Wednesday, 9 September 2015

The Weekly Roundup- Coffee- French lessons Dancing Queen Who's next

The Weekly Roundup

Coffee Break
Had coffee with Head Coach Craig Mohr and new Assistant Coach Pascal Morency (hint, click on his name for the video, you Rider players will like it) the other day where I found out that  Morency, who just finished up 12 years as a pro in several different leagues is much more than a hockey guy and is not only here to help the players on the ice, but off the ice as well . My guess is that the very personable Morency, who is a Certified Professional Life Coach through the World Coaching Institute, will be a rather large  bonus to the players and to Coach Mohr this year as well. Especially if we clear the benches?











Horse Shoes
 In my fairly wide ranging conversation with Morency he brought up the point  that he has played for a lot of coaches over the years and Rider Coach Craig Mohr is right up there with the best of them.... he  says "the team, and the town is lucky to have him".  Morency who also coaches at the  Fernie Academy  with Spokane Chief's Director of Player Development Chris Moulton  adds that some of the coaches he had over the years were barely aware of  the concepts Mohr teaches the players in practice. Or did he say some the coach he had barely aware concepts of Craig...
Anyway.... he speaks much better english than I do French. The Rider players are lucky to have Pascal along for the Ride this year as well as the super fit Jeff Zmurchyk who won't hurt either.







Photo Pascal and Melanie

 Dancing Queen  
So your wondering how does a guy from Montreal end up here in Fernie. Pascal had visited here before so was familiar with the area and town but more importantly his girlfriend Melanie Jolicoeur was recruited by The Castle Movement, 441 1st avenue, where she will be teaching dance classes. Jolicoeur owned a successful Dance School for 10 years and performed and taught dance internationally until she got injured.  Dancers can follow Melanie on Twitter  @JolicoeurMel and players can follow Pascal on Twitter  @morency_p
See Melanie's video here

 The Ghostriders had three practices in Colman AB this week because the ice was not available in Fernie due to the Provincial Mine Rescue Competition. Already four guys were sitting in the stands with injuries and will miss this weekend's games in Castlegar and Nelson... which by the way... will be broadcast live on the Drive 99.1 radio in Fernie and Sparwood at 93.5. Howie Ashmore will do the play by play for the first weekend then Tom Ross will take over.

 Here is a list of the players signed so far, expecting Adian Wilson to pass through the HC registry shortly. Several rookies and 5 twenties.
#PLAYER NAMEBYPGPGAPTSP/GPPSHGWPIM
18Spencer Bender'95F00000.00000
23Dalton Bouvier '98C00000.00000
20Trevor Broad '98D00000.00000
7Dan Burgess'96D00000.00000
15Ty Carron '97C00000.00000
27Mack Differenz '97RW00000.00000
6Kyle Haugo'98D00000.00000
25Cole Keebler'95C00000.00000
4Keagan Kingwell '97D00000.00000
21Justin Peers'96W00000.00000
3Kevin Pierce '98D00000.00000
13Evan Reid'96LW00000.00000
9Jacen Richards '98LW00000.00000
28Lane Sim '97RW00000.00000
26Tayler Sincennes'96RW00000.00000
14Joey Stensland '97LW00000.00000
8Ryan Teslak'98D00000.00000
5Travis Thomsen'95LD00000.00000
17Mitch Titus '97RW00000.00000
24Dustin Watt'95D00000.00000
TEAM TOTALS  000-00-0
 = Injured
 = Suspended
 = Rookie		 = Reserve
 = Import
 = Affiliate		 = Committed
GOALIE STATISTICS
• CLICK ON A HEADER TO SORT BY THAT STATISTIC •
#GOALIEBYGPWLTGAPIMSOMPGAGAASHSASV%
30Brandon Butler'9600000000000.00---
1Jeff Orser'9500000000000.00---

 Round' the League

 Wasted Ink
Most writers and stats geeks know this already, but the KIJHL's esports website does not keep track of game winning goals. Well the web site actually does keep track, but the scorekeepers almost never remember to click the game winning goal box.
 The Riders won 37 games last year yet only had 2 game winning goals listed on the KI website. Kamloops won 33 and had 11 listed etc. There is a place on the  sheet for game winning goals but in this day and age of smart phones and smart asses the esports' program should automatically credit the game winning goal. If I had any say I'd push esports for this fix....because there are other "points streak" etc  options out there. We rant every year about this but nothing happens.
Who's Next
The Summerland Steam have given up a home game and will play it in Williams Lake against the 100 Mile House Wranglers on November 14th.  For those who haven't been following this column, Williams Lake is looking to put a team in the KIJHL.... and 100 Mile House, Summerland and Kamloops etc can't wait for it to happen and have been playing games in Williams Lake for the last couple of seasons. One of the leaders in WL, Rob Sandrock, says his group has until December to apply for a franchise for next season. I believe the going rate for a new team is $150,000 but you could get an existing team and move it for less. The 100 Mile House Wranglers bought Pentiction and moved it up to 100 a couple of years ago. Don't forget that when 100 Mile was looking for a franchise  they were on record as saying that were talking to a few teams about moving, not just Pentiction... So I wonder who's next ?

 The link to the Williams Lake story is below and a little Williams Lake Jr Hockey History is last.

 Link to Williams Lake franchise story
The Red Deer Indy Graphics are pretty happy with Lane Sim, Mack Differenz, Tayler Sincennes and Kegan Klingwell who all play with the Riders this season. Sincennes is in his second year with the Riders... and I still can't spell his name without lookin. The Graphics have 13 players in the KIJHL, see the Tweets below.


 Sep 6
Congrats to Alumni this season with
9 retweets11 favorites
 Sep 6
2 Seasons removed from RDMH and we have 13 Players Playing in the and 3 players promoted to the and

Shame... Shame
Well if the Spokane Braves sound a little pissed because only BV would play them in the exhibition season... I wonder what Kimbo is thinking.... See the amusing Tweets about Spokane below.

  Kimberley who held their main camp last weekend, won't even get one exhibition game. Had they held their camp a little earlier... I know for a fact Fernie would have played a home and home, and it would have been lucrative for both teams.

  1.   retweeted
     7 hours ago
    No other team would play them.... Shame on the rest of the
  2.  7 hours ago
    Just had a quick chat with a player, turns out the only games they had in ex were against us.


    Williams Lake to join the KIJHL ?

    First A little Sunday AM thirty something year history lesson.

    In the 1980's the Williams Lake Mustangs were part of the PCJHL (Peace Cariboo) Junior A circuit who's league Champion played off against the BCJHL Champion for the  BC Jr A hockey Championship.

    Then in 1991 the PCJHL joined up with several teams in the South to form the RMJHL (Rocky Mountain) Jr "A" league who were in competition with the still intact BCJHL. The RMJHL featured several teams who  KIJHL fans will be familiar with, Fernie, Kimberley, Creston, Nelson and Castlegar all played in the RMJHL as did Trail and Cranbrook who each had storied KIJHL histories

    Then in 1996 the BCJHL who are now called the BCHL, and who didn't like the competition for players, took in Trail Prince George and Quesnel and that killed off the Peace Cariboo division, and in a few short years... the RMJHL as well.

    Williams Lake was not part of the new BCHL and had no hockey until 2002 when they joined the BCHL for a few seasons calling themselves the Timberwolves They lasted five years before going bankrupt in 2010 and they haven't had hockey since. Their relatives in Quesnel lasted until 2011 before they also found out the BCHL was a rich man's league.

    So here we are, two big hockey towns without hockey and Williams Lake has an eye on the KIJHL, and you can be absolutely certain Quesnel is looking as well.

    Observations from afar

    So the big question is will they buy an existing team like 100 Mile did when they bought Pentiction (There are more than a few KI teams out there who are struggling at the gate) or will they buy a new franchise at ... last I heard...  $150,000.

     Either way it's going to get harder to win in the KIJHL with bigger and bigger centres joining up in the last few seasons. Personally I hope they get an existing team so as to not water down the league any more than it is.  Every season we have a few teams who don't seem to be able to recruit enough good players to compete, adding two new teams in  big centres won't help. And yes, it could happen surprisingly fast.

    Anyway, Below is a story that was circulating on Twitter. With a link to the WL Facebook page.

    Management team announces intentions to bring junior B hockey to lakecity

    April 23, 2015 · Updated 5:25 PM
    0 Comments
    The chance of a junior B team coming to Williams Lake became much more of a possibility Thursday following an announcement made on Facebook.
    Rob Sandrock — a professional hockey player born and raised in Williams Lake with more than 16 years of pro experience — revealed he's been managing the page, "Williams Lake Jr. B Hockey," and said he's formed a management team with Total Ice Training Centre's Tyrel Lucas and Speedy Petey's Car Wash and Lube's Ryan Bailey about bringing a team to the lakecity.
    "[This group] has the knowledge and experience to succeed," Sandrock said via the announcement. "Tyrel has been developing hockey players for the past seven years and with his facility will give junior players the training and instruction that other teams can only dream of.
    "Ryan … a well-established accountant and brings a wealth of business knowledge to our group."
    Sandrock, who has a masters degree in sport management, said the trio has a deeply-rooted passion for the game, Williams Lake and the next generation of hockey players.
    "We are here to bring an entertainment option to Williams Lake while providing local hockey players the opportunity to stay and play in their hometown and create positive role models for our younger youth," Sandrock said.
    "While we may be the driving force trying to bring a team to Williams Lake it will be your team, Williams Lake's team and will be treated as such. Without you, we will not be successful. With you, we can create something the whole city can be proud of, to call theirs and to be a part of."
    Sandrock said the management team will be arranging an information forum in the near future to create an opportunity to answer any questions from the public.
    Until then, he said he can be reached with questions and comments at robsandrock@icloud.com, or on his Facebook page, "Williams Lake Jr. B Hockey."

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