Tag Archives: Curtis Toneff

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

Glacier Kings – Wolves Preview

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It’s Game Day today as the Comox Valley Glacier Kings will be put to the test when they travel to Westshore for a game against the first place Wolves. Both teams are playing well right now. The Wolves have won 5 in a row, outscoring their opponents 25-12. The Glacier Kings are winners of their last 2 contests and have points in three consecutive games (2-0-0-1). The two teams squared off back on October 4th in Courtenay where Westshore took the game 5-1.

One interesting part of tonight’s game should be special teams. Starting with the power play, Comox has the second lowest proficiency rate, capitalizing on just 14.3% of their opportunities. On the other hand, the Wolves have the 2nd best at 24.4% so obviously staying out of the penalty box will be key. I spoke with head coach/GM Curtis Toneff and he talked about his club’s power play woes, “It’s been a frustrating part of our game. We started out okay (at the start of the season). I think our first reps look really good and then we get away from it. We have had a fair amount of conversations, we practice it often, I have made some personnel changes here and there. It’s also maybe a culmination of things like puck luck and switching around their spots like we have which might help them. I think just too much stagnant stickhandling is the one thing that frustrates me the most as a coach. When we move the puck and have a little more movement as a unit, we create good looks. Sometimes those looks go in and sometimes they don’t. That’s something that we’re going to continue to chip away at.” The Glacier Kings have just one power play goal in October. Their goal with the man advantage in their last game in Oceanside means they have are 1 for 27 this month.

The penalty kill on the other hand has been terrific. The Yeti have the best PK in the VIJHL with a 87.0% success rate. Westshore is pretty good as well at 83.6% which is 4th best. Toneff talked about why his own team has been so successful, “I think it’s honestly the veteran presence we have on it like guys that are used to knowing how we do kill. It’s the little reads in the game, when to be aggressive and when to not. Our penalty kill is fairly passive to be honest with you but it kind of emulates our d-zone. There’s not a lot of thinking. It’s just our d-zone minus one guy. It seems to be working and you never have great penalty killing without great goaltending. Maybe we’re not giving up grade ‘A’ looks but the goalies are still stopping the puck when they need to and that’s important as well.” Comox has the second best defensive rating in the league allowing just 2.79 goals per game. Meanwhile the Wolves have scored more goals than any team in the VIJHL will be an issue for the offensively challenged Glacier Kings.

Another strong start will be key for the GKings tonight. They don’t have the offensive power to come back from a significant deficit. That will be tough against the high-octane offense featuring 2 out of the top 4 players in league scoring. Parker Atkinson is putting up superior numbers averaging over 2 points per game so far while Kansys Seney is at close to 1.7 ppg. To put it in prospective, Comox doesn’t have anyone in the top 20 in scoring and also doesn’t boast any player that averages a point per game that has played a minimum of 10 games (the Wolves have 4). Westshore also has eight players with at least 10 points already, the Glacier Kings have two. Obviously this game will be a major test. The Yeti’s bench boss talked about the challenges they’re facing, “Just playing against a team with three or four lines that can bite you. A lot of teams have one or two but these guys don’t have many weak links. It’s up to every shift, be ready to go and protecting the guts of the ice. We gotta play that simple, greasy little game.” I agree the simpler that they can make the game the better and it wouldn’t hurt to have another great goaltending performance like they got from Silas Dromarsky who has been announced as “Goaltender of the Week” in the VIJHL for last week.

Westshore comes into tonight’s match with a 12-2-1-0 record, good for first place overall in the VIJHL. Comox Valley is in fifth place in the North Division sporting a 5-6-2-1 line. Head coach/GM Mike Nesbitt has assembled a very competitive team this season as one would expect. Remember that he took over a Glacier Kings squad that was majorly struggling and turned them around and had some very good seasons. Ander Reyes gets the start in between the pipes for the Wolves while Timothee Fengos will backstop the GKings. Game time is 7:00 pm at the Q Centre.

Darryl Skender