The Ghostriders played two home games last weekend, they won 6-1 against Grand Forks on Friday then finished up with an exciting 4-3 overtime win against the Kelowna Chiefs on Saturday. With the two wins they now lead their division with 17 points, but Kimberley and Golden are hot on their tails.
Oct 12th Standings
| TEAM | GP | W | L | T | OL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernie | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Kimberley | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Golden | 12 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| Creston | 10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Col Valley | 10 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Next Up the Columbia Valley Rockies on Friday night here in Fernie. The Riders have played 2 games in CVR and won both 4-2 and 5-1. The Riders head to Golden Saturday, they have played each other 2 times as well, Fernie won 6-3 at home but lost 7-6 in OT in Golden.
Ghostrider Notebook
It was a pretty good team effort last week with 7 different players scoring the Rider goals. Three defensemen scored in the 6-1 Grand Forks win. Tyler Rebelato scored his second and Matt Pronchuk and Zak Kuchler each scored their first goals. Forward Tayler Sincennes had a goal and an assist as well. That should end up being a good confidence builder for the players who we don’t always see on the scoring summaries.
It was a pretty good team effort last week with 7 different players scoring the Rider goals. Three defensemen scored in the 6-1 Grand Forks win. Tyler Rebelato scored his second and Matt Pronchuk and Zak Kuchler each scored their first goals. Forward Tayler Sincennes had a goal and an assist as well. That should end up being a good confidence builder for the players who we don’t always see on the scoring summaries.
Between the first and second period against Grand Forks I crossed paths with assistant coach James Ouimet who was almost laughing when he saw the somewhat sarcastic look in my eye.... he said "Don't worry we'll be better in the second " He was right. Oddly enough the Bruins were better when they first got off the bus than they were later on in the game.
Against Kelowna the Riders scored two goals in the third period and at 3-1 looked like they had it in the bag, then Kelowna scored two and the pressure was back on. Joel Burgess who has had points in each of his last six games responded by circling around and firing in the OT winner. The Riders had previously won in Kelowna by a 7-1 score ...go figure.
In his second game back after a six-week injury suffered in training camp Spencer Bender (photo) had a goal and two assists including the only assist on the OT winner. The Riders should be happy to have this second year guy back... the fans sure are.
New speedy winger Jonathan Yan had a goal and an assist against Kelowna in his second game and seems to have found a spot and gained some chemistry with the aforementioned Bender and Cole Keebler.
Derek Georgopoulos scored a beauty that no one thought had a chance to go in just under the bar from a bad angle against Grand Forks then scored the first goal against Kelowna. He has had at least a point in each of his last five games. Although Derek is happy to be playing closer to his home and family in Cranbrook he says that Castlegar was a pretty good place to play and he was treated well by everyone.
Not that it matters but... I counted 6 of the goals the Ghostriders scored posted with only 1 assist. I'm too lazy to check the other teams stats but I suspect Fernie has the most goals with only 1 A.
Not that it matters but... I counted 6 of the goals the Ghostriders scored posted with only 1 assist. I'm too lazy to check the other teams stats but I suspect Fernie has the most goals with only 1 A.
Glad I wasn’t a linesman in the Kelowna game, the Riders wore their pink Friends for Friends Jerseys and Kelowna wore red. Not enough contrast for me even in the stands... it would've been way worse on the ice, they should have paid them double... or no over 60 linesmen?
Had a chance to watch the third period of the Kelowna game with 3 years removed, former 5 year Rider coach, Will Verner. (He's out of hockey now and working in an office ) Couple of his observations on the game were, where's the hitting and they don't pass. In the next couple of minutes at least four Rider rushes were broken up and Kelowna got easy outs when guys tried to stickhandle through three or more players . The former HC/ GM was sure excited when Burgess scored in the OT though...
Had a chance to watch the third period of the Kelowna game with 3 years removed, former 5 year Rider coach, Will Verner. (He's out of hockey now and working in an office ) Couple of his observations on the game were, where's the hitting and they don't pass. In the next couple of minutes at least four Rider rushes were broken up and Kelowna got easy outs when guys tried to stickhandle through three or more players . The former HC/ GM was sure excited when Burgess scored in the OT though...
Round the League
The Osoyoos Coyotes were a perfect 10-0 before losing 4-3 at home to the 4-6 Sicamous Eagles. The Eagles last 2 goals were short-handed goals...so be ready, or lose in the KIJHL. Osoyoos 11-2 won on Monday and will play here in Fernie on November 1st.
After losing in OT here in Fernie Kelowna went to Kimberley where they were hammered 10-3. After the game Kimbo talked about how they sometimes skate till they puke... Got some news for the Nitro's, there are easier ways to get like that. Anyway that story is here
The Nitro's and Fernie lead their division and will do battle for the first time here in Fernie Friday Nov 7th. Fans from both teams will be wearing full cages at that game.
After losing in OT here in Fernie Kelowna went to Kimberley where they were hammered 10-3. After the game Kimbo talked about how they sometimes skate till they puke... Got some news for the Nitro's, there are easier ways to get like that. Anyway that story is here
The Nitro's and Fernie lead their division and will do battle for the first time here in Fernie Friday Nov 7th. Fans from both teams will be wearing full cages at that game.
After last weekend Kamloops coach Ed Patterson tweeted this to @KIJHL about the Who's Hot on the KIJHL main site and about his Storm forward Felix Larouche
then Kimberley coach Jeff Kiever tweeted this
@edpatts23 @KIJHL @rouchy17 @HugeBeaut Klingspohn had 6g and 2a on Sat/Sun if you want to count stats.
Nice to see the coaches talking (bickering) about their players publicly. A couple of years ago when there was a KIJHL Player of the Month the coaches of usually more than half of the teams didn't even bother to nominate one of their players and so now there is no KIJHL POM.
Cause of work I only saw the third period of the Kelowna game and I was in Kelowna's end... was liking Kelowna D # 22 Kevin Roth's movement and passes, he also scored the tying goal.
And finally, Sparwood born player Kevin Petovello finished up a scholarship with the Alaska Nanooks then moved on to the Central League before retiring because of injuries. He has just signed on as the Nanooks assistant coach. Full Story Here
Yes I do have to agree with ex coach Will..... A lot of these kids from "AA..AAA" Alberta are pretty soft!! Not much hitting in those leagues!
ReplyDeleteIts a long season here so hopefully they will toughen up or it could be a short season for them again.......