Tag Archives: Haden Parker

Glacier Kings Win In Overtime

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings got a much needed win on Saturday night as they downed the Oceanside Generals 3-2 in overtime. It was a fun game to watch with a lot of chances and great goaltending. The loss snaps the Glacier Kings two game losing streak and as well, the Gens winning streak ends at two. Oceanside actually came back from a 2-0 deficit midway through the second period but was never able to take the lead.

The Glacier Kings got the scoring started when Leon Mikhalchuk carried the puck over the offensive blue line on an oddman rush. He centered it into the slot where Tegan Clayton had his shot blocked but Winston Churchill got to the loose puck first and fired it past Andreas Bylerius to make it 1-0.

Silas Dromarsky made a nice save on Rykan Lay who was sent in on a breakaway late in the opening period and then another exciting play took place as time was winding down. Jacob Bate came in on a breakaway, went forehand-backhand and beat Dromarsky as the buzzer sounded. It was originally called a good goal by the referee but then after all 4 officials huddled they waived it off which was a good call. You can see the green light come on just before Bate backhands it.

 

The period ended 1-0 for the home side. Shots were 7-2 for the home team.

In the second period, Comox extended their lead to 2-0. Shortly after after Dromarsky robbed Levi Green, Leon Mikhalchuk got the puck in the Oceanside corner and passed puck to the circle to Tegan Clayton and his shot dribbled past Bylerius.

The Generals didn’t fold the tent however. Their captain Levi Green blocked a shot and Oceanside came the other way on a 2 on 1 which was executed perfectly. Ryken Lay slid the puck over to Kaiden Day who made no mistake putting it into the open net.

The middle stanza concluded with a 2-1 lead for the Yeti. The shots were 9-8 in favor of the Glacier Kings.

Early in the third, Lincoln Bueckert got possession of the puck along the goal line in the GKings end and slid it across the ice to a wide open Jacob Bate to tie the game at two.

Comox Valley took a penalty halfway through the period and Maxim Lefebvre saved a goal by hitting the stick of Jacob Leamy who had a sure goal after a puck deflected straight to him. The Generals dominated the last part of the period but couldn’t beat Dromarsky who was outstanding. The contest needed overtime. Shots were 12-6 for the Gens.

The winning goal came early in the extra period. Haden Parker left the puck at the top of his own circle for Cameron Collins and he did the rest. The 18 year old Comox native went end to end splitting between two defenders inside the offensive blue line and beat Bylerius up high with a backhand shot to make the final 3-2.

The win improves Comox Valley’s record to 8-9-2-1 for 19 points as they remain tied for 4th place with Port Alberni who also won. Their next game is Wednesday in Saanich. The point that Oceanside gained in the loss moves their line to 11-8-1-0 which actually puts them into a tie for first place with Nanaimo in the North. The Generals are off until next Saturday when they host the Bucs.

Other Observations:

  • The win was the Glacier Kings first in extra time this season. In their previous 3 games that went past the 3rd period they were 0-0-2-1.
  • Cameron Collins OT winner extended his points streak to 4 games (2G, 2A).
  • Kaiden Day now has points in 5 of his last 6 games (2G, 5A).
  • The Yeti haven’t scored a PP goal in 4 straight games.
  • Silas Dromarsky was really good and most likely earned himself another start in the very near future.
  • GKings are now a perfect 7-0-0-0 when leading after the 1st and 7-1-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes.
  • There was a penalty in the 2nd period you don’t see often as Zaya Morro tried playing the puck with a broken stick (no blade) and went off for 2 minutes for “Ineligible Player.”
  • Comox is back to .500 at home (3-3-1-1)
  • Leon Mikhalchuk has points in 8 of his last 9 games (5G, 5A).
  • The 2 shots the Glacier Kings gave up in the 1st period is fewest they’ve allowed in a period all season.
  • Comox Valley did their annual Remembrance Day ceremony. Well done by the organization and thank you to all our Veterans and active duty members. You are the real heroes. God bless you!

Darryl Skender

Faceoffs & Unsung Heroes

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings started the season losing their first 4 games, 3 in regulation for a variety of reasons. There’s a lot of little things in a hockey game that can mount and become bigger things and eventually will decide if you win or lose. Faceoffs can be that important and in some of the Glacier Kings losses did have a big impact. They were losing the majority of the draws. Sometimes it can stand out brightly if you lose a faceoff in your defensive zone and get scored on immediately. But it can also be a lot more subtle than that. Every time you lose a faceoff, you lose a chance at possession of the puck. It can also be a lost chance if you’re at the offensive zone dot. It is especially key after you take a penalty. The faceoff is in your own zone and if you can win it and clear the puck down the ice, you’ve just killed 20 seconds of being shorthanded before the opposition can get control inside your own blue line so the power play goes from being 2:00 to 1:40.

Since the very start of the season, faceoffs have gotten significantly better and so has the team’s play. It has meant more possessions in a game and they have actually scored a few times right from winning the draw in the offensive zone. A glaring example was in the club’s last game. Westin Churchill won the faceoff back to Leon Mikhalchuk, his shot was stopped but Churchill buried the rebound. That’s just one instance. I asked Head Coach/GM Curtis Toneff if his team has been practicing that art, “Ya we actually do. We’ve worked on it, we’ve talked about it. One night we were in Saanich in Game 2 or Game 3 of the season, I actually brought in my old assistant coach Sam Waterfield and he brought all the centers in because he was always good on faceoffs when we were in Merritt. It’s maybe one of my weaknesses as a coach. I am not an expert so I figured I’d bring in someone that knows more than I do to help the boys. They’ve all seemed to take a thing or two that he said and use it to their advantage. That’s kudos to the players to take it all in seriously and take pride in their faceoffs. I know (Isaac) Dunsire has come a long way, (Ethan) Gobel’s good, (Landon) Morris has been good and then (Weston) Churchill has shuffled back to center for now so same thing for him.” If that trend can continue, more wins should be on the horizon.

Something that separates good teams from not-so good teams are star players obviously. However, if you look deeper into a roster, good teams will also have players who are not talked about as much as the stars that score a lot of goals or the goalie that has a great Goals Against Average. In hockey we call them Unsung Heroes. They are guys that don’t get a lot of attention because they are good at their job. The old saying goes that an official is good in a football game if nobody notices them. They are not stealing the show, the players are. Well, in hockey you need players that aren’t in the spotlight but are very effective at what their job is. That’s how you win games, especially if you’re not an offensively gifted team like Comox. The Yeti rely on guys like this to help win games. Coach Toneff talked about it, “Two guys kind of come to mind that don’t get a lot of credit since I’ve been here. Haden Parker and Landen May are hard to play against. They’re not guys that as an opposition, are a lot of fun to go on a rush against. They have long sticks, Landen can bully guys a little in the corner and get in their heads. Just their little bit of extra length I think. It helps us defend. It (shots) sometimes goes off their toe or their butt in the corner and we live to fight another day. I think that when we were missing Landen last Wednesday in the third period, it became noticeable on the scoreboard. With Parksie, he’s been pretty consistent all year. Those are guys that don’t jump off the screen. Maybe me being an ex-defenceman, you appreciate them more. I think we do as coaches and I think our team does as well.” It is not by accident that he named a couple of defenceman. May has 2 assists in 15 games while Parker has 1 helper in 15 games. They are both big bruising defencemen that keep opposing forwards honest and are not afraid to get in the dirty areas. That doesn’t show up on the score sheet but does score points with teammates and the coaches.

That’s it for today. I’m about to turn the Blue Jays game on. I love texting back and forth with owner Marsha Webb during the games. She loves the Jays as much as I do and we are both quite opinionated lol. As for the Glacier Kings, they’re next action is next Friday night in Lake Cowichan.

Darryl Skender

Comox Valley – Victoria Preview

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are coming off disappointing results last weekend accumulating just one out of a possible four points. To be fair they were missing 3 key players due to injuries and a suspension. However it was still a let down after their previous weekend against two of the top teams in the league. The consistency is still a work in progress. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff said his club didn’t come out of the gates as quickly as he would have liked last Friday and Saturday, “It was kind of the opposite from the weekend before, like our starts. I thought we got better in both games as the they dragged on. It just shows our team that we have to be ready for every shift. We have to be prepared when that puck drops, be ready to compete because we aren’t a team that can throw on a jersey and have success, and there are a couple teams in this league that can do that. We aren’t one of them.” The better starts are key as they aren’t a great ‘come from behind team.’ Their record when trailing after 2 periods is 1-4-1.

But this is a new game tonight. One of the issues for Comox will not just be a better start but they also need to start scoring more goals. It seems to me like they are creating a ton of scoring opportunities but not putting the puck in the back of the net. I asked Toneff about that, “You know what, as for scoring chances, I’m happy, the execution, maybe not so much. I don’t know if we’ll ever be a team that’s going to blow the brakes off another team but the fact that we’re getting the chances is a good sign. We just gotta bear down and put it in the net. Sometimes maybe that’s another pass across the crease or just get a stronger bottom hand on the stick, maybe a little bit of practice habits. There are highs and lows during the season. The weekend before we had no problems scoring goals so hopefully we can get back to that.” To put in perspective, the Glacier Kings are ranked 10th in scoring out of the 11 teams. On the opposite side, the Cougars lead the lead in goals per game averaging an impressive 5.7 tallies per contest.

It was a short practice week this week as the Glacier Kings are in action tonight. Special teams has been part of the focus. I asked Curtis what else they have been working on, “A lot of passing, a little bit of system play, breaking out the puck and a little bit of ‘compete’ as well. As you know, I used to coach the Bucs, they played Thursdays. I love it personally. Four days in a row of practice can get a little bit long. I love how these mid-week games break up the league to be honest with you. And then a day off tomorrow and back it Saturday.” The task that he is talking about on Saturday isn’t a whole lot easier as they will host the Port Alberni Bombers for the first time this season.

The Victoria Cougars are a perfect 2-0 to start October and have won 3 in a row heading into tonight. In their 8 games in September, their results didn’t have any winning or losing streaks… L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W. With that being said, the Yeti have lost both games in October after winning 3 of their last 4 games in September. I asked the GKings bench boss what to expect tonight and what his squad needs to do to be successful, “With any Mike Vandekamp coached team you’re going to get effort, physicality and tough hockey. I feel that we built a roster that should be able to play up to that. Just your classic, simple road hockey game, kind of back to how we were playing Peninsula. That ‘feeling good about yourself’ after every shift in the first ten minutes and just go from there.” The good news is that all 3 players that missed the last game in Westshore should be back in the lineup tonight which includes Haden Parker who was suspended for one game for his 5-minute boarding major against Campbell River.

Comox comes into tonight with a 3-5-2 record which is tied for last place in the North Division with Oceanside who plays in Saanich tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Cougars are 6-3-1 and comfortably sitting in third place in the South. One player I’m looking forward to seeing tonight is Joseph Melichar. The 20 year old is lighting it up this season. He is currently second in the league scoring. The 6’0″ 186 pound forward from the Czech Republic has amassed 11G, 15A in just 10 games. He should be fun to watch. Anthony Ganoung has been named as the GKings starter in between the pipes and deservedly so with the way he has been playing. He is 4th in the VIJHL in save percentage (.924) and 2nd among goaltenders who have played more than 3 games. Puck drop is at 7:00 pm at the Archie Browning Arena. Comox Valley’s official line up for tonight will be posted on the “Gameday Lineups” page of this blog in a few minutes.

Darryl Skender