Tag Archives: Landen May

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

Glacier Kings Announce Leadership Group

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For the first few weeks of the season, the Comox Valley Glacier Kings did not have a captain and played with only one assistant captain. Before the season started head coach/GM Curtis Toneff said he was going to take his time and make sure his decision was the right decision. He wanted to see how things played out. The leaders will rise to the top in the dressing room and on the ice. It was also a chance to gauge the maturity levels of the possible candidates. The decision was made after the Campbell River game last weekend and now the club has a full compliment of “C’s” and “A’s”.

Curtis told me a month ago that in past years he would get excited in the offseason to name the players receiving letters right away. He also said that he has matured as a coach and patience to make the correct decision was paramount. I asked him yesterday about the process in making the decisions, “There was a lot of observing. Just over a week ago, Monday I think, we took a vote (the players). The votes didn’t necessarily fix the letters, I just wanted to see for myself. There wasn’t really one guy running away with one C or A. So it’s kind of interesting to take a look at it. Brad (Smith), myself and Jackson (Garrett) discussed it, even got Marsha’s (Webb) opinion as well. She’s been around and has owned the team a long time. The Webb’s have owned this team a long time for a reason. I took their opinions into consideration but at the end of the day it was my call.” First of all I want to say sorry Marsha. I know from past years that she hates when I mention her name in my blogs lol. I only do it because I love you. So who did the coach end up deciding on? Here’s what he had to say…

Kyle Mayenburg (C)
“We think he has a great presence, his effort, his attitude and to be honest, even his posture kind of speaks for itself. The kind of guy that has a firm handshake, looks at you straight in the eye, doesn’t say too much but also doesn’t say too little. He works hard everyday.”
Zaya Morro (A)
“Zaya Morrow is the kind of guy that calms us all down., maybe including myself. In sudden moments, he is a very good communicator with the refs. He plays hard every night.”
Isaac Dunsire (A)
“I challenged the team the other night to play for the logo and not themselves. Dunsire, to me, is a guy that cares more about the team than himself through and through. He very badly wants to win every night, works hard everyday and is a good person.”
Haden Parker (A)
“Haden Parker got some ‘C’ votes. It’s been really cool to watch him progress over the last year since I’ve been here. Seems like he’s really been enjoying playing the game. He’s been a bit of a rock back there (on defence) in my opinion for us. He’s got a great stick , hard to get around, he’s upped his ‘compete level’ from the end of last year.”

Just because certain players were not chosen for a letter doesn’t mean they aren’t leaders in their own right. Every player and goaltender has to hold themself accountable for their play on the ice as well as how they carry themselves off the ice including in the dressing room and in public. Toneff did say other players deserved some recognition as well, “Some other guys round out the leadership group, they might not wear an ‘A’ but Landen May, Cohen Kallin and Tegan Clayton will all be part of it as well.” The selections seem solid but that certainly doesn’t diminish anyone’s role on the team that weren’t chosen.

That’s it for this post. Stay tuned as my next post is going to include a lot of team stats as well as the coaches opinion on newly named assistant captain Zaya Morro who is off to a terrific start on a team that struggles to score goals. Have a good Wednesday.

Darryl Skender

Storm Down Glacier Kings Again

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings lost for the fifth time in six games this season as they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Campbell River Storm. This is the second time this season that the Yeti have lost to the Storm. The first time was back on September 13th which ended in a 3-2 overtime score at the Sports Centre. The loss drops Comox Valley’s record to 1-4-1 on the season while Campbell River improves to 3-4-0.

It was a very uninspiring first period for Comox who had very few chances as the play on both sides would be sloppy. There were no goals and the Storm outshot the Yeti 16-7.

The GKings would open the scoring in the second period on the power play. Cameron Collins skated down the left side and gave a drop pass to Maxim Lefebvre who blasted a shot from the top of the circle but goaltender Luc Gravel made a nice pad save. Unfortunately for Gravel, the rebound came right back to Lefebvre who snuck a quick backhand feed to Collins at the side of the net where it would be an easy tap in. Immediately after the mandatory timeout midway through the frame, the Storm won the faceoff in their own zone and would score without the Yeti ever touching the puck. Noah Spencer skated behind the net, came out the other side and took a quick turn-around shot from a bad angle that beat Timothee Fengos short side to knot things at one. Just over 3 minutes later, the Storm would score another goal after a faceoff win. It took about 10 seconds when Ryder Tanner scored from a terrible angle at the side boards and it was 2-1. In the dying seconds of the middle stanza, Comox would turn the puck over in the center ice area and Holden Smith took over carrying it in over the blue line, then skated behind the net and passed back to the top of the right circle where Lucas Beaudoin wristed it past Fengos and it was 3-1 after 2 periods. Shots on goal after at that point were 32-19 for the home side.

As they’ve done for the most part this season, the Glacier Kings played better in the third period but it was the Storm that would score a 4th consecutive goal. On the 4 on 4 situation, Nicholas Condon broke in over the blue line, toe-dragged around Leon Mikhalchuk and beat Fengos blocker side. The GKings would make the score more respectable late when Aryx Siefker hammered Maxim Lefebvre into the boards to give Comox a power play. Kyle Mayenburg took a pass from Declan Johannesen and beat Gravel through the legs. That’s how the game ended. Shots were 17-9 in favor of the road team in that period.

Just as a side note: There was a scrum in front of the Comox Valley net about 5 minutes into the 3rd period after Fengos made a save. I’ve replayed it about 15 times to try and figure out what happened. It looked like Haden Parker crossed checked a Storm player down to the ice which I thought would be the extra penalty. As 8 players started wrestling, it appeared that Landen May sucker punched Campbell River’s Lucas Beaudoin in the face which made me think an extra penalty again. Now all 10 players were in the melee and a fight broke out between May and Noah Spencer. Lots of punches were thrown. May threw his helmet off on the way to the penalty box and Spencer raised his arms up trying to get the fans going. Somehow, the referees decided 2 minutes for everyone except the Storm’s Jack Smith who got an extra 2 minutes and it would be the Glacier Kings with a power play. I’m still scratching my head on that one.

Campbell River now has a day before they go back into action Sunday when they will be at home against Lake Cowichan for an afternoon affair. Comox is right back at it tonight when they host the Nanaimo Buccaneers. The Bucs won the season opener between these two clubs by a score of 4-2. Game time is 6:30pm at the Sports Centre.

Other Observations

  • Comox has now scored a PP goal in 3 consecutive games. They have a total of 6 in those 3 contests.
  • After the Glacier Kings made it 1-0 and maybe a chance to gain some momentum, they took a penalty just 32 seconds later. (I admit it was a very weak interference call by the referee.)
  • Campbell River’s 3rd goal was tough to swallow as they scored with just 1 second left in the 2nd period because of a defensive breakdown.
  • Once again, the Storm won the majority of the faceoffs
  • At one point in the 3rd period, there were 10 players in the penalty box (5 from each side).
  • Cameron Collins now has at least a point in all 3 games that he’s played in (1G, 3A)
  • Storm forward Noah Spencer was an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick. He was just missing the assist. (He wasn’t credited with a fight on the game sheet but it was definitely a scrap with lots of punches.)
  • After recording at least a point in each of his first 4 games, Dylan Toth has been held pointless in 2 straight.
  • The 41 shots the Yeti gave up was the most all season. Their previous high was 37, also against the Storm.
  • Comox continues to struggle in 1st period. They’ve scored just 3 goals in 6 games in the first period.
  • A nice crowd of 711 fans were on hand. That’s Campbell River’s second highest total of the year. They had 818 in their home opener against Oceanside.
  • The Storm are 2-0-0 against Comox and 1-4-0 against the rest of the league.

Darryl Skender