Tag Archives: Thomas Scobie-Gyug

Game 4 Preview Vs. Gens

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings will make another attempt tonight to get their first win of the season. They’ve started 0-2-1 after a 3-2 OT loss in their home opener to Campbell River on Saturday. It’s the first time they haven’t recorded a win in their first 3 games since 2019 when they started the season 0-12.

Things have been trending upwards from game to game for the GKings. A big reason is because of their recent acquisitions. Head coach & GM Curtis Toneff talked about how they are settling in, “Real well, I think this week of practices has really helped. They are starting to fit in. They are all quite different players and they all compliment our team in different ways. Leon Mikhalchuk has the big shot, a long reach, puck protection skills and has an ability to beat guys one on one which is pretty rare at any level. Geon Park has a good low base to him, he has a good shot, plays with his head up, likes the puck on his stick and likes to make plays. He can fit anywhere in the line up on any given night. Tommy Scobie-Gyug had a real good weekend. He’s obviously had a great summer as far as his training. His conditioning is elite. He found himself with his first goal after a great shake of a d-man at the point, had a great shot and got his first junior goal in his second game. He’s going to make our D better and Anthony Ganoung obviously had a great game on Friday.” Scobie Gyug took a big hit on Saturday and hit the ice pretty hard. The book on him has always been he plays bigger than he is and he has definitely shown that so far. He’s listed at just 5’7″ and 155 pounds but has been a big pickup for his squad.

Both teams have struggled to find wins to start the season. The Generals have been scoring at a higher rate but also giving up more goals than the Glacier Kings. Toneff said the simple things can give his club their first win, “We need to be making plays when they’re there with the puck, being a hockey player not a robot. If there’s not a play there, play a man’s game, whether it’s having a battle in the corner, or protecting the puck or simply seeing the other D’s number turning to go get pucks all night. That’s kind of the difference where these guys come from in Midget. Certain plays they’re taught are bad plays. Buying into simplicity, you can always build on simple but when you try and do too much it’s tough to get on the same page.” 

Meanwhile for the Oceanside Generals, they’ve had an up and down start to their season. Play by Play broadcaster Kyle Ireland said he was impressed with the season opener against Campbell River where they downed the Storm 5-2. He said there is a youngster on the team that has impressed him, “Braeyen Newans, a 17 year old Parksville product has been a huge bright spot for them with 4 points in his first 4 games. Goals in back to back.” A cool story about Newans is that he scored his first VIJHL goal last Saturday on his 17th birthday. The 4-time VIJHL Broadcaster of the Year also let us in on a recent trade yesterday, “The Gens have made a huge move just minutes ago sending forward Jasper Fellbaum to Westshore for forward Jacob Leamy.” Fellbaum had a goal and an assist in 2 games for the Generals while Leamy potted 1 goal and 2 assists for the Wolves before the trade. Ireland said he thought his club played well against Victoria 5 days ago but special teams hurt them, “The Gens looked good on Sunday at moments against the Cougars but could not get anything going on the power play going 0 for 6.” Oceanside and Comox Valley are currently sporting the worst 2 PP’s in the league. The Generals are at 4.3% (1 for 23) and the Glacier Kings are 5.9% (1 for 17).

Oceanside comes into the game on a three game losing streak. although they deserved a better fate against Port Alberni where they outshot the Bombers 45-24 but lost 4-2 thanks to an empty net goal at the end by Joel Dorn. The same could be said about their 5-3 loss to the Westshore Wolves where the Gens jumped out to a 3-1 lead midway through the game but allowed 4 unanswered goals including another empty netter.

Game time tonight is at 6:30 pm at the Sports Centre. Either Rob Hudson or Matt Parnell will have the play by play on FloHockey (Matt has a new baby on board, congratulations!) while Kyle Ireland will do the honors on the radio at 88.5 The Beach. Go Glacier Kings!

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Earn First Point

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It was another shaky beginning for the Comox Valley Glacier Kings but they battled back and earned a point in their 3-2 OT loss to the Campbell River Storm on Saturday. It was giveaways that killed Comox Valley in the opening frame. It started when Storm forward Armaan Punn stole the puck from Haden Parker and backhanded the puck in front of the net. The puck would glance off Kingston Gowans’ skate and into his own net just 3:12 into the home opener.

Just 1:07 later, another defensive zone turnover would prove costly. Glacier Kings defenceman Maxim Lefebvre got the puck stuck in between his skates in his own slot and Campbell River’s Dylan Toth dug it out and fired it past Timothee Fengos and it was quickly 2-0 just 4:19 into the first period.

Comox wasn’t about to fold the tent however. Westin Churchill would win an offensive zone draw. Joel Schmidt won the puck battle at the side boards and got it back to Thomas Scobie-Gyug who walked into the faceoff dot and beat goaltender Luc Gravel to the far side with a wrist shot. That made it 2-1.

The Storm had a terrific chance to go back up by 2 goals when Elliott Turgeon was sent in on a breakaway but was stoned by Fengos who squeezed his pads just in time.

The second period may not have had any scoring but it was exciting from a fan’s perspective. Both teams had scoring opportunities but Campbell River had more of the Grade ‘A’ chances but Fengos stood tall stopping everything that came his way in that middle stanza.

That set up an exciting 3rd period. The Yeti would tie the game when Westin Churchill received a pass from Landen May at centre ice and raced down the right side, took the defenceman with him and backhanded the puck in front of the net to Zaya Morro. He was slashed by Emmanuel Grenier to cause a delayed penalty. However, the loose puck slid to the side of the net and Churchill poked it home to make it 2-2.

There were so many chances in the 3rd period with Comox getting the better of the opportunities but both goalies were fantastic. And yes, it was fitting that the contest would go to OT. The Storm owned the puck for most of the extra period and won the game when Thomas Curri circled at his own blue line skated all the way down the left wing and beat Fengos from a bad angle.

On the bright side, Comox Valley picked up their first point of the season. They showed a lot of heart after being down early once again. This is the kind of effort that could turn things around. They have shown to be a good 3rd period team, now they need to learn how to get off to a better start. We’ll see if they can come out of the dressing room stronger on Friday for a home date against the Oceanside Generals. Have a great day everyone.

Other Observations

  • Unfortunately the audio didn’t work on FloHockey so I had to do play by play in my head.
  • This is the GKings 3rd straight home opener against Campbell River. The Storm are now 3-0.
  • I really believe Campbell River won 80% of the faceoffs. It was mind-numbing.
  • With just under 6 minutes left in the 3rd period, Holden Smith tripped Maxim Lefebvre as he took a pass and was behind the defenceman in front of the net. The referees got together to discuss if it was a tripping penalty or a penalty shot.  Unfortunately they chose to go with a 2 minute minor.
  • Comox forward Leon Mikhalchuk had an unreal dangle around a defenceman and then the goalie only to backhand it wide.
  • The Glacier Kings played without a captain again. It is unknown when Curtis Toneff will be naming one.
  • The 3rd period Saturday was the first time Comox has outscored an opponent in any period this season.
  • Next Friday’s home game will be the first of only 4 home games the Glacier Kings will play on a Friday this season.
  • It is nice to see Dave Dueck back for another season as the public address announcer. Not only is he great on the P.A., he is even a better person.

That’s it for today. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Darryl Skender

Glacier Kings Add 5 Players

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The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have bolstered their roster by adding key players in key positions. In Game 1 in Nanaimo, the team was short-handed dressing 5 true-defencemen and having players fulfilling in unfamiliar positions. The club looks more rounded after moves Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff made this week. Here are the additions:

 

Kyle Mayenburg – Defenceman (6’1″ 175lbs)

Kyle played 10 games with the Powell River Kings of the BCHL last season but didn’t get into any playoff action as the team failed to qualify for post-season action.  In his 10 games with Powell River, the rearguard went pointless and was on a tryout this season. He played in 1 exhibition game on September 6th wearing jersey #3. He did not play in their second exhibition game and was released back to the Glacier Kings. The Powell River native had 2 goals and 9 assists in 33 games with Comox Valley last season. Mayenburg previously comes from the Delta Hockey Academy U17 Prep and did play 1 game for the Campbell River Storm on December 22, 2023.

 

Thomas Scobie-Gyug – Defenceman (5’7″ 157 lbs)

Tommy has spent the past 3 years in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) with the North Shore Warriors.  In the 2022/23 season, he advanced from the U16 to the U 18 team.  The Drumheller-born blue liner has 1 career goal and 12 assists in 74 games for the Warriors. He also netted a goal and an assist in 3 games at the 2024 U18 Prep Western Championships.

 

Geon Park – Forward (5’9″ 174 lbs)

Geon spent last season playing in the the CSSHL for the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy U18 Prep where where he tallied 10 goals and 12 assists in 33 games. That included a 2-goal performance against RHAK (Kelowna). At the 2025 U18 Prep Division II Western Championships, the South Korea native had 5 points in 4 games including 2 goals. Park finished 4th in scoring for the Wild and most likely would have finished 2nd if he hadn’t missed games. In total in U18 AAA, he amassed 15 goals and 34 points in 51 games which was also 4th on the team. The high scoring winger was one of only 3 South Koreans to play CSSHL U18 hockey last season.

 

Leon Mikhalchuk – Forward (6’3″ 181 lbs)

Leon committed to the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL back in July and had a tryout with them. He played in both pre-season games going scoreless and 2 PIM’s. Mikhalchuk played in Belarus last year for the Yunost Minsk U17 team where he scored 25 goals and 42 points in just 39 games. He then got bumped up to the Yunost Minsk U18 team in the Belarus U18 league where he gathered an assist in 2 games. Prince George General Manager Mike Hawes said, “Leon is a young player with great size and tremendous skill who has a huge upside and loads of potential.” He is still young being a 2008 and will most likely be back in the BCHL next season after getting more experience in the Canadian game.

 

Anthony Ganoung – Goaltender (5′ 10″)

Anthony played for the Wenatchee Wild last season along with Geon Park. Ganoung played well despite the team not not faring so well. The Vancouver, WA native ended the year with a 10-15 record and a 4. 20 GAA with a .887 save percentage. In his previous season with the U16 squad, he was very impressive. Despite only having a 4-12 record, the backstop collected an impressive .898 save percentage and a .927 in the playoffs.

Needless to say, Curtis Toneff is excited about this past week’s additions. He said, “For now, adding those 5 guys and when Cameron Collins gets healthy, we’ll be looking at getting guys into their proper spots starting this weekend.” In case you were wondering, Collins is a Comox native who played for the Pacific Coast Academy U18 Prep team in the CSSHL last season but has yet to an exhibition or regular season game with the Glacier Kings.

Have a good Thursday. On tomorrow’s post, I’ll preview the Glacier Kings game tomorrow night in Saanich. 

Darryl Skender