Ghostrider Update July 30th

The Fernie Ghostriders Head Coach and General Manager Jeff Wagner has hired former Ghostrider Justin Peers as his Assistant Coach for the upcoming 2018/19 season. You can read Jeff’s full press release here


 Justin, who is 22 years old will be a good fit for the Riders and the players should be able to relate to him as he’s just a couple of years removed from being one of the inmates himself, so he’ll know what they are going through. 

Peers played three seasons with the Riders, had a scoring touch and was a very likeable guy with a great sense of humour... he even  mugged for this tweet one summer when he was working at Fernie Home Building Centre.


How can you not like a guy like that.

Next up is the Ghostriders Main Camp on the weekend of August 17-19.

Players who want to attend camp can get hold of

Head Coach and General Manager 

Jeff Wagner
Cell Phone (Team) 1-250-423-0619
Cell Phone 1-403-512-9631
Email wagner.ghostriders@gmail.com

The Riders exhibition schedule

In Invermere  Aug 27

In Golden      Aug 28

In Kimberley  Aug 30

In Creston     Sept 1

Yes I know it’s all road games... remember the part about the arena not being open yet...

As September inches ominously closer... the arena saga continues...

The pad for the new ice plant or “Chiller” has been poured and is ready, if and when the new plant shows up.
 At one time we were told it was going to be in place by August 1st...

On July 30th I asked Mayor Mary Giuliano via email if the arena would be open on time and her reply was.

“Were waiting on some information to make a final decision. It does look like this date (Sept 10th) is possible and certainly everyone is going for it.”

This report says the workers were not aware of the danger a  small hole in the “Chiller” presented.
Betting the lawyers are salivating so much they’ll need floor drains in their offices. 

More from Jeff Wagner
The Fernie Ghostriders are pleased to announced the KIJHL commitment of '00 Forward Kory Zinck. Kory spent the last 2seasons playing Midget AAA in Alberta, most recently with the Airdrie CFR Bisons where he scored 3 goals and added 7 assists in 35 games. Welcome to Fernie @koryzinck12!

I have never seen Zinck on the ice... but usually AAA players can play in the KIJHL. 

Some of the other new players this season are


Defenseman Ryan Van Boven. Ryan played in 25 games for the Midget AA Gold and scored 5 goals and 4 assists.

Defensemen Josh Dalquist, Josh had 5 assists in 35 games for the Midget AAA Calgary Flames.

Forward/ Centre Kyle Ford. Kyle scored 12 goals and added 14 assists in 27 games for the Midget AA Stamps.

Defenceman Sawan Gill. Sawan played 24 games for the AA Midget Canucks last year scoring 3 goals and adding 12 assists.

Also David Sanchez’s rights were acquired via the Nelson Leafs, he is a left winger.

Ghostrider exhibition schedule

Because the Fernie arena is not open yet the Riders will have their Main Camp in Calgary on August 17- 19th.

Interested future players can contact 

Head Coach and General Manager 

Jeff Wagner
Cell Phone (Team) 1-250-423-0619
Cell Phone 1-403-512-9631
Office Phone 1-250-423-4153 (not useable until the arena opens)
Fax 1-250-423-3214
Email wagner.ghostriders@gmail.com

Because of the arena situation all exhibition games will be on the road.

In Invermere  Aug 27

In Golden      Aug 28

In Kimberley  Aug 30

In Creston     Sept 1

Fernie Arena July 24th

Dateline July 24th 2018 Arena Update

At the back of the arena the guys from Shoesmith Construction are busy getting a pad ready for the new plant. They are expecting to see the concrete pour on Friday.



Inside the arena it sounds like the water lines are done up front and the now the contractors are working on the dressing rooms then they will be doing the back rooms including the Ghostrider room.
We have total destruction of all the old plumbing, no matter what they may have told us earlier.



The City is being very evasive about everything. At an ice meeting several weeks ago they assured all the user groups that they would email out weekly progress reports... They have not sent even one.

Will the arena open on time (or even close to Sept 10th) is the big question... Will someone from the City tell us... don’t bet on it.

Fernie Arena Update

As we inch closer to September

It’s June 20th and the longest day of the year is tomorrow... and no it’s not because I’ll have a hangover... The solstice is Thursday @ 4:07 AM

Everyone in town has been patiently awaiting an update from the City of Fernie on the arena renovations... So me being the impatient one, I did my own update for the Rider players and fans and all the other arena users.

Here it is.

Mike Mahon is one of the plumbers (and big hockey fan) working on the water system in the lobby area. Mike says the job is going well and the lobby area including washrooms should be finished within a couple of weeks.

That is a big step, at the time I talked to Mike some other contractors were getting the brine lines ready for the new plant. That is the second photo.

The City has also awarded the roofing contract and you can read that here    at the end of the interview they say that the rink should be ready in September. (The roof not being done would not stop the rink from opening on time)

Below is Mike Mahon who is on the job working  for Dale Johnson’s Plumbing and Heating. Check out some of the mangled water lines laying by the concession.

To the untrained eye the damage looks almost insurmountable, but when you have tradespeople who know what their doing they git er done.

President Bill Ohlhausen steps down...or retires

So the big news out of the KIJHL AGM last weekend was that longtime  President Bill Ohlhausen has stepped down after 17 years and the league is now actively looking for a new President... or a Commissioner . The difference, a President for the most part does what the Governors want and a Commissioner has a longterm vision and leads the league in that direction. 

We do know that Ohlhausen (sometimes unfairly)  took a lot of heat from the owners, GM’s, coaches and referees over the years and because he was the  President he was the guy who dealt with BC Hockey. Therefore he was right in the middle of the new face mask conspiracy (some think that word is appropriate) that ignited a firestorm throughout the league  because it was never voted on by the Governors. (Remember the difference between a President and a Commissioner )

Every year there are, and always will be, all kinds of player and carding issues that fans never hear about and the President is always right in the middle of it. He is constantly putting out fires and even gets justifiably angry once in a while... at one time he even called what we do here trash, one of my finest moments. For the record, he isn’t the only one with those values ... nothing personal here I’m good with it.

Anyway I wouldn’t be expecting an old school hockey guy like Bill Ohlhausen to spill his guts and tell the public exactly why he stepped down. But if he did it would be an interesting read.

The league had a great thing going with Bill and his wife/secretary  Mary who did a ton of paperwork for the league. That's another thing that the average fan knows nothing about, and they did both of those jobs for about  thousand a month... it’s two full time jobs for christ’s sakes.

So the betting here is the new guy will have to set up an office (guess where the office is now?) and hire a secretary. That will cost way way more than 1000 a month...maybe as much as $5000 per team, certainly $3000.

In other news...
Sixteen year Secretary/Treasurer John Surovy has also retired, another job to fill.

So at the moment Vice President and former Nelson President Larry Martel (another big fan of this column, or not) has taken over until the KIJHL decides what exactly they want to do and Eddie Mountain VP Kathy Merkel (a tireless volunteer) is filling in for Surovy.

I wish Bill and Mary and John all the best in the future, that was a very trying job.

The KIJHL’s AGM is this weekend... and the usual drivel

The KIJHL will be holding their AGM this weekend May 9th in Kamloops where they will likely finalize some sort of a hybrid crossover schedule with 49 games  (up from 47) and a “Showcase" featuring all teams just minutes after the Christmas break. 

I think these changes will make it through the AGM... but I’ve seen stranger things happen over the last 14 years that I've been covering the Riders in the KIJHL. 

If I had my way I’d add a few more changes.

1/  The “Media Time Outs” would be optional, if a team's local media doesn't need or want the buzz killing time out... then don’t have it, make it optional. 

2/ And, because they are paid and are forever preaching discipline to their players, the coaches suspensions should be listed along with the player suspensions on the KIJHL’s “Transaction Page” Especially the abuse of officials ones. Cause it’s hard to recruit new young officials and screaming and threatening never seems to help keep them in the game. It’s been tried before...

3/ Get Hockey Canada to do their job and use their powers to either make full face shields mandatory for all Jr B across the country or none, not just in BC... funny how BC Hockey wouldn’t dare even suggest that to the Jr A  BCHL... who would end up giving  them the old "Three Stooges” slap in the face and poke in the eyes . Nuk Nuk Nuk



New Ghostrider head Coach and General Manager Jeff Wagner was at the Alberni Valley Jr A camp in Cranbrook a few weeks ago then sent this out last week.

COMMITMENT ALERT: The Fernie Ghostriders are pleased to announce the KIJHL commitment of Defenceman Sawan Gill. Sawan played 24 games for the CNHA Canucks last year scoring 3 goals and adding 12 assists. Welcome to the organization @SGill71 !! #RiderPride

At the end of last season Grayson Neufeld  was picked by the coaches as the top defenceman and most inspirational player. Last week Neufeld was offered a chance to play at Minot State.

This from the Minot team website
"We are excited to add Grayson to our back end this upcoming season." Said Head Coach Wade Regier. "He is a player who has always prided himself on playing well in the defensive end. If you look at his numbers the last three seasons, they have continued to climb. We feel his best is still in front of him and will push him to improve each season.”


The Osoyoos Coyotes have hired former Melville Millionaire assistant coach Mark Chase as their Head Coach     read all about that here 

Rider AGM and Round the league... the usual drivel

The Fernie Ghostriders held their Annual General Meeting Thursday May 17th, here are the results of the meeting.

First off the public was addressed by Team President Barb Anderson and she, to make a long story short, had this to say. 

1/ The Ghostriders lost money everywhere, tickets, beer sales, 50/50 advertising you name it everything was down.
2/ The damage ended up being $78,382
3/ The team was kept alive because of what was in the team bank  and contingency fund accounts.
4/ The team has enough money to start the season.
5/ The team played out the season last year because of the generosity of the City of Sparwood and Community Services assistant Sheri Taylor.  Sheri was instrumental in helping us get set up in Sparwood and ensured that our team was looked after and welcomed.

Next up was the election of officers, well election is a stretch, how about the acclamation of officers.

President Barb Anderson- (now in her 6th year as President)
Vice President - Mike Causalt
Treasurer- Tom Murdoch

Billet Co-odirnator Ashley Charette
Booster- Booth Ruth Murdoch

Secretary- George Hurlbut... hands down the ugliest secretary in the Province

Board Members
Lynda Moulton
Gail Knee
Earle Price
Daryl Hutchinson
Mark Charette
Rose Mangone
Jon Levesqe 

Rocky Feregotto

Team Accountant (not a board member but one of the most valuable volunteers the Riders have)
Jason Traska

So there you have it, the Ghostriders lost a ton of money and if anything goes wrong next season... like say... the rink doesn’t open the team will fold.

On that front Anderson says that a contract was awarded and the contractor has started building a new non- ammonia fuelled plant. The plant is scheduled to be put in service around August 1st and the ice should be in use by September 1st. 

There are lots of skeptics out there mostly because the inside of the arena isn’t finished yet and there doesn’t exactly appear to be a hive of worker bees flying around stingin stuff either. Plus from what I've seen these big projects never seem to finish on time. I hope the skeptics are proven wrong.

Long time assistant goalie coach Gerry Pang was recognized for his contributions to hockey in Fernie and awarded the George Majic Spiritus award. Full story here Congratulations Gerry... I still think he won’t be able to help himself and will show up at practice once in a while. * George Majic was one of the founding fathers of the Ghostriders back in 1991.

Hey what’s with all the empty Perrier cans Panger... you mixing good rum in that swamp water 

 

Fernie’s Tyler Palmer was drafted by Chris Moulton and his Spokane Chiefs in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft . Tyler’s dad Mark played 5 years of junior here in Fernie with the old Jr A Ghostriders in the Rocky Mountain, and America West leagues a few years ago.

Read Tyler’s story here

Round the League

Longtime head coach of the Osoyoos Coyotes Ken Law was not rehired last month but has landed on his feet as the HC in Kelowna Read that story here    In Kelowna he will team up with former head coach Jason Tansem and GM Grant Sheridan who has recruited some really skilled players over the years and at one time his warriors led the league in PIM too... but it hasn’t translated into playoff success. Im betting the Lawyer will make a difference.

There will be no Prospects of a long Christmas break this year because the league will hold a showcase for the college scouts with all teams participating, instead of the January prospects game. 

The KIJHL bosses say that despite what you may have heard the scouts will show up at the showcase even though the Mac’s tournament in Calgary is at the same time.

Great idea for some teams but the Riders who have money problems will lose. The games are at Christmas time December 27-29 and that is when the Riders have their biggest crowds and beer pyramids with the rival Dynamiters and Creston in attendance. Sometimes these games are a make or break for the team. 

Beaver Valley’s HC and GM Terry Jones had this to say in the local paper . "It is unnecessary. Any player who is a solid player in our league can play in the ACHA or Div 3 NCAA hockey league. The individual cost for each player is what determines whether they can go or not”. 

 “Tuition fees for these schools range in the 50K per year amount, with scholarships and bursaries amounting to about half of this amount. With the American dollar as it is, it leaves a 30K per year allotment per student.” FULL STORY HERE

Here in Fernie I know several players have been offered one of these partial scholarships but have turned them down because of money. Terry has a point but I love the showcase idea, just not the timing... 

Crossovers

We will be seeing more teams this season, apparently the governors have decided that maybe the crossover schedule was not costing the teams all that much money. As we stated right here way back then, you still have to travel to games anyway, just more within your division...is it such a big deal to go a few hundred extra miles, don’t you think your fans will get sick of the same teams over and over again. 

Anyway the Riders will play the Okanagan Division  on the road and the Doug Birks Division will play games in  Fernie. This is a win win for the fans and for the players who like going to different towns. 

This was me a couple of years ago trying to get the “Crossover Schedule” back .