The Nanaimo Buccaneers got their 2025/26 season off to a good start as they downed the Comox Valley Glacier Kings 4-2 on Saturday. The game was scoreless over halfway through the second period when Madden Cruickshank opened the the scoring for Nanaimo on the power play. It started with Jack Barrett feeding Ethan Nordli on a cross-ice pass at the blue line. Nordli quickly gave it to Cruickshank at the face dot who ripped a wrist shot up high, short side to make it 1-0. The Glacier Kings would counter just 2:48 later when Joel Schmidt sent a rink wide pass through the neutral zone to Cohen Kallin who carried the puck over the blue line and took a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Goaltender Aaron Pichette made a stick save but the puck would ricochet up in the air and Maxim Lefebvre knocked it out of the air and into the net. The goal was credited to Kallin unassisted but it was Lefebvre at the right side of the net who scored. The Bucs would then score 3 consecutive times, two late in the second and again in the third before Comox would answer. Nanaimo dominated a lot of the second period outshooting the Glacier Kings 16-6. With the score 4-1 midway through the third period, and the Glacier Kings on a power play, Lucas Dionne checked Kingston Gowans up high and took a roughing penalty to give the Yeti a 5 on 3 for 1:10. Head coach Curtis Toneff took the opportunity to take a timeout and it paid off.  A beautiful Tic-Tac-Toe play would pull the GKings within 2. From the right hash, Westin Churchill passed the puck back to the point to Evan Marko who quickly got it to the side of the net to Isaac Dunsire. The Courtenay native would one-time a cross-crease pass to Zaya Moro who buried it into the open net. Marko should have been credited with a second assist but wasn’t on the official game sheet. Comox Valley would have more chances, including a couple more power play opportunities but Pichette closed the door. All in all, it was a good third frame for the Glacier Kings but they fell short.

The game was physical at times, some clean, some not so clean. Comox was 1 for 7 on the PP while Nanaimo went 2 for 4. Timothee Fengos stopped stopped 30 of pucks sent his way while Aaron Pichette blocked 21 of 23.

The Glacier Kings next action is Friday in Saanich. The Predators are coming off a 7-3 victory over the Kerry Park Islanders on Friday. Travis Swanson had a hat trick in that one. He also potted a couple of goals in pre-season. As for the Bucs, they travel to Westshore on Wednesday. The Wolves lost 7-2 to Peninsula on Friday.

Other Observations

• This is the 3rd year in a row that the Glacier Kings have lost their season opener. Last time they won their first game was 2022-23 when they beat the Westshore Wolves 5-2 at the Q Centre.
• The first period of last night’s game wasn’t shown on FloHockey due to technical problems.
• Going back to pre-season action, Zaya Morro has scored in 3 straight games.
• It was nice to see Larenzo Jensen back behind the microphone. Larenzo has also helped out with a lot of Nanaimo Clippers broadcasts in the past as well.
• It only took the Glacier Kings 17 seconds to score on their 5 on 3.
• The announced crowd at the NIC on Saturday was 355. That was their biggest crowd since September 6th, 2018. That was also their season opener when they beat Campbell River 3-1. The announced crowd that night was 370.
• During the game, I was texting with Comox Valley owner Marsha Webb and former Campbell River Storm play by play broadcaster Mark Berry. One of the reasons I started a blog again was because I was missing the hockey community.
• This was the first time since 2015 that the Glacier Kings opened their season against Nanaimo. They have started against Campbell River the majority of the times before this. In case you’re wondering, the Buccaneers won that game 4-3 in OT.

That’s it for today, have a great rest of your weekend!

Darryl Skender