Tag Archives: Tom Marguet

Storm Beat Comox In OT Again

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The Campbell River Storm have had the Glacier Kings number this year. They started out strong on Friday and came away with a 2-1 overtime win in what was probably the most entertaining games you’ll see this year. Both goaltenders stole the show as they stopped chance after chance. This was the second time in three meeting that the Storm have won in the extra stanza.

The first period was dominated by Campbell River which was helped out by two power plays. A couple of the highlights for me in that opening frame was when Zaya Morro made a terrific defensive play while shorthanded in the slot to thwart a scoring a chance by Jack Smith. Later,  a bouncing puck went by a Comox defenceman and came right to Colby Driebergen behind everyone where he slid it over to a wide open Tom Marguet but a wonderful save was made by Anthony Ganoung. The game was scoreless after the first. Shots were 20-8 in favor of the Storm.

The Yeti came out much stronger start in the second period with some scoring chances. They would finally get on the scoresheet first with a shorthanded goal. It started with a blocked shot from the Comox line which gave the Glacier Kings a 2 on 1 from inside their own zone. Cohen Kallin carried it all the way down the ice, used Zaya Morro as a decoy, and fired it past Luc Gravel on the blocker side. Comox almost scored 2 more times on that same Storm power play but Gravel was good. An incident in the second happened when Declan Johannesen was hit from behind and shaken up by Bryson Walsh. Because the referee didn’t call a penalty, Leon Mikhalchuk took matters into his own hands and may have fought the wrong man as he took on big Aryx Siefker (who was right in the vicinity of the hit from behind by Walsh). It was a one-sided fight that was won by Siefker. The home team would tie the game a little later on when Holden Smith won a puck battle behind the net and centered it out front to Ryder Tanner who scored up high on Anthony Ganoung. Both goaltenders, especially Ganoung, were outstanding in that middle frame which saw Comox  outshoot Campbell River 21-14.

Early in the third period, there was more rough stuff and it involved Bryson Walsh again when he gave a huge hit to the smaller Kingston Gowans. The Glacier Kings defenceman laid on the ice for a short while before slowly going off the ice. That didn’t go unnoticed. Right after the puck drop following the mandatory timeout, Haden Parker challenged Walsh to a fight in which Parker won decisively.

Despite many chances, there wouldn’t be any scoring in the third period where Comox outshot Campbell River 11-10.

In overtime, Leon Mikhalchuk had a chance to end it when he found himself wide open in front but was stoned by Gravel. Campbell River would eventually end the game on a horrible line by the glacier Kings. That line change gave the Storm a 2 on 1 all the way down the ice where Jack Smith would eventually beat Ganoung to win it and finish a very exciting game.

The loss drops Yeti’s record to 3-4-2 which ties them for last place in the North Division with Oceanside who won on Friday. Next up for Comox is the VIJHL’s best team… the Westshore Wolves. The 2 teams will square off tonight at the Sports Centre. Puck drop is at 6:30. Campbell River (5-4-0) plays in Oceanside tonight.

Other Observations

  • Comox Valley was shorthanded more times in the 1st period than they were in their entire last game.
  • It sounds like a broken record but the Storm won the majority of faceoffs again.
  • The Glacier Kings consecutive games streak with at least 1  PP goal ended at 5 games.
  • It was nice to see Storm defenceman Lucas Beaudoin play in the game after taking a puck to the face in his last game.
  • Zaya Morro extended his point streak to 5 games (3G, 5A).
  • Made me chuckle when I heard the Campbell River broadcaster mention a dental company that was the sponsor for high sticking penalties.
  • The GKings had a 5 on 3 PP for 1:18 in the 2nd period but failed to score.
  • Comox Valley’s shorthanded goal was their first of the season.
  • This was definitely the most physical game of the year that I’ve seen. These 2 teams really don’t like each other.
  • The Storm haven’t scored a PP goal against the Yeti in any of the 3 meetings (0 for 10 overall).
  • Comox Valley native Luc Gravel is now 3-0-0 against his hometown club and 4-1-0 overall for Campbell River.
  • After going pointless in 6 consecutive games, Cohen Kallin now has points in his last 2 contests.
  • Jack Smith’s OT winner gives him 3 goals in his last 5 games.
  • The Glacier Kings now have points in 3 straight games while the Storm have won 3 in a row.

Darryl Skender

It’s Game Day

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We’ve waited all week for this weekend. And it’s finally here. There’s 10 games this weekend in the VIJHL and the Comox Valley Glacier Kings are in 3 of them. These next few days will be the toughest test for the Yeti that they’ve had all year. Why? Because it has been tough to get a gauge on the team. They were inconsistent early in the season with bad penalties, defensive zone turnovers and not putting a full 60 minutes in. Each game they have gotten better but 4 of the 5 teams they have played are under .500. Their only win is against a club that is still winless this year. They are going to be playing upper caliber teams over the next few days. First up is the Campbell River Storm, a team that beat the Glacier Kings in overtime on September 13th. They have been rivals as long as any of us can remember. Both sides are better than their records. Comox is 1-3-1 while the Storm are 2-4-0. The two teams are very equally matched and promises to be as good of a game as the one 13 days ago. Both teams have had trouble scoring goals early on. The Glacier Kings defence seems to have the edge. As for special teams, Comox has the edge on the power play while Campbell River has been better at killing penalties. Westin Churchill leads the GKings in goals with 3. Zaya Morro leads in points with 4. The Storm are led by Dylan Toth with 4 goals. Nobody else has more than 2. Toth, Elliott Turgeon and Tom Marguet all have 5 points to lead the way for the home side. Dylan Toth just had his 4 game point streak broken in his club’s last game which was a 5-2 loss to Port Alberni. Meanwhile for Comox, Westin Churchill has a goal in 3 consecutive game going into tonight. Campbell River is 1-2-0 at home, the Glacier Kings are an identical 1-2-0 on the road.

We will find out what the GKings are made of this weekend… where do they stand, what are they made of? After tonight they play the top two teams in the VIJHL as they go up against Nanaimo and Peninsula who are both in first place in their respective divisions. It will be a grind for sure. There are a lot of technical things that will have to be done right to come out with victories but there are also simple things as well. Head coach/GM Curtis Toneff explains, “Probably just taking it one game at a time. As a whole, you can’t be looking at Saturday’s home game when you’re taking the ice to start the second period in Campbell River. It needs to be period by period, shift by shift, the old coaching cliches but they’re cliches for a reason. That’s why they’re cliches… because they work. You maintain focus and just play hockey and have fun. We did it through camp, we’ve played 2 games in a day, we’ve played 3 games in 3 days, we’ve done 5 games in 4 days so there’s no real excuse for our team. You just go and do what you trained for all summer to do.”

Is there a chance of the players being tired by the time the third game rolls around on Sunday? Absolutely. But considering that this a league of 16-20 year old kids (with a few exceptions) which means their bounce back ability should be pretty high. You take an old guy like me and I’ll be down for a couple days after a game of hockey. These young guys are in great shape and pretty resilient. Toneff says that he will make sure they stay fresh, “That’s my job to make an adjustment or two. Some outsiders or whatever say, ‘What’s up with that schedule’ but to me I love it. You see who rises to the top, you see who is in shape, you see who stays mentally sharp over the course of the weekend. You can find out a lot about your roster. At some point this weekend, there will be some adversity out there, whether you’re hemmed in the d-zone  or you’re on the PK or you’re protecting a lead or you’re scratching and clawing back into a game. At some point in the season, to have success, you’re going to have to do that so may as well start here late September.” It makes a lot of sense, have some stressful games when you have don’t have days off to rest. It can only make you better as the season goes on. So it sounds like Curtis is going to embrace  the 3 in 3 instead of being scared of it. Win, lose or draw, the Glacier Kings will live it and be stronger for it.

The games this weekend are as follows:
Friday: Comox Valley @ Campbell River -7:30pm
Saturday: Nanaimo @ Comox – 6:30pm
Sunday: Comox Valley @ Peninsula – 4:30pm

Darryl Skender