Tag Archives: Tegan Clayton

GKings Win In OT

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings started strong before having to come from behind late to beat the Peninsula Panthers 3-2 in overtime on Friday. It was the type of game that the Glacier Kings have been excelling in. They were very disciplined and held the best team in the VIJHL in check all night with their defensive style which has really coming into its own.

The Glacier Kings got on the board first. On the power play, the puck was shot around the Peninsula net and Rolan Amin stopped it along the wall at the hash mark. The Burnaby product fed a perfect pass across the slot to Leon Mikhalchuk and he buried it past Matus Volovar.

Just over 4 minutes later the Panthers tied it up on a 2 on 1. Markus Nichols passed over to Luke Christensen who one-timed it over the glove of Lane Maarhuis.

That would be it for scoring in the first period. The Panthers looked much better in the last half of the period. Shots were 11-10 for Comox.

It was a fun second period with both teams having some chances but both goaltenders stopped everything thrown their way. The best chance was for 5th year player Ethan Lingard when he went in on a breakaway from outside the blue line but Maarhuis closed the pads in time.

The captain came into the game with 45 points in 36 games but was stoned. Panthers outshot Comox 17-11 in that second stanza.

In the third Peninsula took their first lead of the game. They came out strong and just 1:55 into the frame, Dome Szongoth carried the puck all the way down the ice and when he got into the offensive corner he passed back to the blue line to Carson Harris who faked a shot and went around Suhaan Nagra, then skated into the center slot and roofed a wrist shot past Maarhuis.

It looked liked that goal might stand up to be the winner as the period moved on but with just a little over 6 minutes left, the road team were finally able to tie it. Easton Sangris took a big hit to make a nice pass to Tegan Clayton. The 19 year old took off from center ice and made his way right into the slot where Volovar made a nice save but Haden Parker was standing alone in front and scored on the rebound.

Regulation time would end with a 2-2 score. Comox outshot Peninsula 11-9.

In overtime, defenceman Gavin Mowat blocked 2 big shots about 4 minutes in. The first knocked the stick out of his hands and he blocked the second shot with no stick. The puck ended going back into the Panthers zone. Panthers defenceman Clayton Collier tried to shoot the puck off the boards and out of the zone but the carom off the wall angled straight sideways and right to Cameron Collins. The Comox forward made a nice move into the middle of the slot and fired a wrist shot past the goaltender to end the game.

Shots were even at three apiece in the extra session.

The win ties the season series at 2-2 between these 2 clubs. Comox Valley improves to 20-15-4-1. Because Campbell River got shutout by Nanaimo last night, the Glacier Kings are now 4 points ahead of the Storm for the fight for 3rd place in the North. Peninsula falls to 31-5-2-0. They currently sit 5 points ahead of 2nd place Victoria in the South. The Yeti play at home to Victoria tonight while the Panthers travel to Kerry Park. For tonight’s game in Courtenay, the GKings lineup is now posted in the “Gameday Lineups” page of this blog.

Other Observations:

  • Panthers first shot didn’t come until 5:46 into the first period. The Glacier Kings were already down 4-1 by that time in their November 1st match.
  • Defenceman Haden Parker had just 1 goal in his first 37 games. He now has 2 goals in his lasty 2 contests (game winner last game and game tying goal in this one).
  • On Comox Valley’s first goal, Matus Volovar actually kicked his net off but the referee allowed the goal even though it was shot in about 1.5 seconds later.
  • Panthers forward Carson Harris got shaken up with 4:14 left in the 3rd period and never returned. Hopefully it’s not too serious.
  • The Yeti have now allowed 3 goals or less in regulation time in 7 of their last 8 games.
  • Panthers have now lost 3 of their last 4 games.
  • This is only Comox Valley’s 2nd win in 7 games that have gone into extra time. (2-4-1)
  • Cameron Collins now has 4 multi-point games this season.
  • Shots were 9-1 in favor of Comox about 9 minutes into the game.
  • Peninsula was unusually undisciplined in the contest. They have the 4th fewest penalties in the league but took 3 in the first period and 6 for the game.
  • On the tying goal, it’s unfortunate that Tegan Clayton didn’t get the assist on the scoresheet that he should have. He did all the work and the assist was awarded to the wrong player. Easton Sangris also didn’t get the assist after taking the hit to get the puck to Clayton.
  • The GKings are now 8-2-2-0 in their last 12 games.
  • Carson Harris now has 6G, 5A in his last 8 games.
  • It seemed like Comox wasn’t going to score again after opening the scoring in the game. They did eventually score again to send it to OT. The time between their 2 goals was 45:49.
  • Leon Mikhalchuk now has points in 5 of his last 6 games.
  • Panthers sniper Oskar Aitken-Salmons had his 11-game point streak end (10G, 6A in those 11 games).
  • Lane Marhuis started his 3rd straight game since coming over from Victoria. He is 2-1-0, 1.64 GAA, .949 save percentage.
  • The Glacier Kings magic number to to get a playoff berth is down to 3.

Darryl Skender

Goaltending A Strong Suit For GKings

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings still do have a few holes in their line up but one of them is not the backstop. The Glacier Kings have the third best goals against average in the North Division at 3.26 including empty net goals or 3.10 not including empty netters. Not bad considering they gave up an 11-goal game and a 9-goal game, both to Peninsula. The GAA would drop to 2.89 if you erase those 2 games off the schedule and 2.79 not including any empty netters. More recently the club has surrendered 7 goals in their last 3 games including one empty net goal. The goaltending is a huge reason for that but of course the team’s defensive system has to be given a lot of credit for how the guys execute it.

Comox Valley recently brought in Lane Maarhuis from the Victoria Cougars. Since coming over, he played against the second highest scoring team in the league and allowed just 1 goal (other one was an an empty net goal). Then he played against the first place team in the North (at the time) and only allowed a pair of markers. His stat line in his 2 games is 1-1-0-0, 1.51, .950 and overall with both teams he’s 11-4-1-0, 2.17, .928.

He will most like get at least one of the starts this weekend with Anthony Ganoung on the shelf with an injury. I asked head coach/GM Curtis Toneff of what he has thought about the 6’6″ goaltender, “He did what he needed to do. The expectation for a goalie, you stop the ones that you should stop and you make the odd save on shots that you maybe shouldn’t stop. You’re not going to stop every one. I think to me that’s a sign of a good goalie. They save the ones that they should and then they make the odd good save and that’s what Lane did for us the past two games. With play like that, we’ll have a chance to win every night. Say what you want about size. You look down and see a guy that big filling the net, you think twice. As the opposition you’re saying, ‘what do I do here’ because he’s taking up so much net. Also, sometimes when you’re that big, the puck sometimes just hits you. It’s nice to have the different looks in net that we have. We have (Anthony) Ganoung, he’s kind of that acrobatic that has his own style. Lane is kind of the big type and he’s a veteran with it being his second year in the league, has experience. And there’s Silas (Dromarski), 6’2″, a good size guy to challenge for position in the net. It’s kind of a nice problem to have in there. To answer your question, we’re really happy with Lane’s starts so far. We hope that he continues on the path that he’s on.” The 19 year old Chilliwack native also played with the Cougars last season and the Dawson City Kodiaks of the NWJHL the season before.

Anthony Ganoung has been the starter for most of the season. He has been a pleasant surprise in between the pipes in his first year of junior hockey. The 18 year old is out of the line up right now with a lower body injury and isn’t expected to be suiting back for another two or three weeks. Decision-making is easy when you’re carrying two tenders but the rotation gets trickier with three. I asked Toneff about what happens to that rotation when Ganoung is back, “Depending on the week, whether we play back to back, you just kind of go back and forth and whoever has shown the best will get that first start in the playoffs. They’ll both get their looks. As for all players and goalies, they’ll have to try and peak at the right time and challenge each other. I think they’ll do exactly that. While Anthony is out, we’ll get a good opportunity to pump two guys, that way they know it’s their net and they have to stop the puck.” The 18 year old Ganoung hails from Battle Ground, Washington which is a small city about 11 miles north of Vancouver, Washington but played his ‘AAA’ hockey in Wenatchee which is close to a 5-hour drive up the Interstate 5 highway before going through Snoqualmie Pass (I-90).

We’ve talked about the rotation of the goalies so far but what about the forwards and defence down the stretch? There’s only 9 games left and Comox is already at their capacity of 26 players on their roster and the trade deadline has come and gone (January 23rd). Teams can still pick players up and put them on to their roster until February 10th. But the Glacier Kings don’t have room so it’s most likely a set roster now unless someone gets hurt. Curtis talked about the situation with the forwards and defence, “Well it’s still a good time to juggle because we have Tegan Clayton coming back still. I don’t know if our lines will ever be set in stone though because we have 3 extra guys. These players pay to play. There will always be a bit of a shuffle going on. Like the Scotty Bowman way of thinking, pairs and then plugging in that third guy. I’m starting to see some chemistry between some guys for sure. Our d-partners have been pretty darn similar the whole year.” Having Tegan Clayton back will be a huge boost to the offence. The local Comox product has missed the last 5 games. Clayton’s last game was January 3rd against Port Alberni.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking about the physicality of this team as well as one of the newcomers to the squad, Rolan Amin. Until then, have yourself a great Wednesday.

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Win In Overtime

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings got a much needed win on Saturday night as they downed the Oceanside Generals 3-2 in overtime. It was a fun game to watch with a lot of chances and great goaltending. The loss snaps the Glacier Kings two game losing streak and as well, the Gens winning streak ends at two. Oceanside actually came back from a 2-0 deficit midway through the second period but was never able to take the lead.

The Glacier Kings got the scoring started when Leon Mikhalchuk carried the puck over the offensive blue line on an oddman rush. He centered it into the slot where Tegan Clayton had his shot blocked but Winston Churchill got to the loose puck first and fired it past Andreas Bylerius to make it 1-0.

Silas Dromarsky made a nice save on Rykan Lay who was sent in on a breakaway late in the opening period and then another exciting play took place as time was winding down. Jacob Bate came in on a breakaway, went forehand-backhand and beat Dromarsky as the buzzer sounded. It was originally called a good goal by the referee but then after all 4 officials huddled they waived it off which was a good call. You can see the green light come on just before Bate backhands it.

 

The period ended 1-0 for the home side. Shots were 7-2 for the home team.

In the second period, Comox extended their lead to 2-0. Shortly after after Dromarsky robbed Levi Green, Leon Mikhalchuk got the puck in the Oceanside corner and passed puck to the circle to Tegan Clayton and his shot dribbled past Bylerius.

The Generals didn’t fold the tent however. Their captain Levi Green blocked a shot and Oceanside came the other way on a 2 on 1 which was executed perfectly. Ryken Lay slid the puck over to Kaiden Day who made no mistake putting it into the open net.

The middle stanza concluded with a 2-1 lead for the Yeti. The shots were 9-8 in favor of the Glacier Kings.

Early in the third, Lincoln Bueckert got possession of the puck along the goal line in the GKings end and slid it across the ice to a wide open Jacob Bate to tie the game at two.

Comox Valley took a penalty halfway through the period and Maxim Lefebvre saved a goal by hitting the stick of Jacob Leamy who had a sure goal after a puck deflected straight to him. The Generals dominated the last part of the period but couldn’t beat Dromarsky who was outstanding. The contest needed overtime. Shots were 12-6 for the Gens.

The winning goal came early in the extra period. Haden Parker left the puck at the top of his own circle for Cameron Collins and he did the rest. The 18 year old Comox native went end to end splitting between two defenders inside the offensive blue line and beat Bylerius up high with a backhand shot to make the final 3-2.

The win improves Comox Valley’s record to 8-9-2-1 for 19 points as they remain tied for 4th place with Port Alberni who also won. Their next game is Wednesday in Saanich. The point that Oceanside gained in the loss moves their line to 11-8-1-0 which actually puts them into a tie for first place with Nanaimo in the North. The Generals are off until next Saturday when they host the Bucs.

Other Observations:

  • The win was the Glacier Kings first in extra time this season. In their previous 3 games that went past the 3rd period they were 0-0-2-1.
  • Cameron Collins OT winner extended his points streak to 4 games (2G, 2A).
  • Kaiden Day now has points in 5 of his last 6 games (2G, 5A).
  • The Yeti haven’t scored a PP goal in 4 straight games.
  • Silas Dromarsky was really good and most likely earned himself another start in the very near future.
  • GKings are now a perfect 7-0-0-0 when leading after the 1st and 7-1-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes.
  • There was a penalty in the 2nd period you don’t see often as Zaya Morro tried playing the puck with a broken stick (no blade) and went off for 2 minutes for “Ineligible Player.”
  • Comox is back to .500 at home (3-3-1-1)
  • Leon Mikhalchuk has points in 8 of his last 9 games (5G, 5A).
  • The 2 shots the Glacier Kings gave up in the 1st period is fewest they’ve allowed in a period all season.
  • Comox Valley did their annual Remembrance Day ceremony. Well done by the organization and thank you to all our Veterans and active duty members. You are the real heroes. God bless you!

Darryl Skender