Tag Archives: Parker Atkinson

Glacier Kings – Wolves Preview

Leave a comment

It’s Game Day today as the Comox Valley Glacier Kings will be put to the test when they travel to Westshore for a game against the first place Wolves. Both teams are playing well right now. The Wolves have won 5 in a row, outscoring their opponents 25-12. The Glacier Kings are winners of their last 2 contests and have points in three consecutive games (2-0-0-1). The two teams squared off back on October 4th in Courtenay where Westshore took the game 5-1.

One interesting part of tonight’s game should be special teams. Starting with the power play, Comox has the second lowest proficiency rate, capitalizing on just 14.3% of their opportunities. On the other hand, the Wolves have the 2nd best at 24.4% so obviously staying out of the penalty box will be key. I spoke with head coach/GM Curtis Toneff and he talked about his club’s power play woes, “It’s been a frustrating part of our game. We started out okay (at the start of the season). I think our first reps look really good and then we get away from it. We have had a fair amount of conversations, we practice it often, I have made some personnel changes here and there. It’s also maybe a culmination of things like puck luck and switching around their spots like we have which might help them. I think just too much stagnant stickhandling is the one thing that frustrates me the most as a coach. When we move the puck and have a little more movement as a unit, we create good looks. Sometimes those looks go in and sometimes they don’t. That’s something that we’re going to continue to chip away at.” The Glacier Kings have just one power play goal in October. Their goal with the man advantage in their last game in Oceanside means they have are 1 for 27 this month.

The penalty kill on the other hand has been terrific. The Yeti have the best PK in the VIJHL with a 87.0% success rate. Westshore is pretty good as well at 83.6% which is 4th best. Toneff talked about why his own team has been so successful, “I think it’s honestly the veteran presence we have on it like guys that are used to knowing how we do kill. It’s the little reads in the game, when to be aggressive and when to not. Our penalty kill is fairly passive to be honest with you but it kind of emulates our d-zone. There’s not a lot of thinking. It’s just our d-zone minus one guy. It seems to be working and you never have great penalty killing without great goaltending. Maybe we’re not giving up grade ‘A’ looks but the goalies are still stopping the puck when they need to and that’s important as well.” Comox has the second best defensive rating in the league allowing just 2.79 goals per game. Meanwhile the Wolves have scored more goals than any team in the VIJHL will be an issue for the offensively challenged Glacier Kings.

Another strong start will be key for the GKings tonight. They don’t have the offensive power to come back from a significant deficit. That will be tough against the high-octane offense featuring 2 out of the top 4 players in league scoring. Parker Atkinson is putting up superior numbers averaging over 2 points per game so far while Kansys Seney is at close to 1.7 ppg. To put it in prospective, Comox doesn’t have anyone in the top 20 in scoring and also doesn’t boast any player that averages a point per game that has played a minimum of 10 games (the Wolves have 4). Westshore also has eight players with at least 10 points already, the Glacier Kings have two. Obviously this game will be a major test. The Yeti’s bench boss talked about the challenges they’re facing, “Just playing against a team with three or four lines that can bite you. A lot of teams have one or two but these guys don’t have many weak links. It’s up to every shift, be ready to go and protecting the guts of the ice. We gotta play that simple, greasy little game.” I agree the simpler that they can make the game the better and it wouldn’t hurt to have another great goaltending performance like they got from Silas Dromarsky who has been announced as “Goaltender of the Week” in the VIJHL for last week.

Westshore comes into tonight’s match with a 12-2-1-0 record, good for first place overall in the VIJHL. Comox Valley is in fifth place in the North Division sporting a 5-6-2-1 line. Head coach/GM Mike Nesbitt has assembled a very competitive team this season as one would expect. Remember that he took over a Glacier Kings squad that was majorly struggling and turned them around and had some very good seasons. Ander Reyes gets the start in between the pipes for the Wolves while Timothee Fengos will backstop the GKings. Game time is 7:00 pm at the Q Centre.

Darryl Skender

Wolves Down Glacier Kings

Leave a comment

I apologize for this being late but I got called into work for a very long day and was unable to get to create the post. It’s not going to be a very good one as the game was a stinker. The Westshore Wolves started strong and coasted to a 5-1 victory over the Comox Valley Glacier Kings on Saturday proving they are the top team in the VIJHL.

Just 2:36 into the game, Rowan Brodie-Rafuse took a wrist shot from the blue line that snuck between the arm and waist of goaltender Timothee Fengos. One that I’m sure that Fengos would like to have back. Then 2:14 later, Kansys Seney gave a nifty pass behind the Comox net to Jasper Fellbaum who one-timed a backhand pass into the slot to Parker Atkinson and he made no mistake putting the puck up high to make it 2-0 before the game was 5 minutes old. The Glacier Kings did play better as the period wound down and it finally paid off. Landon Morris lost an offensive zone faceoff but Kaden Ryan had his clearing attempt blocked by Cohen Kallin who took the puck to the faceoff circle and ripped a wrist shot past Ander Reyes with 1:16 left on the clock. That’s how the period ended, shots were 25-10 in favor of Westshore.

Best chance of the second period came for Zaya Morro when he had a shorthanded breakaway from center ice but was stoned by Reyes. Westshore scored the only goal of the middle frame. On the power play, the Wolves won the draw and the GKings would never touch the puck until it was in the back of their net after a goal by Kansys Seney. For a second period in a row, both goalies were outstanding. Shots were 15-13 for the the Wolves.

In the third, Jasper Fellbaum scored on a rebound to make it 4-1 and an empty net marker by Owen Hentschel rounded out the scoring on a frustrating night for Comox. It was redemption for Westshore after losing 7-1 in Peninsula one night earlier. Shots on goal favored the Wolves by a count of 14-8.

Westshore continues to be the top team in the VIJHL with a record of 8-2-1, three points ahead of the Panthers in the South Division. They host Kerry Park on Wednesday. As for the Glacier Kings, their record drops to 3-5-2 and remain tied for last place in the North Division with Oceanside. They will be off until Thursday when they travel south to Victoria.

Other Observations

  • Despite giving up 4 goals, Timothee Fengos was superb.
  • The 54 shots Comox gave up were the most they’ve allowed all season.
  • After going scoreless in his first 8 games, Cohen Kallin has scored in 2 straight and has a 3 game point streak.
  • It’s been frustrating for so many years seeing how easily the net comes off at the Sports Centre. Especially the one to the broadcasters left. It seemed like 10 times in the 1st period alone.
  • Parker Atkinson’s goal and 2 assists has him sitting in 2nd place in the VIJHL scoring race (9G, 17A).
  • The score sheet is very inaccurate for anyone looking at it. The goals and penalties are reversed with time left instead of time that has expired in the period, Cohen Kallin’s goal was at 18:54 not 10:10, Christophe Giguere’s penalty was in the 2nd period not the 1st etc.
  • Kansys Seney’s PP goal took just 11 seconds to score after the faceoff.
  • To start the month of October, the GKings have only scored a total of 2 goals in 2 games and have scored the 2nd fewest goals in the VIJHL.
  • Maybe it’s just me but I wish the broadcasters (who are very good at play by play), would not cutout sound when the national anthem starts. I’ve heard the broadcasts cutout for both heavy metal music before and yesterday was just silence despite there being a live singer. The national anthem should be heard (even if it’s quiet), it’s a part of hockey and a part of our national pride. What I use to do is turn up both microphones on the headsets to full and hang them outside the open window and ensure everyone in the booth stayed quiet.

As I mentioned to start the post, I was in a negative mood after being called into work and then watching the hockey game so I apologize for the negativity. I’ll get head coach/GM Curtis Toneff’s thoughts on the game next week. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone.

Darryl Skender