Tag Archives: Curtis Toneff

Coach Happy With Team’s Play Lately

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have definitely had their ups and downs this season but have seemed to have made adjustments and are playing much better in the past few weeks. They have had two 4-game losing streaks so far but right now are winners of 3 in their last 4 for a second time and have points in 4 of their last 5. Even though it seemed like a disastrous start by losing their first 4 games of the season, the head coach made sure his team didn’t panic. They dug themselves a hole early but have been slowly getting themselves out of it and are now back to a much more respectable 6-7-2-1 record. In fact, the club is only 3 points out of first place. The Glacier Kings have found their identity and that’s important. If a team doesn’t understand who they are, they can get lost. They know they won’t score 6 goals every game this year so they know that they need to be strong on their defensive assignments. With that being said, they have been getting a lot of shots and opportunities lately.

Comox Valley played a pretty strong game last Saturday against a Predators team who are better than their record shows. It was an important game for the Yeti after the disappointing loss to Westshore after holding a 2-goal lead in the second period. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff talked about Saturday’s game against the Predators, “I thought we did a good job to bounce back from an early goal against. We were just discussing the importance of a good start and scoring that first goal and then they score a couple minutes in. Maybe that’s my fault for talking about it too much. It was good to see us get a quick one in response on the power play. And finally towards the end of the second period we got some puck luck that we were missing at home in I don’t know how many weeks, it seems like a few anyways. It was nice to go in the the third period and find a way to get 2 points at home for the first time in awhile.” The early goal against that he was referring to was when Josh Yolkowski scored just 1:23 into the first period to give Saanich the early lead. The coach knows what he’s talking about when saying they need to get off to a good start. His team is 5-0-0-0 when leading after the first period.

So it’s back to practice for the club. It is great to see the coach back on the ice again after struggling with an illness for a bit. Despite the squad playing better lately, there’s still a lot of work and improvement that needs to happen. Toneff talked about practice, “A little bit of battle, just getting back to that classic junior hockey work week. We had a battle day yesterday, a little bit more flow and skills today, we’re touching on our system play Wednesday and special teams Wednesday and Thursday. I was under the weather last week and Brad (Smith) had the reigns for the most part. It’s always good to have another voice. It was maybe a good natural break for the players from me because I can get on them a little bit. It’s been a really good two weeks we hope as we move into this next phase here.” The GKings have been practicing more this year than they did last season.

I’m looking forward to Friday’s game against Lake Cowichan as it is a chance to the Glacier Kings to distance themselves from the Kraken. And if Port Alberni beats Nanaimo on Thursday, it will be their chance to be tied for 3rd place in the North Division. Who would have thought that after the first 4 games this season?

Later this week I’ll have posts on topics like Ethan Gobel’s importance to the team, a couple of unsung heroes, if the faceoff situation is getting better, where the club needs more depth, the goalie situation (again) and a preview of Friday’s game. That’s it for now, Go Blue Jays (and Glacier Kings of course)!

Darryl Skender

Comox – Saanich Preview

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are back at it tonight as they host the Saanich Predators in one of three VIJHL games on tap. Comox is coming off a 6-4 loss to the Westshore Wolves on Wednesday while Saanich defeated Kerry Park 5-3 last night. The Glacier Kings remain in 5th place in the North Division with a 5-7-2-1 record, 3 points ahead of Lake Cowichan who have 2 games in hand. With Saanich’s win yesterday, they sit in 4th place in the South at 4-10-0-0

These two teams played back on September 12th at George Pearkes Arena where the Preds shutout the Glacier Kings 3-0. It’s hard to say who holds the edge in this one. Saanich is more of a run and gun team as they score more goals than the GKings on a nightly basis but they also allow more. The Yeti have settled into a solid defensive squad.

The one thing the road team will have an advantage in tonight will be a prolific scorer in Elijah Kim. He’s a 19 year old dynamo out of Victoria that can change a game. After 14 games, Kim has compiled 12G, 9A, 21Pts. He has recorded at least one point in 12 of the 14 games he’s participated in. He’s 5th in the VIJHL in scoring, 2nd in power play goals and tied for 1st in shorthanded markers. The problem for his club though is they let in way too many goals. They are a minus 22 already this season. Comox on the other hand is minus 9. It’s no secret that the Glacier Kings rely heavily on their defensive play and will certainly need it tonight but they will have to try and outscore Kim and the rest of his club. Where will the scoring come from?

One of the guys that has been good offensively lately is forward Leon Mikhalchuk. The 17 year old from Minsk, Belarus started slowly this year potting just 2 goals in his first 9 games but has since scored in each of his last 4 games. At 6’3″ and 181 pounds, you might think of Mikhalchuk as a big ‘net front presence’ where he can score dirty goals. Yes, he can do that, but he also has great hands. Fans have watched him dangle around opposition forwards and defenceman all year and he has a great shot to boot. I asked head coach/GM Curtis Toneff about him, “He’s a guy with a very, very high ceiling. His potential is through the roof. I think he seems to be getting better every week. For him I think it’s a little bit off the ice, playing with out the puck. I’m starting to trust him more out there and that’s led to more shifts and obviously more goals are coming.” He is expected to play for the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL at some point whether it’s this season or next. Last season with Yunost Minsk U17, in 39 games, he tallied 25G 17A 42Pts.

As for special teams, the power play is almost a draw:
Saanich: 16.7% (7th)
Comox: 16.2% (8th)
The Glacier Kings hold a huge advantage on the penalty kill:
Comox: 88% (1st)
Saanich: 75.4% (11th)

Yesterday’s win was the Predators first in October. They had previously lost all 6 games since the calendar turned to this month. Comox Valley did have points in 3 straight games until the loss to Westshore a few nights ago. I’m sure they will appreciate playing on home ice finally as 10 of their first 15 games have been on the road including their last three. A win would pull the Yeti to .500 at the CVSC.

Hopefully we’ll see a big crowd out tonight. Unfortunately, the Glacier Kings may be competing against the Blue Jays game on TV. Game time is 6:30 pm at the Sports Centre.

Darryl Skender

GKings Best Success Is With A Defensive Style Approach

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have been showing some positive signs lately despite their 6-4 loss to the high-powered Westshore Wolves a couple nights ago. Even in that game, the Yeti held a two goal lead late in the second period. The club has been playing good defensive hockey for most of the season and went into that game with the second best ‘goals against per game’ team but the wheels sort of fell off. They were playing a simple game, capitalized on their power play opportunities and made Westshore pay for their mistakes but got a little bit away from that in the third period. Late goals by the Wolves in both the second and third periods as well as a very fortunate bounce in the neutral zone which led to the game winning goal was the difference.

If we can put the above mentioned game aside, the simple, defensive style of game has been effective. The Glacier Kings don’t have a lot of fire power so it make a lot of sense. After 15 games, their top scorer is Zaya Morrow who has 14 points. To put that in perspective, the Peninsula Panthers have 6 players with at least 14 points and Westshore has 5. So the systems that head coach/GM Curtis Toneff has in place are geared towards safer plays and a strong defensive presence which also includes penalty killing. He talked about why his squad has had success keeping the puck out of their own net, “I think that it’s a will to defend. We’ve had a lot of conversations with our team. We’re not the flashiest bunch but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a lot of success. Like I said before, it starts with our veterans and we’ve gamed our young guys to play at the next level like most of them want. To win, you have to be able to play a very good ‘B’ game. A ‘B’ game is your play without the puck. Your stick positioning, your posture, stuff like that. Your ‘A’ game is making plays, getting points, getting offensive looks. There’s not many players that will be able to head to the next level without improving their ‘B’ game. I think they’re aware of that. If you want to win, the team’s game as a whole without the puck is key. That ‘will’ to defend has to be there to have success, especially for a team like us, maybe a little younger, maybe a little less offensively powered than other teams.” Obviously this team is built around ‘defence first’ and taking advantage of what the other teams give you offensively. Comox is the second worst team in ‘goals per game’ ahead of only the Kerry Park Islanders. The GKings scoring only averages 2.4 goals per game so your defensive play has to be spot on.

Part of being a good defensive team also requires good goaltending. For the most part, that area has been pretty good. Silas Dromarsky has only been given two starts this season but has looked very good in both. He shutout the Oceanside Generals last Saturday and is the current ‘Goaltender of the Week’ in the VIJHL. Toneff gave his thought on him, “He’s kind of like a gamer. He looks steadier and more confident in games than practices to be honest with you. I think that’s what you want from a player or goalie. I’d rather have a gamer than a guy that’s really good in practice and not so much in a game. He’s a little bigger than our other two so he creates a bit of a different look in there. I remember one puck, a player trying to score ‘short side shelf’ and it just kind of hit him. Sometimes that little bit of extra size can go a long way. He hasn’t played in a long time, like 3 weeks or a month, so kudos to him because that isn’t easy to do. You sit around day after day wondering when you’re next opportunity will come. He seized the moment.” Dromarsky has allowed just one total goal in his two games this season and has stopped 52 of 53 shots.

So Saturday’s game against Saanich will be interesting. You have a team like the Glacier Kings who have trouble scoring playing the Predators who give up a ton of goals. They have given up the second most goals of any team in the league so we’ll have to see if Comox Valley’s offence can take advantage of that. With that being said, they were shutout by Saanich in their only meeting earlier this season.

Darryl Skender