Tag Archives: Leon Mikhalchuk

Kraken-GKings Preview

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It’s Gameday! The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are playing at home for just the second time in 28 days. The Lake Cowichan Kraken will be visiting the Recreation Centre for a North Division tilt. Comox comes into the matchup with a 20-15-5-1 record for 46 points and third place in the North. The Kraken are 12-25-1-1 for 26 points and last place in the division.

Lake Cowichan is coming off a 9-0 drubbing by the Campbell River Storm last Sunday after having an impressive 8-4 win over Port Alberni two days before. They have lost 5 of their last 6 games and could be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss tonight or a Campbell River win. They have allowed 38 goals in their past 6 games (6.33 per game). The team is led in scoring by Iaroslav Morozov with 13G, 16A, 29Pts and Toby Johnson who has 12G, 17A, 29Pts. Morozov is still just 17 years old and has a bright future. In net, Alfie Blakeley has gotten the most starts compiling a 9-12-0-0, 4.02, .890 line. 17 year old Ethan Lorentz saw his first VIJHL action Sunday in a mop up roll playing in the last 7 minutes when Campbell River was already up 7-0. He allowed two goals on four shots in those 7 minutes.

Meanwhile Comox Valley is 8-2-3-0 in their last 13 contests which includes a 3-2 overtime loss in their last game against Victoria on Saturday. Leon Mikhalchuk continues to lead the way with 39 points in 39 games. He leads the squad in goals, assists, points and power play goals. The starting goalkeeper tonight will be interesting as I haven’t received the line up yet. With Lane Maarhuis up with the Vernon Vipers now, will Ander Reyes get his first start for Comox or will it be backup tender Silas Dromarsky? Remember it’s the club’s only game of the week so the decision is quite compelling.

With the Glacier Kings creeping closer to the second place Oceanside Generals, one has to wonder if they are in a battle for third place or is second place still a possibility. I asked head coach/GM Curt Toneff if he thinks second place is still within his team’s grasp, “We just have to focus on our own game. If we take care of our own game we stay where we are. If we exceed our expectations to finish the year perhaps we can get home ice. The home ice part is out of our control so as long as our game is getting better nightly, I think that is the most important thing.” It doesn’t seem too long ago that the Glacier Kings were in 4th and hoping to hang on to that last playoff spot.

Special Teams

Power Play
Comox Valley: 18.7% (6th)
Lake Cowichan: 17.2% (8th)

Penalty Kill
Comox Valley: 80.8% (6th)
Lake Cowichan: 74.3% (10th)

Other GKings Stats:

Score 1st Goal: 14-5-2-0
Allow 1st Goal: 6-10-3-1

Lead After 1st Period: 13-0-0-0
Trail After 1st Period: 2-8-3-1
Tied After 1st Period: 5-7-2-0

Lead After 2nd Period: 13-1-1-0
Trail After 2nd Period: 3-12-3-1
Tied After 2nd Period: 4-2-1-0

You can’t underestimate Lake Cowichan despite where they are in the standings. They are on the verge of getting eliminated from playoff contention and that makes them a dangerous team. Toneff said that his club can’t take them lightly. “They have some high-end players. They’re probably at that part of the year where they’re playing free. They’re probably vying for positions next year and playing loose. That can be hard to play against because the guys don’t have a heck of a lot lose. They’ve has some really great games lately and some poor ones. I think we go back to the last time we played them, they took two points in our home. I think they get up to play us for some reason so we got to be ready to go.” A fast start would be a terrific plan. You can see from the stats above that Comox is a perfect 13-0-0-0 when they lead after the first period.

The Yeti need just one point tonight to clinch a playoff spot in the North Division. If they can garner a single point, it will be mathematically impossible for the Port Alberni Bombers to catch the Yeti. Comox is currently 3 points ahead of 4th place Campbell River and 5 points behind 2nd place Oceanside. The Storm and Generals are both in action this evening as well. Tonight’s puck drop in Courtenay is at 6:30 PM. I will post the Glacier Kings line up to the “Gameday Lineups” page of this blog when I get it.

Darryl Skender

Coach Toneff Calls Weekend Successful

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Back a couple months ago, anyone who looked at the schedule for these past couple weeks would probably say that it is a ‘make or break’ stretch for the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. They played Victoria and Oceanside last week and Peninsula and Victoria again this weekend. With the calibre of teams they played, they easily could have gone 0-4. But this Glacier Kings team is so much better now than it was earlier in the year. They went 2-1-1-0 in the 4 games against upper echelon clubs. And if they had a bounce or two go their way, they easily could have been 4-0. Since being crushed by the Panthers a couple times earlier in the season, Comox Valley has really turned things around and could end up being one of the teams to beat at the end of the year.

A week ago Thursday, it was a 1-0 late in the game until Victoria scored an empty net goal to win. Then two days later, Comox took down Oceanside who was in first place at the time. This past weekend was just as impressive with a win in Peninsula and an overtime loss to Victoria. I asked head coach/GM Curt Toneff about the last couple games, “It was a challenging weekend. With Peninsula, the last two times we played them were pretty ugly to be honest, both those games were at home. We went down there and won (their first meeting) on a 3 in 3 (3 games in 3 days). So we went back to that conversation even though we have a lot of new faces. We kinda rallied behind that and said let’s go 2-0 in this building, a pretty simple message. Scoring the first goal really helped. We were down for a good part of the game but getting that tying goal was a big momentum change and helped us rally to get the 2 points.” Comox was actually playing from behind in all 4 of these games that we were discussing from the past two weeks. They definitely showed grit in their comebacks.

In my opinion, if the Glacier Kings would have picked up only 4 points (maybe 3) in the 4 game stretch, I probably would have called it a win. To take down the Peninsula Panthers for a second time this year was a huge confidence builder. Despite the overtime loss to the Cougars on Saturday, Toneff said he thought it was a successful weekend, “Ya I think so. To play two games in a row against what I think are the two best teams in the league and to have the pace, the play and the possession pretty much equal. I think we had the majority of the power plays Friday, I think it was two and two on Saturday. I think that shows that we’re not behind good teams like that. They skate good, in good condition, a little bit bigger and stronger. I’d like to think that we’re equal after the deadline, after we put all of our pieces together.” The Glacier Kings do seem to be up to par with the best teams in the league now. They have proved it by beating every team in the VIJHL except Victoria and they even gave the Cougars a run for their money the past two contests.

After you have two disastrous losses in a row to a team, it could be easy to let that get in your head. Thoughts running through your brain like how good this team is or they creamed us in the past. On Friday the Yeti fell behind 2-0 to the Panthers and the negative thoughts started running through my mind of past games. Curtis said he doesn’t think those negative thoughts were going through his players heads after being down a pair of markers, “Didn’t seem like it. I think that power play goal we scored in the second got the fans into it a little bit. To be honest, I wasn’t sitting on the bench like ‘Hey we’re going to tie this game or we’re going to win this game’, you’re just hoping for a look or a bounce. We got the bounce. I think Mikhalchuk fanned on the shot and it ended up on a tee for Sheldon Alexander and he popped it in. But that’s the way the hockey gods work. You work for your bounces and I thought we worked for our bounce on Saturday.” It’s easy to look at the score when you’re behind, it’s a lot harder to have the mindset on just making a good play. You can’t score two goals on 1 play so you have to just think one play at a time and I think the GKings did that.

It didn’t look promising on Saturday when Comox was down 2-1 late in the third. They threw everything they had at the Cougars but they couldn’t beat Finn Wilson. With only a few minutes left in regulation time, Toneff called a timeout. The Glacier Kings would score just moments later. The bench boss talked about what was said in the timeout, “I think there was three minutes left on the button when I took the timeout. It was an offensive zone face off. I hummed and hawed, I said screw it, let’s do it. What I do, and I hope other teams don’t read this (chuckles), I do ‘power play 1’ and ‘power play 2’ plus one. So it was power play 1 plus (Suhaan) Nagra and then there was power play 2 plus a defenceman if we needed to get there. So if you look at the goal they are all in their power play setups. And then Nagra came off the bench and Sheldon Alexander made a great, great area play with a lot of poise. One of the better plays I’ve seen all year actually. I’m pretty hard on Sheldy but it was a great play, an area pass to Nagra and we got into our power play setup. That’s how we scored.” I can only imagine how fulfilling it must be to pull your goalie and have a plan drawn up and everything work as planned. It took about 5 seconds for the Glacier Kings to score after the goalie was pulled during the live action.

It was definitely a fun weekend to watch hockey. All games were close and went down to the wire. A blown missed penalty on Saturday when the Victoria goalie took his own mask off to get a stoppage and no penalty was issued. I asked the coach if the referees are mandated to blow the whistle if a goalie loses his blocker and he told me no. So if that’s the case, it should have been a penalty in overtime for Delay of Game when he took his mask off to get a stoppage so he could retrieve his blocker. Instead, Victoria wins the faceoff, skates down the ice and scores. That’s the way hockey goes and you move on. The game wouldn’t be as fun if everything always went to script.

Darryl Skender

Cougars Beat Kings In OT

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings fought back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game late in the third period, only to lose to the Victoria Cougars 3-2 in overtime. The fans got their money’s worth as it was a terrific, exciting game right from puck drop. There were a lot of scoring chances and marvelous goaltending so it was fitting that 3 periods would not decide the outcome. After it’s all said and done, the Glacier Kings had to settle for a single point.

The Cougars had the first grade ‘A’ chance just a couple minutes into the game on a 2 on 1 with Jordan Ramsay passing it over to Grady Slugget who came in all alone but was stopped by Lane Maarhuis. Shortly after, Easton Sangris took a hooking call 200 feet from his own net and Victoria would make them pay. Joseph Melichar won a race for the puck in his own end, carried the it back the other way, split the defencemen and passed it to the side of the net at the very last moment where Ben Wetterberg potted it past the netminder.

Comox came close to tying it a short time later as Easton Sangris cut in towards the middle of the ice before sliding it to Cameron Collins who hit the post. Another close call happened late in the period as Victoria thought they scored but it looked like the puck may have gone off the crossbar and behind Maarhuis who quickly turned around and fell on the the loose disc. The Cougars were celebrating but it was waved off by the referee.

Comox took another penalty late in the opening period. After a couple of nice saves from Maarhuis, Glacier Kings forward Quinten Harvie was sent in on a breakaway shorthanded but was stopped by Finn Wilson. He took a slash and a penalty shot was called but Harvie was denied by the goal post this time.

The first period ended just 1-0 despite Victoria really carrying a lot of the play. Shots were 15-8 in favor of the Cougars.

In the 2nd period it was more Cougars. Jordan Ramsay carried the puck over the blue line on the left side and slid it to the top of the slot to Slugget. His shot deflected off off a Comox defenceman past Maarhuis to make it 2-0.

Comox Valley finally got their first power play of the game midway through the period and they would take advantage. Rolan Amin fed the puck down low to Quinten Harvie at the side of the net. Harvie slid it through the goalmouth where Leon Mikhalchuk had an open net to shoot into.

The period ended 2-1. The shots were 14-10 for the Cougars.

The 3rd period had tons of scoring opportunities but both goalies were outstanding, especially Finn Wilson. Comox had their best period by far but kept getting thwarted. With about three minutes left in regulation, Glacier Kings coach Curt Toneff called a timeout.

And whatever the coach had to say worked. The home team pulled their goalie with 2:06 left and would tie with a 6th attacker just seconds later. From the point, Kyle Mayenburg passed to the side hash mark to Mikhalchuk. His shot was blocked by Aiden Beavan but ricocheted right to Sheldon Alexander who buried it to knot the game at 2.

Shots were 17-3 for the Yeti. They were going to overtime for a second consecutive night.

In the OT session, the Glacier Kings had possession for the first 2 minutes without Victoria getting the puck. A weird play happened when Finn Wilson lost his blocker but neither referee blew the play dead. Wilson was frustrated and just took his mask off to get the play stopped. I’ll be honest, one of two things should of happened, either you blow the whistle when the blocker comes off. If that’s not a viable stoppage, it should have been a delay of game against Wilson for taking his mask off during the play.

After they dropped the puck, Victoria got its first possession and wouldn’t you know it, they scored. Jacob Bernardo took a shot that missed the net but it bounced off the backboards right to Melichar and he got the shot away before Maarhuis could get over.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Glacier Kings as they dominated possession in the 4th period. I would like to know if the rules state that the play must be called down when a goalie loses his blocker. I guess it doesn’t matter now.

Comox Valley’s loss drops their record to 20-15-5-1, they are 5 ahead of 4th place Campbell River but the Storm have 2 games in hand. Victoria did not gain any ground on Peninsula in the South as the Panthers beat Kerry Park. The Cougars remain 5 points back of first place. Next up for the GKings will be a game next Friday when they host Lake Cowichan. The Cougars also play Friday when they are at home to Oceanside.

Other Observations:

  • Cougars goaltender Finn Wilson’s shutout streak ended at 149:25.
  • Speaking of Wilson, he is a perfect 3-0 since coming over from the GOJHL and has 2 shutouts in those 3 contests.
  • A scary moment with about 5 minutes left in the 1st period. After a clean faceoff win by Melichar, Ethan Davey took a shot that hit Evan Marko in the face. Luckily for him, it glanced off his face shield first. He didn’t even go down, just skated to the bench in a lot of discomfort.
  • You gotta love the way Easton Sangris plays the game… skill and grit.
  • On the Glacier Kings tying goal in the 3rd, Suhaan Nagra came off the bench as the 6th man and immediately took a pass to help set up the goal.
  • Cougars forward Grady Slugget extended his point streak to 5 games (2G, 4A)
  • Midway through the 2nd, Comox had a really good scoring opportunity right after the linesman didn’t call offside.
  • Comox leads the league in OT losses with 5 and are just 1 of 2 teams to lose in a shootout as well.
  • Quinten Harvie tried the exact same move on the penalty shot as he did on his breakaway which caused the penalty shot. It never worked either time.
  • Joseph Melichar now has 38 goals in 38 games (also has 42 assists).
  • Kyle Mayenburg should have had an assist on the tying goal.
  • Glacier Kings are 8-2-3-0 in their last 13 games.
  • One lucky fan was a winner during the 2nd intermission.
  • Victoria’s Ben Wetterberg has points in 7 of his last 8 games (7G, 5A). The only flaw where he didn’t register a point was against Comox just over a week ago.
  • Comox Valley’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot remains at 3.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk has goals in 2 consecutive games and points in 3 straight.

Darryl Skender