Rider games and Round’ the League 01/29/23

The Ghostriders played two home games last weekend, they lost 5-3 to Kimberley then won 5-1 against Creston.

The Kimberley game was tied 3-3  but with just 1:43 left in the game Kimberley’s Christian Mealey broke the tie and then they scored an empty net goal for the win. 

Both goalies made great saves especially Aiden Kruhlak who made some terrific saves in the third to keep the Riders in the game and give them a chance to win.

On Saturday against Creston Colton Hanson had the win in the Rider net. 

A few Game Notes

With their win against Creston the Riders could finish in either third or fourth place and Creston will finish fifth. That means Fernie will have to play either Columbia Valley or Kimberley in the playoffs and Creston will be the “Crossover Team”. 

I asked a Creston player what he thought of having to play either Grand Forks, Beaver Valley or Nelson in the playoffs and he said they would rather play them than Columbia Valley.  He has a good point, the Rockies have a legitimate chance of winning the league if you ask me. 

Ethan MacDuff had a 5 point weekend Kort Kisinger 4 and Taylor Haggerty 3. MacDuff is in 6th place in league scoring. 

Scott Sinclair’s goal was his 12th and 29th point putting him in 4th place among KIJHL defensemen. Kimberley’s Cam Reid is in first with 40 .

Round’ the League

The Kamloops Storm made the headlines twice on the weekend. First their goalie Cody Creasy scored a goal on Summerland, the last time a goalie scored was in 2012 when Coyote goalie Darren Hogg, who’s older brother Tim is the play by play guy for the Summerland Steam, scored one.

Then the next night in Princeton Storm Coach and former NHLer Jan Ludvig was tossed and grossed for waving a white flag at the referee. He is a long way from the pros and will probably get a million games here in the Jules Vern league, 2000 Leagues below the NHL.

Ghostrider News January 23/23

The Ghostriders played two games last weekend, they won 2-1 in overtime in Castlegar on Saturday then won 3-1 in Beaver Valley on Sunday afternoon.

A few notes

 

Home ice is important,  in Fernie a few weeks ago the Riders defeated Castlegar 9-3 and out shot them 59-26. In Castlegar the shots were 29-25 for the Rebels and it took Kort Kisinger’s overtime goal  to get the win.  Colton Hanson was in net.

Against the Nitehawks the Rider’s Scott Sinclair  and Taylor Haggerty with the game winner scored power play goals. Gaege Johnson scored the insurance goal with Aiden Kruhlak stopping 45 shots in net.

The Riders played a playoff style of game Sunday, the BV broadcast crew said “One thing about the Ghostriders, they sure block a lot of shots” 

Kort Kisinger’s OT goal was his 19th and 5th in his last six games. With a goal and an assist last week Taylor Haggerty now has 12 goals  35 points and is third in team scoring. He’s having a nice rookie season. 

The Riders are  7-3 in the last 10 games and are starting to score more goals than they allow, their differential is +16. Nice to be positive, even better to be real positive like the Rockies at +79 a league best.  Kelowna is -95 and with just 5 wins have the worst record and the most penalty minutes with 1123, go figure.

Round the League

The Rockies and Kimberley are fighting for first place and Fernie and Golden are battling for third. Math teachers say that Creston could catch Fernie but they are 11 points back with just 7 games left, so they will fail their math test. 

Kimberley will be here in Fernie Friday night and Creston plays here Saturday. Both will be heated divisional games with playoff implications for everybody.

The Playoff Seeding Saga I mean Story 

Right now Castlegar with 22 points is the team that will miss the playoffs. Creston is next with 34. The odds are overwhelming that Creston will be the crossover team.

• The top three teams from the Neil Murdoch Division and the top four teams from the Eddie Mountain Division will automatically qualify for the 2023 KIJHL Playoffs.
• The fourth seed in the Neil Murdoch Division playoff bracket will be occupied by the team that finishes with the superior record of the fourth place team in the Neil Murdoch Division and the fifth place team in the Eddie Mountain Division. If the Eddie Mountain Division's fifth place team earns this playoff berth, they will be referred to as the "crossover team".
• The team that finishes the season with the inferior record of the Neil Murdoch Division's fourth place team and the Eddie Mountain Division's fifth place team will not qualify for the 2023 KIJHL Playoffs.
• In the event that the "crossover team" occupies the fourth seed in the Neil Murdoch Division playoff bracket, the Neil Murdoch Division's top seeded team will then determine whether they wish to play the Neil Murdoch Division's third seeded team or the "crossover team".
• In the event that the Neil Murdoch Division's top seeded team opts to play the third seeded team, the other Neil Murdoch playoff series will take place between the second and fourth seeded teams.
• In the event that the Neil Murdoch Division's top seeded team opts to play the "crossover team", the other Neil Murdoch playoff series will take place between the second and third seeded teams.

Ghostrider News January 15/23

The Ghostriders won both of their home games last weekend, 12-1 against Chase and 3-0 over the spiteful Golden Rockets.

Friday’s game turned out to be pad your stats night and with 12 goals the Riders did just that. Scott Sinclair, Jack Karpyshyn, Andrew Karam, Gaege Johnson, Jack Lambert, Eli Neilsen, Jarod Sigouin, and Malachai Peigan had singles and Ethan MacDuff and Kort Kisinger had two each. Scott Sinclair, Kaden Slobodian MacDuff and Liam Fitzgerald each had 3 assists and Colton Hanson got his 5th win in net.

Against Golden the Riders goals were off the sticks of Ethan MacDuff and Kort Kisinger (2). Aiden Kruhlak had the shutout in net.

Game Notes

Ethan MacDuff had 3 goals and 5 assists last weekend and 8 goals and 8 assists in his last 6 games. He is 6th in KIJHL scoring with 52 points.

Nice to see the hot and cold Kort Kisinger pick up 4 goals. He could be a make or break part of the offence in a few weeks.

The most celebrated of the 12 goals Friday was last one, it was Malachai Peigan’s first goal and the players both on and off the ice were cheering for him, he is a much loved teammate. 

Despite some real head shaking defensive blunders in the third against Golden the Riders managed to keep Kruhlak’s shutout bid alive, but the coaches will need chiropractors.

Golden quit trying to score in the third and decided to exact a pound of flesh with a series of cheap shots. There is a reason why they are number two in penalty minutes with 1041. With a little discipline they could be battling for first place instead of a colouring book or something.

Cole Fisher inherited Vin Jackson’s “A”. The naive Fisher thinks it means assistant captain but Jackson knew the A meant Ask for a trade to pick apples in Creston, but he ended up on a fishin boat in Campbell River.

Taylor Haggerty with 8 points in 2 games vs the Rockies and Castlegar was named as the one of the KIJHL’s Players of the Week, he’s definitely a Rookie of the Year candidate.

In case you were wondering Creston beat Chase 7-1 Saturday, a depleted Nelson Leaf team lost 3-2 to Castlegar despite outshooting them 46-22, and Kimberley eeked out a 1-0 win in Kelowna.

The Ghostrider's broadcast crew

John,Scottie, Budgie and the voice of the Riders Dan. Dan’s KIJHL interview is Here

Rider News Jan 8/23

The Ghostriders just finished off a great weekend with a 5-3 win over the first place Columbia Valley Rockies  and a 9-3 home ice  win over the  Castlegar Rebels .

In Invermere the Rockies were cruising along with a 3-1 lead in the second period thinking well, it’s just another win, until the Riders surprised them and probably most of the KIJHL hockeyverse  when they scored 4 in a row and handed the Rockies just their sixth regulation loss this season. 

The goal scorers were Ethan MacDuff  with two including the game winner, Taylor Haggerty (2) and Gaege Johnson. Kort Kisinger, Jack Lambert and Liam Fitzgerald each had two assists.

In the Rebel game  Kort Kisinger, Taylor Haggerty (2) Scott Sinclair, Jack Lambert, Lucas Desjarlais, Ethan MacDuff, Liam Fitzgerald, and Andrew Karam  scored the goals.

Game Notes 

Colton Hanson who hadn’t played since November 19th played both games and got two huge wins for his teammates... and his confidence. 

Clearly, playing with 15 skaters suited Haggerty, MacDuff and Kisinger who racked up 8 goals and 18 points along with some much needed secondary scoring like say Rylan Cardinal getting 3 assists Saturday. 

The coaches may not like being shorthanded but I’d bet anything the players love being in the game all night. 

Vin Jackson left the team and want’s to play in Creston. The odds are overwhelming that someone from Creston has been talking to him... Just sayin. 

Jack Karpyshyn, Cole Fournier and Liam Samycia are all out with injuries. Meanwhile the unhappy Josh Prebushewski and Michael Romeo were traded  to the PIJHL

Eli Neilsen  is a former team mate of Andrew Kennedy. The 18 year old D-man  was in Fort Francis Ontario (SIJHL) but is from Edmonton.

Eli, 6’3” 190 was in amongst the 715 Rider faithful Saturday. Only carding issues kept him from playing.

Round’ the League

The Nelson Leafs started a line brawl on New Year’s Eve and got 35 games worth of suspensions handed to them and their Coach Adam DiBella ended up stepping down. A BV player hit Nelson’s goalie in the first period and that was the reasoning for the sort of fights... even though the goalie played the entire game.

Anyway the Beaver Valley players got 8 games for defending themselves. BC Hockey thinks they should have just laid down, taken the beating, and let the refs sort it out...  I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy face shield they comfort me... What? 

Well it  looks like maybe someone squealed on the Nelson coach as the league has determined that he sent them out to fight. For those who witnessed all the brawls from a few years ago, you will be surprised to know that when it was over almost all the players still had their gloves on. You can see the whatever  it was here  The funniest part is the Nelson players in the penalty box simulating their wrestling matches. But seriously now folks.