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Country Thunder On Country Night In Oceanside

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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

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