Tag Archives: Zaya Morro

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

Glaciers Kings Win

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It took a little longer than most people expected but the Comox Valley Glacier Kings played a complete game, start to finish, and earned a 5-1 victory over the Kerry Park Islanders. It was a well deserved win for the Yeti who outshot the Islanders 57-19 including 20-3 in the first period. Comox had been knocking on the door in their past couple games but finally got it done on Saturday.

The first goal of the game came on an odd man rush after Kerry Park’s Hudson Closson’s shot from the right dot went high and the puck ricocheted  around the boards out to centre ice. Mateo Moro was the first to get to it and he quickly passed it up to Zaya Morro who went down the right side and took a shot from the top of the circle. Joshua Dubreuil made a kick save but the rebound went to Ethan Gobel who buried it at 9:16 of the opening period. The Glacier Kings made it 2-0 on another odd man rush. Cameron Collins started from his own blue line after a turnover, he actually got checked coming over the opposition blue line but the Islanders defenceman Owen Robertson partially fanned on a clearing attempt and gave it right to Westin Churchill who made no mistake. The goal was credited to Zaya Morro who wasn’t even on the ice. The first period would finish 2-0.

It was more of the same in the 2nd period. Just a couple minutes in, Comox Valley won the faceoff and controlled play without ever relinquishing the puck. They had 2 fantastic chances but were stoned by Dubreuil before Joel Schmidt pulled the puck out of the corner skated along the boards back to the blue line, curled into the slot and fired a wrist shot past the netminder. Declan Johannesen got credit as he was standing in front of the net but didn’t appear to touch the puck. The Kings would make it 4-0 before the middle frame was complete. It was an innocent looking play to say the least. Suhaan Nagra skated with the puck behind the Islanders net and went towards the corner. About halfway to the corner he turned and shot from a terrible angle and it found its way into the back of the net. Shots were 20-7 in that period.

Comox goalie Silas Dromarski would lose his shutout bid midway through the 3rd period. Tomasz Ptaszek was a one-man wrecking crew as he won the offensive zone faceoff, and would also eventually end up in the slot, take a pass, quickly go from forehand to backhand to forehand in traffic and beat Dromarski blocker side. It was a well earned goal. There would be one final goal at the end of the game. It happened on a scramble in front of Kerry Park’s net. Ethan Gobel was parked in front of the crease and went forehand to backhand to slide the puck past the goaltender’s pad. That’s how the game would end.

It was a pretty chippy game at times, especially in the 3rd period but the Glacier Kings did what they needed to do to get the ‘W’. That improves their record to 1-3-1. The loss drops the Islanders to 0-6-0. Up next for Comox will be a tough one in Campbell River Friday night. Remember these 2 teams battled into overtime in their first meeting. The Islanders are off until Saturday when they will play host to the Saanich Predators.

Other Observations

  • Comox had the first 13 shots of the game before Kerry Park notched their first.
  • For the second game in a row, Comox had a goal disallowed. It looked like Kyle Mayenburg scored in the 1st period but it was waved off for goaltender interference.
  • Shots at one point the second period were 33-4 on the score clock.
  • Comox’s 2nd fight of the season happened late in the 3rd period when Cohen Kallin caught Tate Wilkinson with a massive hit behind the Islanders net. The refs deemed it a clean hit. Head coach Curtis Toneff left Kallin on the ice and then couldn’t take him off after a Glacier Kings icing. The Islanders put some tough customers on the ice and after the faceoff Reece Miyoshi, Jayan Biring and Nick Scott all went after him with Scott getting him to fight.
  • Somehow Kerry Park got 2 of the 3 stars in this game… nope I won’t get into it again!!!
  • Congratulations to Silas Drobarsky in his first VIJHL game getting the victory.
  • Comox was not shorthanded in the game. When is the last time you saw that?
  • The Glacier Kings have 4 PP goals in their last 2 games.
  • I’d like to leave this segment by asking everyone to never forget Kerry Park assistant coach Phil Downie who passed away last February unexpectedly. I’m stealing a quote from the Islanders that said, “Phil was so many things to so many people. A friend, a coach, a mentor, a husband, a son, a father. He was one of the great ones.” Well said by a classy organization. Mr. Downie, you will always be missed but you never be forgotten.💔

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