Oct. 18th vs. Campbell River Storm - Hockey Ops.

Good Evening Hockey Fans,

Well here we are for another Friday night of hockey action here on the Peninsula.  Tonight we welcome the visiting Campbell River Storm - their first trip to the Panorama Recreation Centre for the 2013/14 season.  The schedule sees the Storm in for two games this season, they will be back in town late in the season on February 7th.  We will travel up to Campbell River two days from now for a 4:00 pm start on Sunday afternoon and will go back up on December 1st, another Sunday afternoon.

We currently sit in 3rd place in the South Division of the VIJHL after a 2-1 Westshore Wolves win over the Nanaimo Buccaneers last night where we played an ugly 4-4 Double Overtime draw in Saanich against the Braves.  I will talk more about last night’s affair a bit later on, but for now I want to get back to the “Storm Watch.”

The Storm sit in 2nd place in the North Division and I believe that they will battle Nanaimo all season long for the top two places in that Division.  We have one point more than the Storm at this point in the season so I am really looking forward to seeing how both of these Clubs match up in the game this evening.  I watched the Campbell River squad play the Westshore Wolves quite early in the current campaign and watched them dominate an injury-riddled Wolves Club.  The game was looking like it was going to be a blowout, but a couple bounces only seconds apart in the 3rd period turned the game around and the Wolves eventually won in overtime.  I don’t think I have ever seen a game where one Club dominated an entire game so much and yet ended up on the wrong side of the scoresheet.  It was amazing and I left the rink that night shaking my head as I headed out to jump in my wheels.
The Storm run a very different program than most Clubs in the VIJHL.  I always tell our Head Coach and General Manager Brian Passmore that if we billet kids, they should be at the top of the ladder on our Club.  I believe that we should have as many local Peninsula kids as possible, followed closely by kids from Greater Victoria and finally a sprinkling of players from out of town.  These players should be top 2 defencemen, top 6 forwards or the starting goalie.  We currently have 4 out of town kids and they are Cody Breitenstein, Iver Oedegaard, Reece Costain and Joey Karrer.  Cody is easily a top 2 D.  Iver has more upside than any player in the VIJHL however, he has not put it into action yet during games.  He will eventually find his place and then the moon will be his ceiling, but for now he is a work in progress.  Reece is a big horse and hits harder than any player in our League.  We have been talking to the Victoria Grizzlies a lot as of late about Reece and he has just been named as an affiliate player with them and should see some game action in the BCHL this season.  And finally, Joey is our backup goalie but is a kid that Passy liked and signed.  He is getting better and better every outing and his time will come.  I see his confidence starting to grow and I am quite excited for what the future could bring.

The Storm on the other hand bring in almost every one of their players rather than working in locals.  I would guess that they bring in 19 or 20 players from out of town billeting each and every one of them.  This seems to be a winning combination for them and I would guess that they will continue to do business this way.  They draw more fans than any Club in the VIJHL - it’s not even close - and Campbell River like most places want to come out and watch a winner.  The Storm have had some tough times in the past several years however, the Spooner’s have really turned around the organization and the Storm are truly one of the anchor Clubs in the VIJHL.  Once again, I think that we have a pretty solid squad and I know that the Storm have the same.  We should see a fast contest tonight.  Watch for a couple of their 20-year-old forwards from Smithers who were obtained from Sicamous this summer, Brendan deVries and Brayden Taekema.  They are right up in League scoring and have a ton of talent.

Changing gears just a bit, I wanted to discuss our game last Friday evening when we knocked off the undefeated Victoria Cougars 4-3 in Double Overtime as well as our 4-4 Double Overtime tie in Saanich Wednesday night.  The game last Friday in the friendly confines of the Panorama Recreation Centre had fans on the edge of their seats all night.  It had everything that a fan could ask for; great goaltending, some highlight reel goals, a couple tilts, some big hits and 66 minutes of hockey that will bring a lot of fans back searching for more of the same.  We went down 3-0 but late in the 2nd our power play started to click and we scored twice with the man advantage in the closing minutes to set up a great 3rd period.  Cole Glover tied the game early in the final frame and then both teams exchanged chances through the rest of the 3rd period and 1st overtime period which featured 4-on-4 play.  The 2nd overtime began and out came Costain and Tate Coughlin up front.  With just under a minute in, Costain burst down the left side and cut in with a power move that would leave fans and scouts of the game in awe.  He shoveled the puck to the front of the net and a strange bounce off the skate of Couglin ended up being the winner which ultimately set off a big celebration.  What a game the fans were treated to and next Friday we will be right back at it here in our Barn for another tilt with the Cougars.  We have played them three times now including last Friday’s win.  The other two were at the Archie Browning and we lost 6-5 in Double Overtime and were knocked off 7-5 when the Cougars scored an empty net goal with 8 seconds left in the game.  I am sure this will be our biggest crowd of the year next Friday, come a bit early if you are going to attend.  I am sure it will be a treat.

Coming off this big win the kids had two practices on Monday and Tuesday before facing off against the Saanich Braves on Wednesday night for the first time this season.  I am glad the game was in Saanich because it ranked right up there as perhaps the ugliest game of this early season.  I honestly do not think either team put two passes together all night long, and I don’t think our team threw more than four or five body checks.  I said to a couple of friends midway through the 2nd period that I had hoped for two things on the evening; that we could somehow get the win with a sub-par performance and that the game might be over as soon as possible.  Well, neither wish came true.  The game played the full 70 minutes with the two five-minute overtime periods and the game resulted in a draw.  Honestly, we did not deserve any better fate.  I saw our biggest players turn off checks that were right in front of them all night long.  I saw our defencemen roasted for goals and out of position all night long.  I saw players not move the puck when they could have, when they should have.  I just did not see a bright spot other than a line of Ben Meek, Nick Kean and Jordan Law scoring three of our four goals.  Kean’s tally was his first of the year and was the highlight in the game.  Brett Sjerven gathered in the puck at his own blueline and he hit Kean on a long breakaway pass as Kean streaked through the neutral zone.  Nick went top shelf glove side on the Braves’ goalie.  I am hoping that Wednesday was just a hangover from the game on Friday and that tonight we are back working hard, moving the puck and playing like a team.  Anything less will probably not be good enough so I expect that we will see a big effort and will rebound nicely this evening.  In terms of overall standing in the VIJHL which will come into effect in the2nd round of the Playoffs, this is a 4-point game, albeit, we are still in the early going.

OK, it’s gametime!  A big thank you to each and every one of you for your ongoing support.  We try and put in a big effort every single Friday and hope that you get entertainment value each time out.  Enjoy! 
Pete Zubersky