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Comox-Peninsula Preview

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The old adage says that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best and that’s what the Comox Valley Glacier Kings are trying to do tonight. The Peninsula Panthers are coming into tonight with a 31-5-1-0 record, which is 20 points ahead of the GKings who are 19-15-4-1. The Panthers have won 2 out of the 3 head to head meetings including a combined score of 20-3 in the last two. The defending league champions took down Westshore, Kerry Park and Campbell River in the playoffs last year to win the VIJHL title after a 33-11-3-1 regular season record in that 2024-25 season. Yes they are even better this year.

The Panthers are far and away the best offensive team in the league this season averaging 5.9 goals per game. No other team even averages 5 goals per contest. They boast 4 of the top 9 scorers and 6 of the top 13 in the VIJHL. They already have 7 players with over 40 points, the Glacier Kings don’t have any. The team from the south also has 4 players with at least 20 goals, once again the Yeti don’t have one. With that being said we have also talked a lot about the defensive system that Comox employs and it will need to be in full force this evening. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff says it seems to be working right now, “I think for the most part. I don’t know how people are going to read into this on your blog Darryl but I’m not going to go into too much detail. To be honest with you, it’s new to me, I’ve never ran it before. I decided to go with it. I’ve been involved with it with a couple teams at a higher level, mixing a couple coaches styles. It’s been really fun for me actually to teach a different way. The one thing I like about it is it gives the players a bit more freedom to make decisions. They don’t have to be in spot A, B or C. It’s been good to see that it’s working except for those two or three shellackings that we’ve taken. It’s happened twice, maybe one other night. Our goals against per game is actually pretty good if you take those three games out, two games anyway. So for the most part it has been good and it starts with ‘compete’ and goaltending.” The Glacier Kings have only allowed 3 goals or less in regulation time in 6 of their last 7 games and that defence will be put to the test right from puck drop.

Peninsula is lead by Alex Sajan who has accumulated 16G, 36A for 52Pts in 37 games. Then there’s 6’2″ 215 pound forward Oskar Aitken-Salmons and much smaller Carson Harris leading the club with 28 goals. That’s good for a tie for 2nd place in the VIJHL with Parker Atkinson of Westshore. In net, the goaltenders split their time. Both Caden Lentz and Matus Volovar have appeared in 17 games each and both netminders have 14 wins with 2.20 and 2.34 GAA respectively.

The face of this Comox team looks very different than it did two or three months ago with a lot of moves being made. Will they pull the trigger on signing another player or two? Coach Toneff says probably not, “Unless something happens like we bring in a guy that we just can’t say no to or there’s an injury that happens we’re pretty much set here I think. That should be something that the players are aware of. This is it… there’s no more wondering or rumors or whatever is going to happen next because this is it. So now it’s up to you guys, it’s up to us.” Just since the start of this month, Comox has signed and released Luca Vanzo, released Isaac Dunsire, signed Easton Sangris, Rolan Amin and Gavin Mowat. They also traded to get Lane Maarhuis and Tee Hagel and January isn’t even over yet.

As good as Peninsula has been all season they have now lost 2 of their last 3 games and 3 of their last 6. This proves that they can be beat. Their 5 regulation losses are to Comox Valley, Westshore, Victoria and Oceanside twice. The Wolves also beat them in overtime. The Glacier Kings have looked good against them and horrible against them this year. Curtis says he’s looking for his squad to be better prepared this time around, “We’re playing against a very good team and we owe it to ourselves to have a better effort. We went and beat them and let’s face it, stunned them earlier in the year on a Sunday which was a third game in 3 days for us. Since that they came up to Comox and were more than ready and we were more than not ready. The game got away from us in a hurry. I think I was asking our assistant coach if we were playing the Panthers or the Penticton Vees because I wasn’t really sure. We made them look pretty good. At the end of the day we can still finish 2-2 against the ex-champions of the league with a simple kind of greasy road mentality. I think if we stick to 60 minutes of hockey we can give ourselves a chance to do that.” Comox Valley has been putting in 60 minute efforts as of late and having been getting points because of it. They have points in 9 of their last 11 games going 7-2-2-0.

Power Play

Peninsula: 34.8% (1st)
Comox Valley: 18.4% (6th)

Penalty Kill

Peninsula: 87.4% (1st)
Comox Valley: 81.0% (6th)
* Panthers also lead the league with 9 shorthanded goals.

The Panthers came out of the gates hard on November 1st racking up 6 goals in the first 12 minutes of the game, then scored another 6 in the first 18 minutes of the opening frame in their November 22nd battle with the Yeti. Between their impressive record and their ability to put up crooked numbers in a hurry, it can be a little intimidating. I asked the bench boss if his players might feel a little bit of that and he was quick to say no, “That’s where coaching comes in. It’s up to me to have them not read into that. We have a totally different hockey club than we did in November. We have guys that have played BCHL, we have guys that have made teams in the SJHL, we have five veteran guys that have been inserted so no I’m not going to let them read into the standings.” Comox can be confident knowing that they have beaten every team in the league at least once except for Victoria but they’ve only played the Cougars twice with the last match a 1-0 score until the empty-netter late.

So which Glacier King team will we see tonight? Hopefully the one that has been playing consistently well the past couple months. It will be a tough task to score. As much talking as I did regarding their offensive prowess, I should also mention they are by far the best defensive team in the league as well. Game time is 7:30 PM at the Panorama Recreation Centre. I’ll insert Comox Valley’s lineup on the “Gameday Lineups” page of this blog once the coach gives it to me. Go Glacier Kings!

Darryl Skender

GKings Comeback Falls Short

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The Nanaimo Buccaneers scored three goals in the second period and held on for a 4-3 win over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. The loss is the Glacier Kings second in a row and 3rd in their last 4 games while the Buccaneers won their 3rd straight and are now victorious in 5 of their last 6 contests.

It was a very even opening period which saw Nanaimo having a nice power play and with the Glacier Kings had big chances by Ethan Gobel and Westin Churchill. However it took almost 17 minutes before the first goal. Brandon Taylor took a shot from the point. It appeared that Westin Churchill may have got a stick on it to deflect it high in the air. The puck landed behind goaltender Aaron Pichette where Gavin Munro poked it into the net.

The lead wouldn’t last long. Less than 2 minutes later Jaxin Karst won an offensive zone faceoff. The puck would get tipped back to Dreyton Hayward at the blue line. The 5’9″ defenceman wristed a shot that went through a maze of bodies to beat Anthony Ganoung blocker side.

That goal made the score 1-1 and the period would end with that score. Shots were 11-7 in favor of Nanaimo.

In the second period, the Buccaneers would take their first lead of the game on an innocent looking play. Zach Spafford gave a 10 foot pass up to his own blue to Jack Barrett and by the time he got to center he skated between both defencemen to go in on a clear cut breakaway. Barrett quickly went backhand-forehand and beat Ganoung stick-side before the second period was three minutes old.

The Bucs made it 3-1 on a power play goal. Jaxin Karst won the faceoff and the puck subsequently never left the Glacier Kings zone after that. Madden Cruickshank eventually took a shot-pass to the side of the net where Porter Williamson deflected it behind the goalie.

Davis Young made it 4-1 with less than a minute to play in the 2nd period as he crept in from the blue line undetected and took a rink wide pass from Jaxin Karst and one-timed it between the arm and body of Ganoung.

The middle frame ended 4-1. Nanaimo outshot Comox 10-9.

Curtis Toneff must have fired the team up during the intermission because the Glacier Kings started off fast. After Nanaimo won the opening faceoff into their own zone, Comox Valley forechecked hard and Kyle Mayenburg did a good job keeping the puck in at the blue line. He directed the puck towards the net and a scramble ensued. Cameron Collins found a loose puck among the bodies and buried it past Pichette to make it 4-2.

That goal took 16 seconds from the drop of the puck. Unfortunately, the Yeti never got any momentum after that goal as Nanaimo tilted the ice afterwards dominating the play. However late in the 3rd period after Comox took a penalty, you could see that they were thinking offence. Cohen Kallin poked the puck off a Nanaimo stick at the Glacier Kings blue line then passed it up to Isaac Dunsire for a 2-man breakaway from center ice. Dunsire went in and snapped the puck past Pichette on the glove side for a shorthanded goal and it was suddenly 4-3.

Unfortunately the Yeti would take another penalty for “Too Many Men On The Ice” when they had possession inside the offensive zone with 19 seconds left. I’m guessing it was a good call because you could see the crowd and the Buccaneers bench pointing and yelling for a penalty. Pichette made a big save with 4 seconds left and that’s the way the game would end. Shots were 11-7 for the Bucs.

The win improves Nanaimo’s record to 11-5-1-0 for 23 points and are 3 points ahead of 2nd place Oceanside. Comox Valley drops to 7-9-2-1 for 17 points and remains in 4th place in the North. They will host the Oceanside Generals Saturday night. The Bucs are in Victoria on Sunday.

Other Observations:

  • Jaxin Karst had 3 assists to extend his point streak to 5 games (3G, 6A)
  • It took the Bucs 11 seconds to score their PP goal in the 2nd period after an offensive zone “Holding The Stick” penalty against the GKings.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk has 5G, 3A in his last 8 games.
  • The Yeti have only drawn 2 power plays in their last 200 minutes of hockey.
  • That was Gavin Munro’s first goal as a GKings player since coming over from Nanaimo. After his goal he pointed up to the stands at the NIC.
  • It was nice to see former Buc Brandon Taylor stick up for Thomas Scobie-Gyug after he got hit from behind. He went after the much bigger Rhys Wilcox who is 4″ taller and and 50 pounds heavier. He simply pushed him before getting into a scrum with Koen Gauthier where Taylor got his helmet taken off. I didn’t love that the referee making it a 4 on 4 instead of a PP for Comox.

  • Despite being outscored 3-0 in the second period, I thought it was a very even period. With that being said, I thought Nanaimo outplayed Comox in the 3rd despite being outscored 2-0.
  • Cameron Collins has 1G, 4A in his last 5 games.
  • Brandon Taylor picked up his first assist as a Glacier King with an assist.
  • The Yeti are 1-7-1-1 when trailing after the second period.
  • It is so refreshing to listen to Larenzo Jensen do play by play, a true professional, not biased, very descriptive. Good job Larenzo!

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 (Westin) 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