Tag Archives: Josh Yolkowski

Coach Happy With Team’s Play Lately

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have definitely had their ups and downs this season but have seemed to have made adjustments and are playing much better in the past few weeks. They have had two 4-game losing streaks so far but right now are winners of 3 in their last 4 for a second time and have points in 4 of their last 5. Even though it seemed like a disastrous start by losing their first 4 games of the season, the head coach made sure his team didn’t panic. They dug themselves a hole early but have been slowly getting themselves out of it and are now back to a much more respectable 6-7-2-1 record. In fact, the club is only 3 points out of first place. The Glacier Kings have found their identity and that’s important. If a team doesn’t understand who they are, they can get lost. They know they won’t score 6 goals every game this year so they know that they need to be strong on their defensive assignments. With that being said, they have been getting a lot of shots and opportunities lately.

Comox Valley played a pretty strong game last Saturday against a Predators team who are better than their record shows. It was an important game for the Yeti after the disappointing loss to Westshore after holding a 2-goal lead in the second period. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff talked about Saturday’s game against the Predators, “I thought we did a good job to bounce back from an early goal against. We were just discussing the importance of a good start and scoring that first goal and then they score a couple minutes in. Maybe that’s my fault for talking about it too much. It was good to see us get a quick one in response on the power play. And finally towards the end of the second period we got some puck luck that we were missing at home in I don’t know how many weeks, it seems like a few anyways. It was nice to go in the the third period and find a way to get 2 points at home for the first time in awhile.” The early goal against that he was referring to was when Josh Yolkowski scored just 1:23 into the first period to give Saanich the early lead. The coach knows what he’s talking about when saying they need to get off to a good start. His team is 5-0-0-0 when leading after the first period.

So it’s back to practice for the club. It is great to see the coach back on the ice again after struggling with an illness for a bit. Despite the squad playing better lately, there’s still a lot of work and improvement that needs to happen. Toneff talked about practice, “A little bit of battle, just getting back to that classic junior hockey work week. We had a battle day yesterday, a little bit more flow and skills today, we’re touching on our system play Wednesday and special teams Wednesday and Thursday. I was under the weather last week and Brad (Smith) had the reigns for the most part. It’s always good to have another voice. It was maybe a good natural break for the players from me because I can get on them a little bit. It’s been a really good two weeks we hope as we move into this next phase here.” The GKings have been practicing more this year than they did last season.

I’m looking forward to Friday’s game against Lake Cowichan as it is a chance to the Glacier Kings to distance themselves from the Kraken. And if Port Alberni beats Nanaimo on Thursday, it will be their chance to be tied for 3rd place in the North Division. Who would have thought that after the first 4 games this season?

Later this week I’ll have posts on topics like Ethan Gobel’s importance to the team, a couple of unsung heroes, if the faceoff situation is getting better, where the club needs more depth, the goalie situation (again) and a preview of Friday’s game. That’s it for now, Go Blue Jays (and Glacier Kings of course)!

Darryl Skender

Big Win For The Glacier Kings

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings had another strong performance on Saturday night as they downed the Saanich Predators 4-2 in VIJHL action. The GKings have now won 3 of their last 4 games and have points in 4 of their last 5 contests. The home team improved to 6-7-2-1 and find themselves tied for 4th place in the North Division with the Port Alberni Bombers. The Predators loss drops their record to 4-11-0-0 and remain ranked 4th in the South.

Saanich got off to a quick start when Josh Yolkowski took a long stretch pass off the boards in behind the Glacier Kings defence and deked goaltender Anthony Ganoung just 1:23 into the game. It was 1-0 early.

Comox Valley would tie it up about 8 minutes later on the power play when Westin Churchill came flying down the left side and took a shot that was stopped by George Jantz but the huge rebound came into the slot and was one-timed by Landen May into the back of the net.

The opening period would finish tied up at a goal apiece despite the Yeti having a very strong last 15 minutes. They outshot the Preds 20-8.

The second period was more of the same with Comox having an edge in the play. George Jantz was outstanding in between the pipes in this period as well. The Glacier Kings did take their first lead of the game with Westin Churchill being involved again. He won an offensive zone faceoff right to Leon Mikhalchuk at the top of the circle. The big forward took a quick shot that was stopped by Jantz but Churchill followed up on the rebound and beat the 17 year old goaltender.

The lead would be stretched to 3-1 just 1:02 later when two Predator defencemen collided which caused a 2-man breakaway. Zaya Morro slid the puck over to Kingston Gowans who one-timed a shot to the glove side of Jantz and beat him cleanly.

That was it for the scoring in the second period although Comox had so many chances to build on that lead. Shots were 19-15 in favor of the home team.

Saanich played a very good third period. About midway through that final frame, Elijah Kim centered the puck to Kaydin Halladay. His shot went off Ganoung’s pad right to Josh Yolkowski who was standing at the side of the net and had an easy tap in. Suddenly it was 3-2.

That would be as close as they would get however. Despite some good pressure, Anthony Ganoung stood tall. Isaac Dunsire would ice the game late with a 160 foot shot into an empty net. Shots were 17 aside in the third.

All in all it was a fun game to watch. Both goaltenders played well and were deserving of getting a star. That’s the second meeting between these clubs with each side winning once. Comox Valley has one more game this month. It is on Halloween when they travel to Lake Cowichan. The Predators are done for October finishing the month at 1-7. Their next action is Sunday in Victoria.

Other Observations:

  • The rain storm caused the Predators to get to the rink late but they did have time to do the pre-game warm up. In fact they were the first team on the ice.
  • Glacier Kings hit a goal post and a crossbar in the first period.
  • Josh Yolkowski looks like a keeper. He’s played just 2 VIJHL games and has 3G, 1A. He’s so new that he doesn’t even have a name bar on his jersey yet.
  • I would have liked to see Anthony Ganoung get an assist on the last goal as he touched it right before Isaac Dunsire shot it into the empty net.
  • Comox Valley’s PK continues to be dominant They have now killed off 26 of 28 shorthanded situations in October and are the best in the league.
  • Kaydin Halladay extended his point streak to 6 games (3G, 7A). He has a point in every game but one this season.
  • A big thanks to Dave Dueck for playing a Jimmy Buffett song for me and a Taylor Swift song for my wife. You’re a “beauty” Dave.
  • It took 53 games but Elliot Lee scored his first VIJHL regular season goal.
  • The Yeti’s PP hasn’t been great this year but they have scored with the man advantage in 3 straight.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk had his goal streak snapped at 4 games but he did extend his points streak to 5.
  • PLEASE stop cutting out the national anthem during the broadcast to play hard rock music! It’s so DISRESPECTFUL! We see all the players standing on the blue line facing and respecting the flag and then we hear the broadcast cut out and “Airbourne” gets cranked up.
  • Comox Valley is 3-1-0-1 in their last 5 games.

Darryl Skender