Tag Archives: Kingston Gowans

Big Win For The Glacier Kings

October 26, 2025 Darryl Skender Leave a comment

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

Glacier Kings Lose Third Straight

October 10, 2025 Darryl Skender Leave a comment

The Victoria Cougars came out of the gates fast and jumped on Comox early and skated to a 4-1 victory over the Glacier Kings. From the opening faceoff, Victoria showed a lot of speed and tenacity. The Cougars have played very well in October after a so-so September for their standards. They won just 3 of their first 7 games but now have reeled off 4 straight wins. Comox Valley ended September winning 3 of 4 but are 0-3 this month.

The Cougars got on the board early when a point shot from Quintin Bortolotto was deflected perfectly by Joseph Melichar for his 12th goal of the year.

Comox Valley would tie the game late in the opening stanza when Kingston Gowans shot the puck high off the glass in his own corner out to center where Zaya Morro tipped it ahead to put Cohen Kallin on a partial breakaway and beat goaltender Lane Maarhuis short-side. The period would end tied at 1.

Shots were 13-9 in favor of Victoria.

Then in the second frame, the highlight goal of the night came from Joseph Melichar while shorthanded. He stole the puck at the offensive blue line from a GKings forward and undressed another player to go in all alone to make it 2-1. They would never relinquish the lead after that. Shortly after, Carter Zeeben picked up a loose puck at center, circled down the left side over the blue line, went around Zaya Morro and roofed it past Anthony Ganoung. Just like that it was 3-1.

I watched an interesting play about 15 times in that period when the referee called an unsportsmanlike diving penalty on Ethan Gobel. It appeared to me every time that he was high sticked in the face. Victoria’s Haydyn Brooks was even headed for the penalty box when the referee told him that the infraction wasn’t against him. I’m still scratching my head that Gobel received the penalty. Shots were 12-8 for Comox Valley.

The Yeti played a pretty good third period but the only scoring would be an empty net goal by James Clarke late in the game to salt it away. Final shots were 35-35.

The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 3-6-2 as they remain tied for last place with Oceanside but the Generals have 2 games in hand. Comox hosts Port Alberni Saturday. Victoria improves to 7-3-1 and are just 1 point behind Peninsula for second place in the South. They are off until Tuesday when they travel to Kerry Park.

Other Observations

The difference in the game ended up being the Cougars scoring 2 goals in a span of 1:10 in the 2nd period.
Comox did not score a PP goal for a 3rd straight game after having scored at least 1 in 5 straight.
Cohen Kallin scored a goal in his 3rd consecutive game for the Yeti.
There were remarks made in the game that were totally unjustified and over the top. Let’s give this league a little dignity. I will leave it at that.
Glacier Kings have scored a total of 4 goals in their last 3 games.
Joseph Melichar is a stud. There’s no denying that. I had said I was looking forward to watching him play and I wasn’t disappointed.
Speaking of Melichar, he has at least a point in all 11 games and has multiple points in his last 9 contests.
This was the 2nd shorthanded goal Comox has allowed this season.
Simon Semancik was held pointless for the first time this year. He had 9 points in his last 3 games and at least 1 in his previous 9.

Darryl Skender

Storm Beat Comox In OT Again

October 4, 2025 Darryl Skender Leave a comment

The Campbell River Storm have had the Glacier Kings number this year. They started out strong on Friday and came away with a 2-1 overtime win in what was probably the most entertaining games you’ll see this year. Both goaltenders stole the show as they stopped chance after chance. This was the second time in three meeting that the Storm have won in the extra stanza.

The first period was dominated by Campbell River which was helped out by two power plays. A couple of the highlights for me in that opening frame was when Zaya Morro made a terrific defensive play while shorthanded in the slot to thwart a scoring a chance by Jack Smith. Later, a bouncing puck went by a Comox defenceman and came right to Colby Driebergen behind everyone where he slid it over to a wide open Tom Marguet but a wonderful save was made by Anthony Ganoung. The game was scoreless after the first. Shots were 20-8 in favor of the Storm.

The Yeti came out much stronger start in the second period with some scoring chances. They would finally get on the scoresheet first with a shorthanded goal. It started with a blocked shot from the Comox line which gave the Glacier Kings a 2 on 1 from inside their own zone. Cohen Kallin carried it all the way down the ice, used Zaya Morro as a decoy, and fired it past Luc Gravel on the blocker side. Comox almost scored 2 more times on that same Storm power play but Gravel was good. An incident in the second happened when Declan Johannesen was hit from behind and shaken up by Bryson Walsh. Because the referee didn’t call a penalty, Leon Mikhalchuk took matters into his own hands and may have fought the wrong man as he took on big Aryx Siefker (who was right in the vicinity of the hit from behind by Walsh). It was a one-sided fight that was won by Siefker. The home team would tie the game a little later on when Holden Smith won a puck battle behind the net and centered it out front to Ryder Tanner who scored up high on Anthony Ganoung. Both goaltenders, especially Ganoung, were outstanding in that middle frame which saw Comox outshoot Campbell River 21-14.

Early in the third period, there was more rough stuff and it involved Bryson Walsh again when he gave a huge hit to the smaller Kingston Gowans. The Glacier Kings defenceman laid on the ice for a short while before slowly going off the ice. That didn’t go unnoticed. Right after the puck drop following the mandatory timeout, Haden Parker challenged Walsh to a fight in which Parker won decisively.

Despite many chances, there wouldn’t be any scoring in the third period where Comox outshot Campbell River 11-10.

In overtime, Leon Mikhalchuk had a chance to end it when he found himself wide open in front but was stoned by Gravel. Campbell River would eventually end the game on a horrible line by the glacier Kings. That line change gave the Storm a 2 on 1 all the way down the ice where Jack Smith would eventually beat Ganoung to win it and finish a very exciting game.

The loss drops Yeti’s record to 3-4-2 which ties them for last place in the North Division with Oceanside who won on Friday. Next up for Comox is the VIJHL’s best team… the Westshore Wolves. The 2 teams will square off tonight at the Sports Centre. Puck drop is at 6:30. Campbell River (5-4-0) plays in Oceanside tonight.