Halloween update, games AP, Jr drama and auto correct fun

Guess who was the October POM 


The Ghostriders dipped their toes into the league schedule pool for the first time in a couple of weeks last Friday night in Creston and the players and coaches picked up a big emotional 5-2 win. 

It was a great way to get back into the action and they will do it again this Saturday night (Nov 4th) in Beaver Valley against the Hawks...who are on a 9 game win streak and haven't lost since September 29th, 6-4 right here in Fernie... go figure.

The Riders were scheduled to play Kimberley this Friday the 3rd but the ice in Sparwood was not available so the game will be played Tuesday the 7th @7:30 in  Sparwood. So they will be well rested Saturday, The Hawks on the other hand will hopefully get softened up by Creston Friday night.  How about a nice bench clearer with several suspensions... the good old days?

 Keelan Saworski was named as the Ghostriders-Boston Pizza  October Player of the Month. Keelan had 6 goals (2 in Creston) and 2 assists in five games and has had at least a point in every game he has played in so far this season.

Devyn Stewart scored his first of the season in Creston... he has too good of a shot and I believe he will keep chipping away now that he has opened the door. He was named as the McDonald's Practice Player of the Week.

Zak Larson was picked as the Player of the Game in Creston putting aside 43 of 45 shots...though some dispute that number, but no one disputes that he was great... radio says...if you follow Twitter "radio says" may make some sort of sense to you... if you don't you probably have a life or something, why are you here...

Mitch Titus scored what would turn out to be the game winner late in the 2nd. He is somewhat off this season averaging .9 points a game vs 1.1 last year, but he certainly passes the eye test, don't you just hate the stats guys.

Injuries, the list just got a little longer with Zak Larson now on the outs...we have no timeline on his return yet. The same can be said with Shaun Pierce and Owen Titus. But coach Mohr says Owen is progressing better than was originally thought. 

AP goalies Dylan Baker  (Sparwood) and  Elijah Paulson (Cranbrook)  will fill in, if and when, Broc Merkl ever needs a rest. The schedule favours Merkl for a couple of weeks with just 3 games until November 17th. 

Sixteen year old Ethan Jang will be back in the lineup this weekend after playing a game with the Jr "A" Alberni Valley Bulldogs last weekend. Bulldog associate HC and GM  Jeff Dubois tells me Jang kept up with the play, finished his checks and had a couple of decent scoring chances. He also likes his skating and compete "He's not far off from being a BCHL guy". Dubois also thanks Craig Mohr for making Jang available for 6 days and missing a divisional game as well.

Well more drama in the junior hockey world with a group in Surrey BC claiming that they will build a 7 to 10 thousand seat arena...and they have a hockey team who want's to move there too... but they won't reveal the who the team is ...we've heard that one before, chill out Jr A and B at that size it's gotta be a WHL team... . Read the full story here

And finally... and predictably... all the politicians are jumping on the get rid of ammonia bandwagon   So where where you forkers for the last 100 years ? Ammonia history

Oct 27 Division Scores

Fernie 5 @ Creston 2

In Creston Zak Larson turned away 43 of 45 shots, Mitch Titus had the game winner and Keelan Saworski scored a pair of goals as the Ghostriders got a big road win in their first game back after the tragedy at the Fernie arena two weeks ago.

Kimberley 0 @ Castlegar 5

In Castlegar the Rebels had 2 PPG  Tanner Douglas had the shutout, and Brandon Costa and Ed Lindsey each had a goal and an assist for the 5-0 win putting an end to the powerful Nitro's 5 game win streak. 

Columbia Valley 3 @ Spokane 5

In Spokane the Braves scored 3 PP and 1 short handed goals en route to a 5-3 home ice win over the Rockies. Dawson Tritt had 3 goals and Paxton Malone scored 1 and added 2 assists. Trevor Dilauro had the W in net.

Golden 2 @ Nelson 7

In Nelson the red hot Leafs had goals from 7 different players and outshot the Rockets 44-22. D- man Dash Thomson was the only player with 3 points, 3A. Sam Buford had the W in net. 

With the win and subsequent losses by Kimberley the Rockies and Golden the Riders are just 1 point out of third with 3 games in hand,5 behind Creston with 2 games in hand and everyone is way behind Kimberley.



In other news the BV Hawks are on a 9 game win streak after a 7-2 win over the GF Bruins but remain 1 point behind Nelson for first place in their division.

Rider update October 26th

The Fernie Ghostriders will get back into the swing of things this week with a game in Creston Friday night. That game is a scheduled Drive 99.1 Radio Broadcast game with Josh Hoffman (@JoNoHoffman) at the Mike.

Creston is always a formidable opponent, they are 7-5 -1 and are in second place. Kimberley is running away with everything right now, they have 24 points are a +34, have a top 3 PP and millions in the bank. 



The Riders are now set up in Sparwood for practices and games until at least the new year and possibly for the rest of the season as the City of Fernie decides what they are going to do with their arena. 
1/ Restart it as is with ammonia.
2/ Put in a new ice plant using a different refrigerant.
3/ Or, and this is a long shot, put the money into a new arena... that would take a couple of years.

The Riders have officially signed Eric Welford, he is an 18 year old defensemen who played AAA Midget in Medicine Hat last season.

Sixteen year old left winger Ethan Jang will not be in the Ghostrider's lineup this weekend but he will be in the Alberni Valley Bulldog's lineup as an AP. 

FYI former Creston Head Coach and friend of the blog (and there's not many of them) Jeff Dubois is an associate coach and GM in Alberni with the Dogs. 

Other questionable players for the weekend are D- Shaun Pierce (01) and F- Owen Titus, they are still listed with injuries but I believe Pierce will be first to return. 

Jeri Mitchell was just named as the City of Fernie's Citizen of the Year. Jeri is almost always selling tickets at the door at the Rider games and she does a ton of other volunteer work as well. Congratulations Jerri and to all the other winners listed here 

The Rider game scheduled for November 3rd against Kimberley has been rescheduled and will go on Tuesday November 7th in Sparwood. That will be the Riders first home game since the tragedy at the Fernie arena. 

Ghostriders next games

The Ghostriders have their equipment now and will practice Wednesday and Thursday in Sparwood then on Friday play their regularly scheduled league game in Creston. 

It is a Drive 99.1 Radio Broadcast Game.

The Riders vs Kimberley game originally scheduled for November 3rd in Fernie will be played Tuesday November 7th in Sparwood.

The ongoing investigation into the ammonia leak in the Fernie arena could take months according to reports, so all the Rider home games will be played inSparwood until the Fernie rink is restarted.

All games are still at 7:30

The Riders thank everyone for their understanding during this tragic time.

Our Condolences to the families and the people of Fernie

The board, staff and players of the Fernie Ghostriders send their heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of those lost in the incident at the Fernie Memorial Arena today. We are deeply saddened by the news, and our thoughts and love are with you.

The facility was closed at the time and no players or staff were injured in this tragic event.

The upcoming home game on Saturday, Oct. 21 has been relocated to the Sparwood Recreation and Leisure Centre, as have all future games until further notice.

City Declares State of Local Emergency

October 17, 2017

The City of Fernie has declared a State of Local Emergency due to a hazardous materials release threat to property and life.

The State of Local Emergency will remain in effect for seven days until October 24, 2017 at midnight unless cancelled by order of the City of Fernie or the Minister responsible.

Residents in the evacuation area have been provided overnight accommodations.

Emergency Social Services will reopen in the morning if required.

• Declaration of State of Local Emergency
• Evacuation Order

Notes from October 17th-PP's bars gym equipment and the usual drivel

Ghostrider Notes Oct 17th

The Riders lived and died via the power play last weekend. On Friday in a 3-3 tie vs the Rockies the boys scored three, Brendan Nemes had 2 and Keelan Saworski had 1. On Saturday in a 4-2 loss the Border Bruins had 3 and the Riders just 1 (Kevin Pierce) . 

If it means anything... the Riders had more shots in both games, 44-36 Friday and  34-26 Saturday.

With 7 goals and 4 assists in 7 games Keelan Saworski now leads the team in scoring, he has had at least a point in every game and at least 1 goal in his last 6. He was the Tim Horton's Player of the Week too.

Titus brothers took somewhat of a beating this weekend, Mitch got in front a hard chest high shot that hobbled him late in Friday’s game to help preserve at least a tie (and 1 point) and Owen left Saturday’s game with a leg injury and is now out for 8 weeks.

The 16 year old watch...D man Shaun Pierce is out for likely another week or so with an injury but speedy Ethan Jang is still chugging along with 3G 2A... I keep hearing shoot the f**8 puck chants from the crowds...a possibly even speedier Jordan Kromm (18yrs) also gets the same coaching from the stands.

Rider GM Craig Mohr has brought in defenceman  Eric Welford. Eric is 18 and was in the SJHL to start the season and played AAA Midget in Medicine Hat last year. Welford will wear # 26.

What that means is a defensemen may end up on the wing, Kyle Haugo has done that before and Coach Mohr says Gregg Susinski (McDonald's Practice Player of the Week) has also patrolled the wings in the past as well. Me I eat em... my favourite gym equipment, the snack bar.

Both Grand Forks and Fernie wore their pink jerseys in the warmup Saturday night then had their picture taken as a group at the end of the warmup. You don’t see that kind of thing very often. Border Bruin HC and GM Emery Olauson has sure done a great job in the Forks who are now tied for first over all in the KI with 19 points... they're not your fathers Bruins anymore.

Remember you can still bid on a jersey, just go the the Ghostrider website and click on the jersey on the RH side.

Over 500 in Elkford Friday night, it sure turned out to be a well received game. We tried to keep the twitter feed going in Elkford but my iPhone wasn’t so smart and there was a poor signal at my end of the rink... I saw more bars in Cardston when I was there.

The Riders are in Invermere Friday and it is a scheduled radio broadcast game with Josh Hoffman at the mike...then on Saturday they host Spokane right here in Fernie. 

The Kimberley Dynamiters are now millionaires via Mike Gould who grew up in Kimberley and just gave $7.5 million to the Dynamiters and KMHA.  It's part of some money that he won in the  EuroMillions lottery  in 2008. They will be a first place team for ever... even with just using the interest. The New York Rangers before the salary cap era?

The boys helped out one time Spiritus award winner Pat Gilmar build some bike-hike trails last week.

Kimberley is the only Eddie Mountain team to win Saturday

Grand Forks 4 @ Fernie 2 

In Fernie the Bruins scored 3 PP goals, Trey Mason had 3 assists and Ross King stopped 32 shots  in net giving the Bruins their 19th point and 1st place in their division. 
Att 450

Kimberley 8 @ Golden 5

In Golden the Nitro's Brock Palmer scored 4 goals had  1 assist and Matt Davies had 3 points as the Dynamiters get their 9th win of the season. Att 157

Beaver Valley 4 @ Columbia Valley 0

In Invermere Owen Sikkes stopped all 35 Rockies shots for his 3rd shutout of the season... and it's still October.

Riders Rockies tie while Kimberley and Creston win.

Columbia Valley 3 @ Fernie 3 (In Elkford)

In Elkford the Ghostriders scored 3 power play goals and outshot the Rockies 44-31 but CVR Robert Butterwick (1G 1A ) tied the game halfway through the third giving the Rockies a point.
FGR's Brendan Nemes scored 2 G 1A and Mitch Titus had 3 A.
Fernie's Broc Merkl and Rockies Ben Kelsch were in net.

We couldn't tweet the game sheet as the internet connection at the Elkford arena was poor... there were more bars in Cardston than at the arena.
520 fans at the game

Grand Forks 2 @ Kimberley 7

In Kimberley Nic Ketola had 2 goals and Cody Campbell had the win in net as the Nitro's blast the Bruins 7-2 and shutout their top two scorers Robertson and Mason along the way. Att 607

Spokane 0 @ Creston 7

In Creston the Bryce Storm scored a pair of goals and Jaysen MacLean had the shutout in net. The shots were 40-23 CVT. Att 381

Beaver Valley 2 @ Golden 1

In Golden it took Dylan Heppler's  OT goal to give the Hawks their 7th win. Liam Coulter was in the BV net and Colton Iwaschuk stoped 41 in the Rocket net getting them to OT for a point in the standings.

Creston is the only Eddie Mountain team to win Saturday night in the KIJHL

Fernie 1 @ Castlegar 7

In Castlegar John Moller scored 4 goals Vince Bitonti had 5A and Curt Doyle had the win in net as the Rebels blast the Riders 7-1.

Kimberley 2 @ Grand Forks 4

In Grand Forks KI scoring leader Jordan Robertson had the game winner and an assist and Trey Mason who is in second place had 2 goals in their 4-2 win. Knute Loe had the win in net. 
Shots 37-47 KD

Creston 5 @ Columbia Valley 4 OT

In Invermere Justin James' 3rd goal was in OT and it was the game winner. James also had an assist and Levi Mitchell had the win in net.

The shots were 56-32 Creston and Ben Kelsch was in the Rockies net. 

Golden 1 @ Beaver Valley 5

In BV Dylan Heppler had 2 goals as the Hawks get their 3rd win in a row and outshot Golden 43-17 as well.

Friday Night in the Eddie Mountain Div.

Columbia Valley 7 @ Fernie 4

In Fernie Mike Dyck scored 3 goals 1 assist and the Rockies rolled over the Ghostriders 7-4 for their second W in a row putting them into  2nd place in the the Div. 

The Rockies went 3-6 and Fernie went 2-7 on the PP
Parker Waseylenko had the W in net and 555 fans were at the game.
Shots 39-29 FG

Kimberley 7 @ Spokane 2

In Spokane James Farmer and Matt Davies each had 2G and 1A and Nick Ketola had 3 A for the Nitro's 4th win in a row. 
Kimberley went 3-10 on the PP while Spokane was 1-5.

Castlegar  5 @ Creston 3

In Creston Everett Hicks (GWG) had 2 goals and an assist for the Rebel's big road win. Curt Doyle had the W in net and the  shots were 45-26 Creston.

Golden 4 @ Grand Forks 7

In Grand Forks Jordan Robertson had his 23 point with a pair of goals and 3 assists and Trey Mason (20 pts) had a G and 2 A  .The Bruins now have 13 points, tied for first with Nelson.

With the Kimberley win they now have 14 points, the Rockies have jumped into second with 8 points while Creston and Fernie each have 7. Golden has 3 points so far in this young...but starting to age, season. 

Rider Notebook Oct 2nd

Friday’s Game

Friday the Columbia Valley Rockies are in town for the first time this year. So far the Rockies have a 2-4-2 record and 6 points. Last weekend they won 5-4 in overtime against Spokane and tied in Creston  4-4.

The Rockies got off to a poor start but have been winning games of late and according to the game sheets  play reasonably hard style of game accumulating 195 PIM's, they are no Kelowna Chiefs or anything with 344 and an amusing 1733 last season, but they're off to a good start. The Riders are at 117 and counting so far.

We would tell you how many PIM's the Riders had last season but all our twenty year olds have been removed from last year's stat page See here   and Fernie is not the only team missing part of their history... but no one cares... even though they should be outraged.

The Ghostriders played two tough home games last weekend against a pair of good skating teams in Beaver Valley and Castlegar and came away with two wins. 6-4 and 4-3.

With the wins Riders are now on a three game win streak and  come into the weekend in 3rd place with 7 points in 7 games. They will have to play the Rebels and their 62 PP goals Saturday, but this time in Castlegar. It is not a scheduled radio broadcast game.

The Ghostriders have 51 PPG and the Rockies have 24... The benchmark is Osoyoos who have 78, go ahead slash my hands or better still start a fight and be aggressive...

Rider goalie Broc Merkl got his first start with the Ghostriders against BV and came up with a huge 6-4 win against the reigning KIJHL Champions who fired 44 shots at him.

The next night everyone thought Merkl would get the start but it was Zak Larson’s turn (plus Coach Mohr said he had some family in town) and he showed everyone that he’s also in the running for the #1 spot with a a 4-3 win against the Rebels who fired 41 shots at him.

GM Craig Mohr is in a good spot with a couple of goalies fighting it out for the #1 spot. That is a great thing...IMO 

Ghostrider Notebook -from last weekend  

Keelan Saworski scored three goals and picked up an assist last weekend.

D-man Grayson Neufeld had a goal and four assists the two games. 

Ty Abbott scored two goals and added two assists and leads the team with 7 points in 7 games.

Sixteen year old Ethan Jang, Jace Woodley and Tristan Downe each had a goal and an assist

Ty Abbott 

was the Boston Pizza Player of the Month for September, Grayson Neufeld was the Tim Horton's  Player of the Week and Zak Larson and Broc Merkl were both named as the McDonald's Practice Players of the Week.

Practice player don't mean all that much to the fans, but the coaches love that one.