After an 8-2 loss in Invermere the Ghostriders finished up their two game set with the Rockies on Wednesday night with a 7-3 win.
At home the Riders were led by new Captain Mitch Titus who scored a couple of goals and was clearly the most talented player on the ice. Brendan Nemes who came here late last season scored a goal and had several big hits making him the most dominant player Wednesday.
Anyway, the Riders used several new players including 16 year old D Shaun Pierce, Kevin's brother and Ethan Jang a forward from the Trail area. Coach Mohr says they are both here for the season.
Sparwood D Jake Beranek was injured in the first period and didn't finish the game, but is expected to stay the year with the Riders.
Devyn Stewart scored a goal and has been signed for the year as well.
Greg Susinski (has been in the coaches sights for a couple of years and is now BC eligible) Jon Wick (who can play and seemingly came out of nowhere) Owen Titus (Mitch's brother) Cory Caldwell (a local hitter) Chase Gregory (did a bunch of things to make at least one writer notice him) McCarty Manyfingers (we need that size) and Jace Woodley (traded from Sicamous) are all new players on Coach Mohr's likely signing list as well.
The carding process takes a bit and that list is probably not quite complete but will get completed in the next few days as the coaches make their decisions and then the full signed roster will be on the team website.
Last Chances
On Friday in Creston and on Saturday here in Fernie the boys will get a couple more chances to change minds, for better or worse, then it's off for two weeks on the road in Grand Forks, Beaver Valley, Nelson, Spokane and Golden before finally commin back home to Fernie on September 22nd to play the Golden Rockets, who a couple of coaches think will be better than their 5-37-0 4 showing last year.
Here is the Riders stats page, it will be updated shortly.
Wednesday's ex game sheet will not be on the KIJHL site but we have it here.
So on Monday night I saw a comment (since removed ) on a Facebook story I posted that said the Ghostriders need to change their Coach because he made Mitch Titus Captain. Even though Mitch is a 3rd year player with great character who unlike the commenter even holds a job during the season.
Also the commenter said President Barb Anderson needs to go bye bye because she is the worst Ghostrider President ever.
Ok so first off... the Rider's HC Craig Mohr is a paid employee, therefore he is fair game and he as much as admitted that to me when I talked to him Tuesday AM. But firing him for announcing a Captain before the season starts ? This is pretty standard in the KIJHL and just off the top of my head I can tell you that the Rockies, Kelowna and Creston have all announced their Captains, so just like the National Enquirer who checks and re checks their facts...
Now as for team President Barb Anderson, who is a volunteer, this attack is an insult. The job is hugely demanding and time consuming and most of the organizing goes on behind the scenes, so Facebook trolls never really know how much work goes into it. Add on the fact that the President is dealing with serious medical issues and a recently deceased spouse and you can see how cheap the comments were. The fans should actually thank her for doing the job, not fire her... because as you will see in the next paragraph, no one else will do it.
OK so pay attention, this is on the test, anyone can be President, all you have to do is come to the AGM in the spring and bring a friend, if you have one, and get yourself nominated. If you bring twenty friends (I know that is a stretch) you can stack the meeting guaranteeing a win and the prestigious President's job... so prestigious that we haven't had an election in 20 something years... see cause everyone else knows how much work it is.
Well you get the point, that's all for now, see you at the rink.
Ghostrider Head Coach and general Manager Craig Mohr just finished his main camp on Sunday and on Monday AM he told me that the camp was competitive with two full teams. Several of the players from that camp will be playing in Invermere Tuesday and at home here in Fernie on Wednesday the 29th @ 7:30.
And several of the players at that camp will likely be here in September as well. Mohr says he has five or so guys at junior A camps as we speak so it will take a week or so to solidify the roster. The regular season league games start on the 8th of September featuring the Riders on the road in Grand Forks and Beaver Valley.
In other news Rider top scorer Mitch Titus has been named as Captain for the upcoming season. Mitch is a former Rider Rookie of the Year who has proven to be a durable and talented player who gives his all when he's on the ice.
Well a month or so ago the OHA in Ontario (112 teams) decided they were going full face shields next season. Read that story here
Then on August 14th BC's Peninsula Panthers of the Jr B VIJHL declared that they were going to make all their players wear full cages this season as well. Read all about that and their arguments for it here
Read into this anyway you want, but me being a conspiracy theorist I see a big red flag when I see the Panthers brought in BC Hockey CEO Barry Petrachenko to help grandstand their big we're the first Western Canadian team with full cages announcement.
This in my opinion is a harbinger of things to come... the freight train has no brakes Casey Jones.
So lets clear up a few things, first of all at my age (months from retirement) I don't care, they can do what ever the hell they want, and I get the arguments from both sides... and I'll still attend the games.
However, all the younger players and coaches I know are foaming at the mouth about this. We hear... Cages are for animalz in the zoo, if I was a player I would demand a trade right away, they won't get any good players, I wouldn't want my players playing them and their high sticks that we see enough of when we go to the US, way more stick work elbows etc.
So as we said in a previous post, this will be like a science experiment, will the good players leave, will the good recruits go somewhere else, will it be a recruiting advantage and the good recruits flock to Peninsula, insurance is probably cheaper there, and the parents will mostly like it.
Frank Zappa was wrong it can happen here, Frank who??
