The Fernie Ghostriders’ first home game is this Saturday September 23rd against the Osoyoos Coyotes.
And there will be
The games this year are at the kid friendly time of 7:00... finally, they ditched the 7:30 start.
The Coyotes have always been one of the top teams in the Bill Ohlhausen Division. Their Head Coach and GM is longtime KIJHL coach Ken Law and this is the only time Osoyoos will play in Fernie... unless both teams make the KI final.
This summer BC Hockey reclassified the VIJHL, PIJHL and the KIJHL as Junior A. With the change fans will notice a couple of things.
1/ Teams can now have 6 twenty year old’s, up from 5 last season. This is long overdue, the stubborn KIJHL stuck with 4 for years (cause we’re a development league) then went to 5 now 6. All the other leagues have had from 6 to 8 for eons.
2/ Another change is when you get coincidental penalties, now the teams will play 4 on 4 and both penalties will be shown on the clock.
I remember my time as a linesman and a score clock operator many moons ago just how much easier things were when they brought in the coincidental penalty rule. I thought it was a great thing.
But now as a fan watchin from the stands, where I don’t have to do anything, I like the new old rules... and the potential mayhem.Hey let’s bring back the two line pass rule, that always caused controversy.
So as you can see the league has adopted some junior A rules, just not the good ones like no full face masks. There will be a few more changes ahead but for now the future looks good for hockey in Fernie.
Mike Anderson, Ethan MacDuff, Ty Valin
The Ghostriders Head Coach and General Manager is Ty Valin, he is now in his third season. Former Ghostrider Mike Anderson is also back on the bench as an Assistant Coach.
Most of last season's players have come back for the 23/24 season along with several AAA skaters. Add in Hunter Sperle who came over in a trade with Nelson and Luken Murray who came over from Princeton and I think Fernie has a decent team. They sure skate faster anyway.
In case you were wondering... Sperle was part of the notorious “Nelson Brawl" last year and got 8 games. You can relive that historic event here . And Murray had a respectable 267PIM in 62 KIJHL games... this kinda stuff just warms the heart.
The team Captain is, Taylor Haggerty along with Assistant Captains, Cole Fournier, Cole Fisher and Jack Lambert. Haggerty as the “C" will get his name on this list at the end of the season.
And Finally, Penticton City Council approved a $50,000 donation to the Outlaw BCHL for the right to host their All-Star Game. Read that here
Penticton realizes that the city will do $300,000 in business that weekend so the investment pays a nice dividend.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch... The City of Fernie’s contribution is to raise the rates they charge the Riders despite the fact that the team gives the skiers something to do during their visits... I wonder how much money and hangovers the skiers bring to town.
