Tag Archives: Leon Mikhalchuk

Yeti Win 2nd Straight To Finish Month

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For the first time this season, the Comox Valley Glacier Kings have a winning streak. This is thanks to a 4-3 win over the Peninsula Panthers on Sunday. I have done a lot of writing about how big this past weekend was going to be and how we would find out a lot about this squad. After losing in Campbell River on Friday, they played at home to Nanaimo, who at the time was in first place in the North, and beat the Bucs, then played the only undefeated team in the VIJHL in the Panthers and came out victorious. Three games in three days is never easy but I think we can all say that this was a very successful weekend.

The scoring got started early when Leon Mikhalchuk got a loose puck behind the net and centered a pass in front to Declan Johannesen who wristed it past a sprawling Matus Volovar. Just one minute later things could have turned when 5th year forward Ethan Lingard went in on a breakaway but was denied by Ganoung. The period ended 1-0. Shots were 12 apiece.

The lead however would be short-lived in the second period. The Panthers had sustained pressure in the offensive zone and that pressure paid off when Jacob Eddy took a slap shot from the point that was deflected perfectly by Alex Sajan past the goaltender. Then exactly one minute later Peninsula took a 2-1 lead from a faceoff win. Lingard walked right between 2 defenders but was denied by Ganoung. However the rebound at the top of the crease was put home by Oskar Aitken-Salmons. That was it for the scoring in the second. Shots were 9-8 in favor of the home side.

An incident late in that second period happend when Leon Mikhalchuk stole the puck in the slot and was robbed by Volovar but then was subsequently sticked in between his legs by the goaltender. Neither referee saw it while Mikalchuk stayed down on the ice in pain. Play continued down to the other end of the arena as the Glacier Kings bench erupted. The whistle was finally blown with Peninsula in control of the puck inside the Comox blue line. All 4 officials got together and ruled a 4-minute spearing penalty.

The third period was a bit crazy but a lot of fun to watch. With a little over a minute left in the double-minor, Ethan Gobel gave Cameron Collins a perfect pass in front to tie the game at two. The officials had to gather again to make sure the puck had crossed the goal line. Then the Glacier Kings took the lead just a couple shifts later. Ethan Gobel won the offensive zone faceoff back to Mikhalchuk who one-timed a wrist shot from the top of the circle past Volovar. The GKings would eventually make it 4-2 later in that final frame. The play started with a 2-man breakaway where Cohen Kallin slid it over to Zaya Morro who was absolutely robbed by Volovar. The rebound came out in front and Landon Morris put it into the empty net while being hooked down to the ice. The Panthers wouldn’t go away quietly however. With their goalie pulled, Joe Marranzino took a shot from the blue line and Ganoung left a big rebound that Carson Harris put into an open net to make it a one goal game again. That’s how this contest would finish.

The win gives the Glacier Kings a 3-4-1 record as they moved 1 point ahead of the Oceanside Generals. Their next game is Friday night in Campbell River. The loss for Peninsula was their first of the season (6-1-0). They also play on Friday when it’s the battle of the top 2 teams in the VIJHL. The first place Westshore Wolves, who are led by former Glacier Kings coach Mike Nesbitt, will be at the Panorama Recreation.

Other Observations

  • This marks the first time this year that Comox is not in the basement in the North Division.
  • The Glacier Kings have been off to slow starts this year so scoring just 1:29 into the game was very refreshing. They also scored 1:17 into the 3rd period.
  • Declan Johannesen now has goals in 3 of his last 4 games.
  • This was the first time this season that the GKings have won a game when trailing after 2 periods.
  • Anthony Ganoung’s start made him the first Comox goalie to play in back to back games this season.
  • Panthers forward Oskar Aitken-Salmons’ goal gives him 9 already which is tied for the league lead. He has 3 multiple goal games already through 7 games.
  • Aitken-Salmons teammate Carson Harris also has 9 goals. Interesting stat is he has 9 goals and 0 assists. Cy Young candidate? (For you baseball fans.) In all seriousness, he has scored at least 1 goal in 6 of his 7 games.
  • I liked the camera work in Peninsula. They would zoom in quite often on the play when it required it. Most teams just leave the play zoomed out when things are exciting or important events are happening.
  • Ethan Gobel has 5 assists in his last 2 games.
  • The Yeti scored 2 goals in 1:02 to go from being behind to going ahead in the 3rd period.
  • Comox now has at least 1 power play goal in 5 consecutive games.
  • Cameron Collins has at least a point in 4 of the 5 games he’s played in this season.
  • The GKings took just 1 penalty in the entire game (a tripping call in the 3rd period).
  • Zaya Morro has a 4-game point streak (3G, 4A)
  • Next Friday will already mark the 3rd time in 9 overall games that Comox Valley and Campbell River will play each other.

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

Controversial Ending Extends GKings Losing Streak

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings got off to a quick start but couldn’t hold on as they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Oceanside Generals on Friday. The game was action packed with plenty of chances both ways but the GKings will start the season 0-1-1 at home.

The first period was a little slow at times in the first half of the period but there was a ton of action in the last half. About 11 minutes in, goaltender Anthony Ganoung was tested with 2 close in shots. The first by Sloan Kroeker and then the rebound by Max Boyle. About 3 minutes later, a huge chance for Comox when Ethan Gobel stole the puck at the left side faceoff circle and turned around and gave Leon Mikhalchuk a perfect cross ice pass. Mikhalchuk had a wide open net but partially fanned on it and shot wide. Then a few minutes after that, Zaya Morro was sent in on a breakaway by Landen May but was robbed by Ethan Suhr and 10 seconds later, Morro would have another chance from the edge of the crease but was stoned again. Gobel picked up the rebound but hit the post. The game was scoreless after the first period.

Early in the 2nd period and with time running out on the Glacier Kings power play, Cameron Collins had a terrific chance on a wrap-around but couldn’t bury it. With the puck loose in the crease, Maxim Lefebvre poked at it but Suhr was there to make the save. The first goal of the game would be on a power play… yes you heard that right a power play. Ethan Gobel won the faceoff back to the point to Tommy Scobie-Gyug who slipped the puck up to Leon Mikhalchuk. He quickly fed it across the ice to a wide-open Suhaan Nagra who walked into the faceoff dot and wristed the puck past Suhr. Cohen Kalin got an assist but it clearly should have gone to Scobie-Gyug. Comox went up by 2, again on the PP, when Ethan Gobel dug the puck out of skates behind the Oceanside net and passed back to the faceoff dot to Leon Mikhalchuk who made no mistake wristing it short side past Ethan Suhr. That lead would be cut in half just 1 minute later. Sloan Kroeker gave a ‘point to point’ pass to Braeyen Newans who took a hard wrist shot that was deflected in front by Jacob Leamy and the Gens were on the board. They weren’t done there. Oceanside would tie the game late in the 2nd stanza when Westin Churchill lost control of the puck inside his own blue line. Jacoby Leamy fished it out along the boards and passed it through the slot to Ryken Lay who one-timed it past Ganoung with just 1:10 remaining. 

In the 3rd period, both teams were 4 on 4 fairly early. Hunter Toth took a pass at his own blue line and skated up the right side, beat the defenceman and then got the puck past Anthony Ganoung from the circle. It may have hit a skate in front before entering the net. The Generals led 3-2. However the Yeti PP would come through again. It started with a great play by Kyle Mayenburg to keep the puck in at the blue line. He passed across to Cameron Collins who gave it right back to Mayenburg. The big defenceman took the shot which was stopped by Suhr but a big rebound came to Westin Churchill who potted it home. Again, the Gens would take the lead. They ended up with a rare short-handed 2-man breakaway goal. Jackson Bostock slid the puck over to Ryken Lay for his second goal of the game. Late in the 3rd period, the GKings appeared to tie the game with their goalie pulled. Generals d-man Levi Green appeared to push Ethan Gobel into the Oceanside goaltender. The referee was standing right beside the play and did not call goaltender interference which would mean that Gobel was pushed in. A few seconds later Suhaan Nagra tipped a shot past the netminder who was still down. The referee immediately waved the goal off. The ref then marked the ensuing faceoff outside the blue line which would depict Gobel initiating the contact. I’ve looked at the replay several times. Gobel definitely got pushed but the question is if he embellished that shove to make contact with the goalie.

Comox Valley outshot Oceanside 44-29 including 17-6 in the 3rd period but couldn’t pull it out. The Yeti drop to 0-3-1 while Generals improve to 2-3-0. The Glacier Kings are right back in action tomorrow night in Kerry Park while the Gens is off until week from tomorrow when they host Lake Cowichan.

Other Observations

  • This is the first time this season the Glacier Kings have scored first and also the first time that they have had a lead at any point in a game.
  • The first PP goal for Comox Valley broke a 0 for 14 streak.
  • Their 2nd PP goal took just 6 seconds (see what happens when they win faceoffs).
  • Kudos to Comox Valley Play by Play broadcaster Matt Parnell for picking 3 Stars fairly. It doesn’t happen much in this league. Clay Cochrane for Saanich is very fair as well.
  • Oceanside has not scored on their last 23 PP opportunities.
  • This is the Glacier Kings worst start to a season since 2019 when they were 0-12 before recording a victory.
  • Ryken Lay now has 5 goals which is tied for 3rd in the league (at the time of this post)
  • Despite a good start on Friday, Comox still just has one 1st period goal in their 4 games.
  • Westin Churchill has goals in back to back games.
  • Jacob Leamy has points in 3 straight games and 4 of his last 5 including his time with Saanich.

Darryl Skender