Tag Archives: Kyle Mayenburg

Country Thunder On Country Night In Oceanside

1 Comment

The players took “Country Night” seriously last night as it was a rough and rugged game at the Howie Meeker Arena. The Comox Valley Glacier Kings came back from a 2-0 deficit with 4 unanswered goals and a 4-2 victory. Both goaltenders stood tall throughout the entire game. The match had huge hits, a fight, some weird bounces and a ton of Grade ‘A’ scoring chances.

The Gens got on the board early in the first period started when GKings forward Easton Sangris wound up for a slap shot but the puck was knocked away before he could make contact with it. Braylon Becker carried it the other way, gave a quick pass to Max Boyle who slid a backhand feed to Logan Duncan and he one-timed it into the empty net.

Just past the halfway point of the period, Brodie Wade caught Cameron Collins with a massive hit.

The Glacier Kings took exception to that open ice hit. Easton Sangris went after Wade and the two combatants went toe to toe in one of the most spirited fights I can remember in the VIJHL. Both guys traded huge right hands in a fight that lasted 24.5 seconds.

Both players were given 5 minutes for fighting. Then as time was running out in the period, the Generals would make it 2-0 with just 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock. A goal mouth scramble took place after a fanned shot in the slot and it was poked in by Levi Green. All the traffic in front of the net made it impossible to see.

That’s how the first period ended. Shots were 10-9 in favor of the Gens.

In the 2nd period, Comox pulled within one goal on the power play. It started with a faceoff win. The puck came back to Kyle Mayenburg at the blue line, the Powell River native took the puck to the middle of the ice and slid it back to the side boards where he had vacated and Rolan Amin beat Andreas Bylerius on the short side.

Just 43 seconds later, the Yeti would tie the game on a bit of a lucky bounce. Sheldon Alexander won the faceoff to Easton Sangris. His shot missed the net but took a weird bounce off the backboards. Goaltender Andreas Bylerius looked back to the wrong side of the net behind him and Alexander backhanded it into the empty net with the netminder’s back to the play.

The middle framed ended 2-2. Shot wound up being 13-11 in favor of the home side.

Early in the 3rd, Comox would take their first lead of the game on an innocent looking play. Leon Mikhalchuk took a shot that missed on the short side and the puck went around the boards to the other side. Haden Parker took a quick snap shot from the side wall through traffic that went off the post and in and it was suddenly 3-2.

Both goaltenders stood on their heads keeping it a one goal game for most of the final frame. The contest would end with an empty net goal from Quinten Harvie from center ice.

Shots in the final period were 13-11 for the Glacier Kings.

The win improves Comox Valley’s record to 19-15-4-1 and sole possession of 3rd place in the North Division. They move 2 points ahead of idle Campbell River but the Storm do have a game in hand as well as the tie-breaker for now. Next up will be the high-flying Peninsula Panthers next Friday in Peninsula. As for the Gens, they fall to 25-13-1-0 and remain tied for first with Nanaimo. Oceanside is off until Thursday when they travel to the Harbour City for a battle of first place teams.

Other Observations:

  • Last night was the Glacier Kings 3rd of 4 straight road games. They are 2-1 on this stretch.
  • This is one of the most physical games I’ve seen this year. It was played like hockey should be played.
  • After going 1 for 12 in their last 3 games on the PP, Comox scored on their only time with the man advantage to start their comeback.
  • The GKings PK which had allowed 6 goals in their last 19 shorthanded situations, came up big on both occasions against the Gens.
  • It was Country Night at the Howie Meeker Arena. The starting line up came out in cowboy hats as they were introduced.
  • The Gens have lost 3 of their last 4 games. Their only win in that stretch was against the #1 team in the league.
  • There was no sound for the first half of the broadcast unfortunately. Good job by Larenzo Jensen to help get it back online.
  • In the dust up between Wade and Sangris, 21 punches were thrown by Wade and 18 by Sangris. A lot of them landed squarely by both guys. They tapped each other as a sign of respect after it was over.
  • The Yeti are 7-2-2-0 in their last 11 games.
  • One of the referees got shaken up late in the 2nd period when he took an accidental stick by Gavin Mowat that caught him in the mid-section.
  • Sheldon Alexander put his body on the line with a huge blocked shot thwarting a big scoring chance with 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. That might have saved the game.
  • Somehow Oceanside picked the 1st and 2nd stars of the game. I have no idea how Lane Maarhuis never got one.
  • Curtis Toneff is really going to have some tough decisions ahead when Anthony Ganoung comes back from his lower body injury. Maarhuis has really made an impact in his 2 games since coming over from Victoria.
  • This game marked the largest attendance number of the year in the VIJHL. The announced crowd was 1025. Campbell River previously held the highest two attendance figures with 1017 and 1010.

Darryl Skender

Coach Wants To See More Out Of His Guys

Leave a comment

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have been racking up points as of late which pleases the coach but he is still not thrilled with their overall game. The team has picked up points in 8 of their last 9 games going 6-1-2-0. There is a lot of optimism with this team going forward but oddly enough… it was their last win that has some people with a few doubts. The good news is they beat the Kerry Park Islanders but the bad new is how they struggled at times in that game. They needed to come from behind in the 3rd period to win it with just 1:42 left in regulation.

I think most of us can be happy with the 2 points and move on despite only squeaking out a 4-3 win over a club that has just two wins in their first 36 games. After all, they outplayed the Islanders but had trouble in some areas. One person that didn’t like the game was head coach/GM Curtis Toneff. He said he wanted to see more from his players. “Didn’t play a full game. We got away from ourselves and what makes us who we are. We were a little bit undisciplined and frustrated. We are going to meet a lot more diversity than that and we have to be able to handle it better. We as a group are addressing some of the things we did before Christmas, the last 5 or 6 games up until now. We have to be smarter.” The win moved Comox to a very respectable 18-14-4-1.

Despite the bench boss not being overly impressed with his club’s performance, he does admit that they are better than at the start of the season. That however isn’t good enough in his eyes as he feels the time is now to make a move. “I think we made up for our poor start (0-3-1) standings-wise but our actual play could still be better and it starts with our discipline. If our discipline is better, we’re in the box a little bit less, not having to kill as much, we can focus on other aspects. I’m hoping in the next 2-3 weeks our lines will develop some chemistry. Our d-pairs have been pretty stationary (same pairings) so we’ve left them alone and let them build a lot of chemistry back there. Now I hope to let our forward crop get to know each other a little more out there.” One might say that after 37 games the team should have better chemistry but there have been so many changes to the line up this season, it can be hard to keep track. Keeping the lines together now should give the players a lot of synergy.

With only 11 games left in the regular season, the Yeti looked poised to make the playoffs. Some players have risen to the challenge and others have been left behind. I thought it would be interesting to ask Curtis who his top defenceman has been and it wasn’t really that much of a surprise. “Our captain Kyle Mayenburg has really taken a step in the last number of weeks. He went to Powell River for about 3 weekends in a row before Christmas. I don’t know if that’s when a light came on or what but he’s had a lot of confidence in his game of late. He seems to be emerging into a true leader… he’s a lead by example kind of guy. He’s walking the talk and has definitely been the best defenceman the majority of the nights this year.” The 18 year old has 18 points in 30 games for Comox Valley and has played another 8 contests in the BCHL for Powell River.

The more interesting question is which forward has impressed him. It was probably an unfair question putting him on the spot as there are way too many variables. Toneff gave an interesting answer. “Up front is a tough question. I might have said Ethan Gobel a month ago but I think a guy like Westin Churchill has taken a step in his game. He’s been moved around on different lines, he’s been asked to play center, he’s been asked to play wing. Most of the nights he’s rising to the occasion and he’s also protecting his teammates. He’s turned into a 200 foot player we can rely on in a lot of the key moments in hockey games.” Of course Gobel was the leading scorer for the GKings before being snatched up by the Powell River Kings. Gobel actually scored a goal in his first game with the BCHL Kings on December 5th and had 2 goals in his last game with the VIJHL Kings on December 21st. As for Churchill, he is 2nd on the active roster in goals and points.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll discuss the special teams, their practices during their layoff as well as the lack of games the Glacier Kings have played since December 21st. Is it good or bad? Until then, have a great evening.

Darryl Skender

Gens-GKings Preview

Leave a comment

The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are back in action tonight as they host the Oceanside Generals in one of four games on the VIJHL slate. The Glacier Kings will look to rebound after a 4-3 loss in Nanaimo on Thursday. The Generals, after a 12-0 blowout loss to Peninsula on Halloween, have rebounded to win their last two games including a 1-0 shutout in Campbell River last night. Braylon Becker scored the only goal of the game midway through the second period and Ethan Suhr picked up his first shutout of the season.

The Gens and the Glacier Kings both share one thing in common as neither team has a player in the top 20 in scoring. Ryken Lay is 23rd in the VIJHL with 10G, 8A in 19 games. Zaya Morro is tied for 24th with 6G, 11A also in 19 games. Oceanside does not have anyone that averages a point per game while Ethan Gobel is the only player on the home side to hit that mark (17pts in 14 games).

Special teams will be very interesting tonight. Comox Valley needs to start creating more opportunities as they have only had the man advantage twice in the last 3 games. Leon Mikhalchuk leads the team with 3 power play goals. As for the Generals, they’ve had 17 opportunities in their last 3 contests. Jacob Leamy, Ryder Bradford and Braylon Becker lead their squad with two each.

Power Play
Oceanside: 12.2% (10th)
Comox Valley: 16.3% (9th)

Penalty Kill
Oceanside: 77.8 (9th)
Comox Valley: 81.3 (6th)

The Glacier Kings are about .500 when it comes to Goals For and Goals Against (13 PPG For/12 PPG Against) so it’s really the even strength play that has been the difference for them this year. At even strength, (5 on 5, 4 on 4, 3 on 3, the shootout not included), they are -14. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff emphasized that his team, especially some of the more experienced players need to get better, “I went back and did the plus/minus 5 on 5 for the whole season and there’s some guys that have been on the ice for maybe five 5 on 5 goals for and some of these are veteran guys. You can only stick with for so long before there’s a guy that comes along that you might want to give an opportunity to. They haven’t seized their opportunities.” In case you’re wondering, some of the best plus/minus players on the squad are Kyle Mayenburg, Landen May and Ethan Gobel.

Oceanside is one of the hottest teams in the VIJHL right now winning 5 of their last 6 games. It seems like just a month ago they were in last place in the division. Veteran play by play broadster and multiple winner of the “Broadcaster of the Year” award Kyle Ireland talked about what is key for his club, “The Gens need to stay out of the box… the PK worked overtime last night going 6/6 in Campbell River. They need to keep rollin’ on the road… 7-4 best record in the North. If the Gens continue to get great goaltending they will be very successful. Head coach Garrett Dunlop called all 3 goalies “our rocks” last night during a second intermission interview. Not sure who is dressing yet. The guys need to use their speed and have a great forecheck against a very well coached team.” Kyle then summed it all up with, “Three factors… speed, stay out of the box and continue to play well on the road.” He will be broadcasting the game on 88.5 The Beach. Meanwhile, Comox has a chance to get back to .500 on home ice tonight as they sport a 2-3-1-1 record. The GKings have played 12 of their 19 games on the road this season.

These 2 clubs have played twice this season with both sides winning once. On September 19th, the Gens took the match 4-3 while the Yeti came back to win the second on October 18th by a 2-0 score. Oceanside currently sits in second place in the North Division with an 11-8-0-0 record, one point behind Nanaimo and four ahead of third place Campbell River. Comox Valley (7-9-2-1) is now tied for 4th after Port Alberni’s win over Kerry Park last night. Puck drop is 6:30 PM at the Sports Centre. I have the Glacier Kings lineup posted on the “Gameday Lineups” page of this blog.

Darryl Skender