Tag Archives: Ethan Gobel

The Yeti Are Playing Up To Their Potential

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When you think of high end talent and certain players, guys like Joseph Melichar of Victoria or Parker Atkinson of Westshore come to mind. I would pay money just to watch these guys play. Guys like that are far and few between. I can’t think of a single player on most clubs including Comox that I would pay just to see. As for the Glacier Kings as a whole, that’s a different story. They have assembled a squad that believes in each other and have vastly improved as the season has gone on. Because they don’t have the elite stars that some of the other teams have, they need to be great as a whole, not as individuals and every player has to play up to the best of his capabilities. For the most part, these guys are. It doesn’t mean they can’t get better. With more experience and playing time they will improve. But they seem to be playing at a high-level which is needed down the stretch and into the playoffs. That’s why they have picked up at least a point in 11 of their last 13 games.

The fact that they are playing better has been noticed not only by Glacier Kings fans but also by other coaches and teams as well. Comox Valley’s head coach/GM Curt Toneff has observed a significant improvement as well. He was very candid when talking about the big difference from the start of September, “I’m just going to be honest with you, we have better hockey players now than we did at the start of the season. Overall just bigger, faster and older.” It was a very simple message and it was received loudly. He wants players here that will help this organization win hockey games and that certainly has been happening of late.

Even with better personnel, that doesn’t win hockey games alone. We’ve seen in the past in all levels of hockey where a team stacks up elite players at the deadline and things don’t go well. Same things in other sports like basketball. If you have all shooters and no play-makers, only one person can shoot the puck or basketball while the other scorers just stand and watch. Every team no matter what sport needs chemistry to win. It has taken the Glacier Kings a little while to get it with all the new faces but it seems to be coming together. Toneff says they are still working on chemistry, “That’s one thing I almost try to work on as a coach. A little bit of feedback from exit meetings last year was leaving some lines together a little bit more. It’s tough, I think we talked about it last week, it’s tough when you have 14 or 15 forwards that pay money to play. It’s tough to build that chemistry. I’ve left it alone almost as much as possible. I’ve thrown the lines in the blender a little bit midway through the game but there are very consistent duos and I think we talked about it last week about plugging the third guy in or the third center in or plugging the winger in. I think we have a lot of pairs as far as chemistry. Our ‘D’ I would definitely say are very familiar with each other.” Meatloaf’s song ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’ might be applicable here. It will get better with more playing time but remember, every other club will be improving as well.

I look down the roster and can see a bunch of guys playing really well right now. Some are obvious because they have been good since the start of the season but there are some that are under the radar. As a whole, everyone is playing at a higher level. Curtis talked about some of his players that he has liked during this stretch of really consistent hockey, “I think Haden Parker has been really good. He’s starting to believe in himself a little bit more offensively. He scored the tying goal on Friday and scored the winner on Saturday. He comes to mind. I think (Kyle) Mayenburg has been kind of what he needs to be. A guy that you don’t notice a ton as someone with a lot of flash but he’s out there 30 minutes a night. Rolan Amin’s a guy that puts some life on our bench with his compete and leadership. I think Quinten Harvie is just settling in and starting to play hockey whereas before Christmas he was going over the line a little bit and ended up in the penalty box a little bit too much. I don’t think it was always warranted but he seems to have addressed it. You know when you go down the line up, some guys are developing a little bit more trust to play harder minutes and maybe they weren’t even in the line up the night before. Gavin Munro, Mateo Moro, guys that you aren’t going to talk about a ton, they get out there, they play their 10-12 minutes and they play hard. We trust them, the bench trusts them. I think for us that what we need to be successful. We don’t have that guy that’s going to get 80 points but if we can get it by committee at the highest level then it can be done.” If everything stays at the rate it is right now, Leon Mikhalchuk will finish as the top scorer for his squad with 46 points. He currently has 39 points with 7 games left and averages one point per contest.

I looked around to see what other teams top point leaders have accumulated and it surprised me that Oceanside, who is a top contender, is in the same boat as the Glacier Kings. They also need to play a full team game to win and they’ve been effective at doing just that. Braeyen Newans leads them with just 35 points but to be fair he has been with the Powell River Kings a little bit as well. Just a side note, I think I can see why the Generals are doing so well. According to their roster they have a 24 year old and a 22 year old playing lol. I jest because it’s just a mistake on their website with Braylon Becker who is actually a 2008 not a 2003 born player and Levi Green is a 2005 not a 2001. With Comox, Ethan Gobel could be leading the Glacier Kings if he was still with them. He had the highest average of points per game on the squad (1.17). However it’s been a struggle for him in the BCHL as he has only amassed 2G, 1A in 16 games and that’s after getting a goal and an assist in first 2 games with his junior ‘ A’ club.

That’s it for today, enjoy your Wednesday everybody.

Darryl Skender

Nail Biter In Victoria Goes Cougars Way

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The Comox Valley Glacier travelled to Victoria to take on one of the best teams in the VIJHL and gave the Cougars everything they could handle until finally dropping a 2-0 decision to the league’s second most potent offence. The game had a little bit of everything… great goaltending on both sides, a fight, a disallowed goal and a big missed opportunity at the end. All in all, I think the Glacier Kings can be proud of their performance but disappointed with their result.

Midway into the first period, Quinten Harvie had a glorious chance on Comox Valley’s first PP as he took a back door pass at the side of the net from Rolan Amin but was robbed by goaltender Finn Wilson. That power play netted a bunch of great chances but they couldn’t beat Wilson. Shortly after Cohen Kallin made a nifty pass to put Westin Churchill on a breakaway but was once again stoned by the home team’s netminder. The period would end scoreless. Shots were 7 apiece.

The second period had a few chances but was mostly a defensive frame which was an advantage for Comox who likes that style of play. With less than a minute left, Joseph Melichar kneed Tee Hagel right in front of the referee and it wasn’t called so defenceman Brandon Taylor took matters into his own hands and went after Melichar.

This is the knee right in front of the ref…

Then Brandon Taylor looked at the referee with his hand up asking if he’s going to call it…

Since there was no call, Taylor went after Melichar and the 2 squared off…

The whole incident should have been avoided by the referee making a call. And wouldn’t you know it the Glacier Kings took a penalty just 12 seconds later. The game remained 0-0 heading into the third with Victoria on the power play. Shots were 8-6 for Comox in that period.

In the 3rd, Comox killed off the remainder of the penalty and would accomplish the same feat when they took another one just 46 seconds after they were finally at full strength. Thanks to some wonderful saves by Lane Maarhuis, the contest was still at goose eggs. However a third penalty would do them in. Grady Slugget carried the puck to the right faceoff dot and quickly slid it across to the opposite circle where Joseph Melichar wristed it short-side on Maarhuis. That made it 1-0. The Yeti would get a power play shortly after. They won the faceoff and had several chances as the puck didn’t leave the zone but unfortunately the goaliekicked the net off its pegs really hard to stop play.

The posts are as secure at the Archie Browning Arena as they are at the Comox Valley Sports Centre unfortunately. The Glacier Kings pulled their goalie late and appeared to tie the game when Leon Mikhalchuk beat Wilson but it was waved off for goaltender interference. I looked this one over about a dozen times. Sheldon Alexander was line up along the boards. Comox won the faceoff and he headed straight for the net. Alexander stopped and tried to lean back into defenceman Jacob Bernardo. However Bernardo side-stepped him and Alexander lost his balance and his momentum was taking him into the goaltender. Bernardo gave him the slightest shove with the stick but it appeared that Alexander was going into the goalie regardless. Tough bang-bang play for the official as Wilson did get up just as the shot took place. I hate to say it but probably a good call. This photo is just as Alexander is falling on his own…

And this is a shot, just as the puck crosses the line…

The 4 officials got together at center and decided to stay with the call on the ice and placed the faceoff outside the blue line. The Glacier Kings pulled their goalie again and looked to have a sure goal when Alexander fed a terrific cross-ice pass to Rolan Amin who had a wide open net and shot it in between the goaltender and the front of the net.

You can see him on the right side of the picture put both hands up to his head in disbelief. The Cougars would ice the game when Tyler Delli-Carri scored an empty net goal.

What a tough way for the game to end as it looked like Comox tied it up on 2 separate occasions. Shots ended were 14-4 for Victoria in the final 20 minutes.

The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 18-15-4-1, still in 3rd place, 8 points behind Nanaimo and 2 points ahead of Campbell River. The Cougars improve to 25-8-3-0, also in 3rd place, just 1 point behind Westshore. Comox next travels to Oceanside to take on the first place Generals. Victoria is off until Sunday when they host Kerry Park.

Other Observations:

  • The Cougars first goal was unfortunate because while shorthanded, GKings d-man Gavin Mowat broke his stick. Quinten Harvie tried to hand him his twig during play but missed so it was basically 5 against 3.5 players. Mowat was without a stick in the defensive zone for 32 seconds which was when the goal was scored.
  • Joseph Malichar’s goal extended his goal streak to 6 consecutive games with at least 1 goal (has 9G, 5A in those 6 games).
  • Melichar has a 13 point lead in the scoring race and has actually played in 2 less games than the players tied for 2nd.
  • First start in net for Lane Maarhuis for Comox after being acquired from Victoria just a couple days prior and he was outstanding.
  • It was also goaltender Finn Wilson’s first appearance for the Cougars since coming from the Greater Ontario Hockey League and he registered a shutout.
  • This is the second time this season the Glacier Kings have been shutout. (Sep. 12-25 @Saanich)
  • The Cougars are now a perfect 4-0 in January.
  • Good flow in the first period which saw 7:23 of action without a whistle (8:32 to 1:09).
  • Westin Churchill remains 2nd on his club’s scoring (24 points) despite being pointless in 5 straight games. (Ethan Gobel has more but is currently with the Powell River Kings).
  • Nice to see Carter Crabb back in the lineup for Victoria. He hasn’t played all season waiting on surgery but decided he wanted to get back to playing hockey while waiting on a date.
  • Kudos to Brandon Taylor for sticking up for his teammate after getting hurt. The hometown kid is played just his 15th game for Comox after coming over from Nanaimo.
  • Very unselfish play by Grady Slugget on the 2-man breakaway to pass to Delli-Carri to let him score the empty net goal.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk had his 3-game point streak and 2-game goal streak broken.
  • Cougars forward Ben Wetterberg left for the dressing room with about 4 minutes left in the 2nd period and did not return. I went back to look at his last shift but didn’t see anything that would indicate an injury. He spent the 3rd period with his uniform on at the end of the arena.
  • Victoria’s Jordan Ramsay had his 3-game point streak snapped (4G, 4A)
  • These 2 squads have 2 games left against each other. (Jan. 31 & Feb. 14 both in Courtenay).

That’s it for today. Have a good day everyone!

Darryl Skender

Coach Wants To See More Out Of His Guys

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have been racking up points as of late which pleases the coach but he is still not thrilled with their overall game. The team has picked up points in 8 of their last 9 games going 6-1-2-0. There is a lot of optimism with this team going forward but oddly enough… it was their last win that has some people with a few doubts. The good news is they beat the Kerry Park Islanders but the bad new is how they struggled at times in that game. They needed to come from behind in the 3rd period to win it with just 1:42 left in regulation.

I think most of us can be happy with the 2 points and move on despite only squeaking out a 4-3 win over a club that has just two wins in their first 36 games. After all, they outplayed the Islanders but had trouble in some areas. One person that didn’t like the game was head coach/GM Curtis Toneff. He said he wanted to see more from his players. “Didn’t play a full game. We got away from ourselves and what makes us who we are. We were a little bit undisciplined and frustrated. We are going to meet a lot more diversity than that and we have to be able to handle it better. We as a group are addressing some of the things we did before Christmas, the last 5 or 6 games up until now. We have to be smarter.” The win moved Comox to a very respectable 18-14-4-1.

Despite the bench boss not being overly impressed with his club’s performance, he does admit that they are better than at the start of the season. That however isn’t good enough in his eyes as he feels the time is now to make a move. “I think we made up for our poor start (0-3-1) standings-wise but our actual play could still be better and it starts with our discipline. If our discipline is better, we’re in the box a little bit less, not having to kill as much, we can focus on other aspects. I’m hoping in the next 2-3 weeks our lines will develop some chemistry. Our d-pairs have been pretty stationary (same pairings) so we’ve left them alone and let them build a lot of chemistry back there. Now I hope to let our forward crop get to know each other a little more out there.” One might say that after 37 games the team should have better chemistry but there have been so many changes to the line up this season, it can be hard to keep track. Keeping the lines together now should give the players a lot of synergy.

With only 11 games left in the regular season, the Yeti looked poised to make the playoffs. Some players have risen to the challenge and others have been left behind. I thought it would be interesting to ask Curtis who his top defenceman has been and it wasn’t really that much of a surprise. “Our captain Kyle Mayenburg has really taken a step in the last number of weeks. He went to Powell River for about 3 weekends in a row before Christmas. I don’t know if that’s when a light came on or what but he’s had a lot of confidence in his game of late. He seems to be emerging into a true leader… he’s a lead by example kind of guy. He’s walking the talk and has definitely been the best defenceman the majority of the nights this year.” The 18 year old has 18 points in 30 games for Comox Valley and has played another 8 contests in the BCHL for Powell River.

The more interesting question is which forward has impressed him. It was probably an unfair question putting him on the spot as there are way too many variables. Toneff gave an interesting answer. “Up front is a tough question. I might have said Ethan Gobel a month ago but I think a guy like Westin Churchill has taken a step in his game. He’s been moved around on different lines, he’s been asked to play center, he’s been asked to play wing. Most of the nights he’s rising to the occasion and he’s also protecting his teammates. He’s turned into a 200 foot player we can rely on in a lot of the key moments in hockey games.” Of course Gobel was the leading scorer for the GKings before being snatched up by the Powell River Kings. Gobel actually scored a goal in his first game with the BCHL Kings on December 5th and had 2 goals in his last game with the VIJHL Kings on December 21st. As for Churchill, he is 2nd on the active roster in goals and points.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll discuss the special teams, their practices during their layoff as well as the lack of games the Glacier Kings have played since December 21st. Is it good or bad? Until then, have a great evening.

Darryl Skender