchee which is close to a 5-hour drive up the Interstate 5 highway before going through Snoqualmie Pass (I-90).

We’ve talked about the rotation of the goalies so far but what about the forwards and defence down the stretch? There’s only 9 games left and Comox is already at their capacity of 26 players on their roster and the trade deadline has come and gone (January 23rd). Teams can still pick players up and put them on to their roster until February 10th. But the Glacier Kings don’t have room so it’s most likely a set roster now unless someone gets hurt. Curtis talked about the situation with the forwards and defence, “Well it’s still a good time to juggle because we have Tegan Clayton coming back still. I don’t know if our lines will ever be set in stone though because we have 3 extra guys. These players pay to play. There will always be a bit of a shuffle going on. Like the Scotty Bowman way of thinking, pairs and then plugging in that third guy. I’m starting to see some chemistry between some guys for sure. Our d-partners have been pretty darn similar the whole year.” Having Tegan Clayton back will be a huge boost to the offence. The local Comox product has missed the last 5 games. Clayton’s last game was January 3rd against Port Alberni.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking about the physicality of this team as well as one of the newcomers to the squad, Rolan Amin. Until then, have yourself a great Wednesday.

Darryl Skender

Coach Toneff Reaction To Recent Games

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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

Country Thunder On Country Night In Oceanside

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The players took “Country Night” seriously last night as it was a rough and rugged game at the Howie Meeker Arena. The Comox Valley Glacier Kings came back from a 2-0 deficit with 4 unanswered goals and a 4-2 victory. Both goaltenders stood tall throughout the entire game. The match had huge hits, a fight, some weird bounces and a ton of Grade ‘A’ scoring chances.

The Gens got on the board early in the first period started when GKings forward Easton Sangris wound up for a slap shot but the puck was knocked away before he could make contact with it. Braylon Becker carried it the other way, gave a quick pass to Max Boyle who slid a backhand feed to Logan Duncan and he one-timed it into the empty net.

Just past the halfway point of the period, Brodie Wade caught Cameron Collins with a massive hit.

The Glacier Kings took exception to that open ice hit. Easton Sangris went after Wade and the two combatants went toe to toe in one of the most spirited fights I can remember in the VIJHL. Both guys traded huge right hands in a fight that lasted 24.5 seconds.

Both players were given 5 minutes for fighting. Then as time was running out in the period, the Generals would make it 2-0 with just 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock. A goal mouth scramble took place after a fanned shot in the slot and it was poked in by Levi Green. All the traffic in front of the net made it impossible to see.

That’s how the first period ended. Shots were 10-9 in favor of the Gens.

In the 2nd period, Comox pulled within one goal on the power play. It started with a faceoff win. The puck came back to Kyle Mayenburg at the blue line, the Powell River native took the puck to the middle of the ice and slid it back to the side boards where he had vacated and Rolan Amin beat Andreas Bylerius on the short side.

Just 43 seconds later, the Yeti would tie the game on a bit of a lucky bounce. Sheldon Alexander won the faceoff to Easton Sangris. His shot missed the net but took a weird bounce off the backboards. Goaltender Andreas Bylerius looked back to the wrong side of the net behind him and Alexander backhanded it into the empty net with the netminder’s back to the play.

The middle framed ended 2-2. Shot wound up being 13-11 in favor of the home side.

Early in the 3rd, Comox would take their first lead of the game on an innocent looking play. Leon Mikhalchuk took a shot that missed on the short side and the puck went around the boards to the other side. Haden Parker took a quick snap shot from the side wall through traffic that went off the post and in and it was suddenly 3-2.

Both goaltenders stood on their heads keeping it a one goal game for most of the final frame. The contest would end with an empty net goal from Quinten Harvie from center ice.

Shots in the final period were 13-11 for the Glacier Kings.

The win improves Comox Valley’s record to 19-15-4-1 and sole possession of 3rd place in the North Division. They move 2 points ahead of idle Campbell River but the Storm do have a game in hand as well as the tie-breaker for now. Next up will be the high-flying Peninsula Panthers next Friday in Peninsula. As for the Gens, they fall to 25-13-1-0 and remain tied for first with Nanaimo. Oceanside is off until Thursday when they travel to the Harbour City for a battle of first place teams.

Other Observations:

  • Last night was the Glacier Kings 3rd of 4 straight road games. They are 2-1 on this stretch.
  • This is one of the most physical games I’ve seen this year. It was played like hockey should be played.
  • After going 1 for 12 in their last 3 games on the PP, Comox scored on their only time with the man advantage to start their comeback.
  • The GKings PK which had allowed 6 goals in their last 19 shorthanded situations, came up big on both occasions against the Gens.
  • It was Country Night at the Howie Meeker Arena. The starting line up came out in cowboy hats as they were introduced.
  • The Gens have lost 3 of their last 4 games. Their only win in that stretch was against the #1 team in the league.
  • There was no sound for the first half of the broadcast unfortunately. Good job by Larenzo Jensen to help get it back online.
  • In the dust up between Wade and Sangris, 21 punches were thrown by Wade and 18 by Sangris. A lot of them landed squarely by both guys. They tapped each other as a sign of respect after it was over.
  • The Yeti are 7-2-2-0 in their last 11 games.
  • One of the referees got shaken up late in the 2nd period when he took an accidental stick by Gavin Mowat that caught him in the mid-section.
  • Sheldon Alexander put his body on the line with a huge blocked shot thwarting a big scoring chance with 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. That might have saved the game.
  • Somehow Oceanside picked the 1st and 2nd stars of the game. I have no idea how Lane Maarhuis never got one.
  • Curtis Toneff is really going to have some tough decisions ahead when Anthony Ganoung comes back from his lower body injury. Maarhuis has really made an impact in his 2 games since coming over from Victoria.
  • This game marked the largest attendance number of the year in the VIJHL. The announced crowd was 1025. Campbell River previously held the highest two attendance figures with 1017 and 1010.

Darryl Skender