Tag Archives: Leon Mikhalchuk

Nail Biter In Victoria Goes Cougars Way

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The Comox Valley Glacier travelled to Victoria to take on one of the best teams in the VIJHL and gave the Cougars everything they could handle until finally dropping a 2-0 decision to the league’s second most potent offence. The game had a little bit of everything… great goaltending on both sides, a fight, a disallowed goal and a big missed opportunity at the end. All in all, I think the Glacier Kings can be proud of their performance but disappointed with their result.

Midway into the first period, Quinten Harvie had a glorious chance on Comox Valley’s first PP as he took a back door pass at the side of the net from Rolan Amin but was robbed by goaltender Finn Wilson. That power play netted a bunch of great chances but they couldn’t beat Wilson. Shortly after Cohen Kallin made a nifty pass to put Westin Churchill on a breakaway but was once again stoned by the home team’s netminder. The period would end scoreless. Shots were 7 apiece.

The second period had a few chances but was mostly a defensive frame which was an advantage for Comox who likes that style of play. With less than a minute left, Joseph Melichar kneed Tee Hagel right in front of the referee and it wasn’t called so defenceman Brandon Taylor took matters into his own hands and went after Melichar.

This is the knee right in front of the ref…

Then Brandon Taylor looked at the referee with his hand up asking if he’s going to call it…

Since there was no call, Taylor went after Melichar and the 2 squared off…

The whole incident should have been avoided by the referee making a call. And wouldn’t you know it the Glacier Kings took a penalty just 12 seconds later. The game remained 0-0 heading into the third with Victoria on the power play. Shots were 8-6 for Comox in that period.

In the 3rd, Comox killed off the remainder of the penalty and would accomplish the same feat when they took another one just 46 seconds after they were finally at full strength. Thanks to some wonderful saves by Lane Maarhuis, the contest was still at goose eggs. However a third penalty would do them in. Grady Slugget carried the puck to the right faceoff dot and quickly slid it across to the opposite circle where Joseph Melichar wristed it short-side on Maarhuis. That made it 1-0. The Yeti would get a power play shortly after. They won the faceoff and had several chances as the puck didn’t leave the zone but unfortunately the goaliekicked the net off its pegs really hard to stop play.

The posts are as secure at the Archie Browning Arena as they are at the Comox Valley Sports Centre unfortunately. The Glacier Kings pulled their goalie late and appeared to tie the game when Leon Mikhalchuk beat Wilson but it was waved off for goaltender interference. I looked this one over about a dozen times. Sheldon Alexander was line up along the boards. Comox won the faceoff and he headed straight for the net. Alexander stopped and tried to lean back into defenceman Jacob Bernardo. However Bernardo side-stepped him and Alexander lost his balance and his momentum was taking him into the goaltender. Bernardo gave him the slightest shove with the stick but it appeared that Alexander was going into the goalie regardless. Tough bang-bang play for the official as Wilson did get up just as the shot took place. I hate to say it but probably a good call. This photo is just as Alexander is falling on his own…

And this is a shot, just as the puck crosses the line…

The 4 officials got together at center and decided to stay with the call on the ice and placed the faceoff outside the blue line. The Glacier Kings pulled their goalie again and looked to have a sure goal when Alexander fed a terrific cross-ice pass to Rolan Amin who had a wide open net and shot it in between the goaltender and the front of the net.

You can see him on the right side of the picture put both hands up to his head in disbelief. The Cougars would ice the game when Tyler Delli-Carri scored an empty net goal.

What a tough way for the game to end as it looked like Comox tied it up on 2 separate occasions. Shots ended were 14-4 for Victoria in the final 20 minutes.

The loss drops the Glacier Kings record to 18-15-4-1, still in 3rd place, 8 points behind Nanaimo and 2 points ahead of Campbell River. The Cougars improve to 25-8-3-0, also in 3rd place, just 1 point behind Westshore. Comox next travels to Oceanside to take on the first place Generals. Victoria is off until Sunday when they host Kerry Park.

Other Observations:

  • The Cougars first goal was unfortunate because while shorthanded, GKings d-man Gavin Mowat broke his stick. Quinten Harvie tried to hand him his twig during play but missed so it was basically 5 against 3.5 players. Mowat was without a stick in the defensive zone for 32 seconds which was when the goal was scored.
  • Joseph Malichar’s goal extended his goal streak to 6 consecutive games with at least 1 goal (has 9G, 5A in those 6 games).
  • Melichar has a 13 point lead in the scoring race and has actually played in 2 less games than the players tied for 2nd.
  • First start in net for Lane Maarhuis for Comox after being acquired from Victoria just a couple days prior and he was outstanding.
  • It was also goaltender Finn Wilson’s first appearance for the Cougars since coming from the Greater Ontario Hockey League and he registered a shutout.
  • This is the second time this season the Glacier Kings have been shutout. (Sep. 12-25 @Saanich)
  • The Cougars are now a perfect 4-0 in January.
  • Good flow in the first period which saw 7:23 of action without a whistle (8:32 to 1:09).
  • Westin Churchill remains 2nd on his club’s scoring (24 points) despite being pointless in 5 straight games. (Ethan Gobel has more but is currently with the Powell River Kings).
  • Nice to see Carter Crabb back in the lineup for Victoria. He hasn’t played all season waiting on surgery but decided he wanted to get back to playing hockey while waiting on a date.
  • Kudos to Brandon Taylor for sticking up for his teammate after getting hurt. The hometown kid is played just his 15th game for Comox after coming over from Nanaimo.
  • Very unselfish play by Grady Slugget on the 2-man breakaway to pass to Delli-Carri to let him score the empty net goal.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk had his 3-game point streak and 2-game goal streak broken.
  • Cougars forward Ben Wetterberg left for the dressing room with about 4 minutes left in the 2nd period and did not return. I went back to look at his last shift but didn’t see anything that would indicate an injury. He spent the 3rd period with his uniform on at the end of the arena.
  • Victoria’s Jordan Ramsay had his 3-game point streak snapped (4G, 4A)
  • These 2 squads have 2 games left against each other. (Jan. 31 & Feb. 14 both in Courtenay).

That’s it for today. Have a good day everyone!

Darryl Skender

GKings-Cougars Preview

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have a tough task on hand as they will be travelling down south to Victoria for a game against the Cougars this evening. Victoria comes into the game on a 3-game winning streak including an 8-2 romp over the Oceanside Generals last Sunday. As impressive as that win is, it is even more impressive in their previous game where they handed Peninsula just their 4th regulation loss of the season with a 4-2 victory over the Panthers. Comox Valley has also been doing well lately going 6-1-2-0 in their last 9 games.

One player who will be key going down the stretch will be forward Easton Sangris. Easton is a 5′ 10″ 175lbs local kid who has come back to his hometown to play hockey. He has already looked good in his 4 games getting some key points. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff talked about getting him on the roster, “He’s been a big pick up for us. He was a very good prep player out of Shawnigan last season. I knew the name, I had watched the player but I heard that he was just going to go to school, which does happen, especially for Shawnigan guys. But then I got a text from a little birdie in the sky who told me he was going to come home and that he really missed hockey. Him being a local Comox guy, it was really a no-brainer for us. He is a type of ‘hasn’t missed a beat’ guy. He’s already scored some goals and been a star. He’s practiced with Cowichan of the BCHL so he’s coming along nicely for a guy that has missed a chunk of the season here.” The 18 year old already has 3 goals and 2 assists in his 4 games with the junior club. Last season with his Shawnigan Lake U-18 Prep team he tallied 19G, 21A 40Pts in 36 games. He also added 2 G, 1A in 3 playoff contests. He isn’t listed in the line up for tonight however.

These next 4 games coming up for Comox is probably their toughest stretch that they will have this season. They play in Victoria (24-8-1) tonight, in Oceanside (25-11-1) Saturday, in Peninsula (30-4-1) next Friday, then are at home to the Cougars (who I already mentioned are 24-8-1) a week from Saturday. They are all the top teams in the VIJHL (along with Westshore). There is definitely no easy points in there. Toneff talked about this the string of games coming up and how to approach it, “I would say it’s our toughest stretch as far as our opponents. This league gets a lot better as time progresses. You see some of the names that teams are picking up so based on the timing of it all and where we are in the standings and where other teams are at, it is absolutely the toughest stretch. The easiest way to go about our business is to focus in on our next game. If we can get into the win column or at least into the point column in the game tonight, we can build on that and take that momentum into the next game. One of these teams that we’re playing in the next 2 weeks… you’ll have to go through one of them to win a championship so it’s a great test for us.” Combined, these clubs have a record of 79-23-3. There is not a lot of room for error coming up.

This is the second game of 4 in a row on the road for the Yeti. They have been decent away from the Sports Centre this season holding a 9-8-1 record. Some of the arenas down south are quite often empty so the electricity in the building is not that high but the top 3 teams in the South have very good home records. How much of an advantage is playing at home versus play on the road? Obviously the revenue is what the home side likes but what about on the ice? The coach says he doesn’t feel like home ice is that much of an advantage in this league, “Not really. To be honest I don’t think it makes a major difference. It can be a little bit more encouraging to get on the road with your 25 teammates, just being together. I think you can maybe focus a little bit more when you’re on the road. You have less distraction and more time to think about the game and be ready for when that puck drops. So we’re hoping that this will be a blessing in disguise going on the road. I know you were on Vancouver Island 6 or 8 weeks ago and the weather has been beautiful. It might be a little bit of a good thing to get some more Vitamin D on the bus (chuckles) but that’s how we’re going to approach it.” Victoria is 13-3-1 at the Archie Browning Arena this season.

There’s no question that Victoria is the real deal and will be a serious contender in the playoffs and will most likely play the Westshore Wolves in the post-season unless there is an unforeseen collapse by the Peninsula Panthers. The Cougars potent offence averages the second highest goals per game (4.86) and have 6 players averaging over a point per contest. They are led by the VIJHL’s leading scorer Joseph Melichar who has torn the league up with 33G, 38A, 71 Pts in just 33 games. To put the 2 offences in perspective, the leading scorer for Comox (Leon Mikhalchuk) would be tied for 5th in scoring if he he played for Victoria and if it weren’t for Ben Wetterberg only joining the Cougars in late October, Mikhalchuck would be tied for 6th on the roster. Wetterberg is 6th on the team in scoring but averages 1.55 points per game in his 20 matches he’s played in. An interesting note is that the Glacier Kings will be starting Lane Maarhuis in net for the first time since acquiring him from the Cougars a few days ago. He has an impressive 10-3 record with a 2.27 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Victoria still has Jesse Pye as a terrific starter. Coach Curtis talked about what a well-rounded group his squad is facing tonight. “It’s a team with a potent top 9, great goaltending and some very good defencemen. A lot of teams will have 6 good forwards, the Cougars have 12 so we have to focus on our game. Not give them too much off the rush and make them earn any type of opportunity they get. We are playing solid ‘team first defence’, that’s when we are at our best anyways. We have to limit high-danger chances and execute when it’s time perhaps for us to get a look.” Another former Cougar player that was just acquired and playing in his first game tonight for Comox is Tee Hagel. He is a 5’11” forward who tallied 4 assists for Victoria this season. We may also see defenceman Gavin Mowat see his first action this campaign. He played in 45 games last year between Comox Valley and Campbell River.

The GKings come into the game in 3rd place in the North Division with an 18-14-4-1 after their 4-3 victory over Kerry Park on January 10th. Victoria has been impressive all season long but sit in just 3rd place in the very tough South Division, 3 points behind Westshore and have a game in hand on the Wolves. Game time is 7:00PM. I have Comox Valley’s line up posted on the Gameday Lineups page of this blog.

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Tidbits

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings are on a two week break, at least the ones that didn’t play in the VIJHL all-star and Top Prospects games. This was a weird part of the schedule but I’ll get into that later. Things are back to normal now and the team is getting ready for its tilt against the Victoria Cougars tomorrow.

The team has been playing well lately and are working hard to try and keep that going. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff has been looking at ways of keeping his club focused. It hasn’t worked out as well as he had hoped because of logistical problems. The coach talked about practices, “Last week we went back to skills and small area games. I thought it was a good opportunity to do that with the time off we have. We took a few days off at the all-star break. Our players got home from the all-star break late so they had to miss practice again because of cancelled flights. So now we have 2 practices leading up to the Victoria game Thursday which is a little bit less than you’d like but it’s a good opportunity for us to get back to our system play and game play and get our intensity up for the Cougars.” Glacier King players that were involved in the all-star game were Cameron Collins, Zaya Morro and Leon Mikhalchuk. The only player of the three to record a stat in the game was Mikhalchuk who got a 5-minute major for fighting against Jacob Bernardo of the Victoria Cougars late in the first period. Collins also played in the Top Prospects game and scored a goal. Westin Churchill collected 2 assists and Anthony Ganoung stopped 12 of 15 shots in his 30 minutes of action.

I was looking at some league stats yesterday and when I dug into special teams, it was so easy to see how important that part of the game is in this league. Did you know the top 4 teams in the league hold the top 4 power play percentages. And to prove the point even more, the top 3 teams in the VIJHL hold down the top 3 penalty killing percentages. Special teams are a huge part of the game and can quite often mean the difference between winning and losing. Comox is 7th on the PP and 6th when killing penalties. I asked the coach about this topic. He said, “When it comes to the power play, most teams have a number one unit and a number two unit. Our power play looks like it’s most successful when we do a little bit less by taking what’s given to us. We move the puck quick, we get inside the interior of the ice and get to the net a little bit. We’ve had some success on the power play as of late. The PK, we’ve been solid. There’s been some nights I think where we’ve given up 3 or 4 where its cost our percentage a little bit. Two or three of those games were by far out of reach or were put out of reach anyway. I agree that special teams are important but sometimes you have to look past that first and second layer and evaluate it closer. I think that at the end of the day we have the potential of having two great power play units and have the potential to be a top 2 or top 3 team on the PK as long as we can execute coming down the stretch and into the playoffs. I believe we have the tools to do so.” Newly acquired forward Easton Sangris should help out. In fact, he scored a PP goal in just his second game with the team on January 4th. Leon Mikhalchuk leads the squad with 6 goals with the man advantage which also places him in a tie for 6th place overall in that category.

Earlier I had mentioned that this was a weird part of the schedule. I say that because the Yeti had played 6 games in 12 days (Dec. 10-21). Since then, they play just 4 times in 31 days. That’s because after the Christmas break they only played 2 weekends before having another break in their schedule. It’s also in the midst of a 4-game road stretch. It’s really too bad because they have been playing well and racking up points. To be fair, part of the extended time off is in part due to the All-Star and Top Prospect games. The GKings have gone from 12-13-2-1 on December 10th to 18-14-4-1 right now. One has to hope that all this time off hasn’t hurt their momentum. The Glacier Kings bench boss says it’s not an ideal situation, “To be honest, it’s been quite annoying, we had a great Christmas break, we had played a lot of hockey before and to come and play 4 games and then head into another break is tough. It’s been positive in the sense of figuring out some of the logistics of some guys, having them settle in and as far as practicing and getting some chemistry built because we have made some moves of late. It’s a little annoying but after the first or second period Thursday night, it won’t matter anymore. Hopefully the rest restores itself. We have no excuses now.” Another weird part of the schedule is that the Cougars and Glacier Kings have only played once through the first 37 games and now play 3 times in 3 weeks. The first game didn’t go so well, hopefully this one will be different.

Darryl Skender