The Eddie Mountain Breakdown Friday Sept 8

Fernie 2@ Grand Forks 3  2nd OT 

Logan Hascarl scored in double overtime giving the GFBB their first win of the season but the Riders get a point as well.

The Rider's Brendan Nemes and Bruin Evan Laura scored PP goals in the first.

Jace Woodley scored to give the Riders a 2-1 lead in the second then Reese Tambellini tied the game in the third.

The shots were 46-32 for the Bruins and Rider goalie Zak Larson was named as the player of the game.

The 468 fans saw lots of hits but few PIM - FG went 1-4 and GF 1-3 on the PP.  Att 468

Cory Caldwell injured in the 1st, no updates on that.

The Riders play in Beaver Valley tonight and the game is on local radio the Drive 99.1 and 93.5 in Sparwood with Josh Hoffman doing the PxP

Columbia Valley 1 @ Kimberley 6

Kimberley scored in the first, second then racked up 4 in the third for a convincing 6-1 win in their home opener.

Mason Palaga (POG) scored 3 and had 1 assist, Austin Hope scored 2 and Matt Davies had 3A as well. 

Lots of hard PIM's -Kimberley went 4-9 on the PP while the Rockies were 0-7 Att 773

Creston 0 @ Spokane 3 

Three different Braves scored and Trevor Dilauro who came over from Revelstoke in the summer stoped 51 for the shutout. Dawson Tritt had 1 G 1A.

Creston went  0-6 SB 1-6 on the PP

Castlegar 5@ Golden 4

The Rebels were up 5-2 in the third then the Rockets scored 2 to make it close but couldn't close it out.

Five different Rebels scored and Everett Hicks had 1G 2A
Jason Mailhiot had the W in net.

The shots were close 36-28 Castlegar who also went 1-4 on the PP the GR was 1-3

In other games of note... Revelstoke won 3-1 at home vs Kamloops who had the new league minimum 14 skaters, it was just 12 last year.  The Grizzles went at the Storm hard with several hard PIM and they  outshot KS 53-14

Beaver Valley lost 1-0 in Nelson Josh Williams with the shutout. Shots 38-26 BV The Riders are in BV tonight.

And the always strong  Osoyoos Coyotes won 6-4 vs Chase

Ghostrider Update Sept 5th

The Ghostriders played four exhibition games, they won their two home games, but lost the road games against both the Rockies and Creston. On Tuesday morning the team had their last home ice practice and  now they'll help put down the boards that will cover the ice for the big National Mine Rescue competition. 

Coach Craig Mohr tells me because the team lost the ice this week they will have to travel to Grand Forks a day early so they can get in a practice before settling in for their first regular season game Friday. 

Mohr also says local players Jake Beranek (injured) and Cory Caldwell will be here at the start and likely for the full season.  Meanwhile Chase Rayman and Kris Wert are still  battling it out for the final roster spots. 

A noticeably thinner Brandon Youngson is the likely Rider starter in net but Zak Larson who the Riders acquired from the Chase Heat a few weeks ago may have something to say about that.

The C's and the A's 
Mitch Titus will Captain the Riders this year and Brendan Nemes and third year D man Kevin Pierce will be wearing the A's. Another A may be announced in a couple of weeks.

The Riders have several new players and we will be talking about them when the season starts up.  Rider GM Craig Mohr, as usual, has to play the waiting game with BC Hockey and Hockey Alberta to get all his player releases. This happens every year but should be complete by Friday. Fans though can see this year's lineup right away  it's here .

Rider fans can listen to the games in Grand Forks and Beaver Valley on our local radio the Drive 99.1 or 93.5 in Sparwood or watch them on the KIJHL webcasts. 

Demo Derby Riders Nemes and Titus

Riders split first two EX games

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.

Fair Comment ?

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.

Main is over and now on to the X season

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.

Congratulations Mitch !

Like it or not...Coming to a rink near you- Cages are for animalz

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??

July Ghostrider Update, and a few other things

Here is your July 2017 Fernie Ghostrider update.

Hey I went to Prep 9 too

Head Coach Craig Mohr just finished running what he called  a Prep Camp in Calgary that saw two teams scrimmage for three days. But not everyone is happy.

We're Mad as Hell and were not gonna take it anymore!

Hockey Alberta and for whatever reason BC Hockey???  are pissed with the number of BC Jr B teams hosting camps in Alberta and they want it to stop immediately. ( I can actually hear them stomping their feet right now)  Well they get to be the bosses so the camp was not an actual Ghostrider camp. It was just a summer skate for whoever showed up.

Some history, or my view of it

A few years ago Hockey Canada decreed that Canadians are Canadians so a player from Alberta was not considered an import here in BC. Before that you could only have 8 imports or something but now it’s open and only non Canadians are considered imports. 

That was a good rule change for southern BC teams who don’t have big minor hockey systems to feed off of  like they once did in the 80’s and 90’s.

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE CAUSE

BC and Alberta Hockey  Boy Scouts don't like camping any more

With the new hockey camps rule it looks like BC Hockey has decided to suck-hole to Hockey Alberta and help them try and hobble the recruiting process, even though Hockey Canada, the ultimate boss, kinda likes giving players a place to play and proved it by eliminating the provincial border with the import rule… they give with one hand and BC Hockey takes away with the other. 

Have faith ye

The day of no provincial borders is coming, but it’s a gradual evolution and it started with the import rule.

Anyway…Coach Mohr says it was a good skate with several players who have a legitimate chance of making the team in September. As per usual many of the guys will be trying their luck at various Junior “A” Camps first… but if things don’t work out they have a spot here in Fernie.  

Coach Mohr also tells me that 1/  Mitch Titus, who was the team’s top scorer last season and rarely misses a game is coming back for his final year of junior hockey. The fans coaches and writers have to be happy with that development.

2/ Keagan Kingwell is taking an electrical apprenticeship so won't be back.

3/ Riley Siebel, Ryan Kennedy and Evan Traverse are all going to UBC this year.

4/ Alex Cheveldave is going to Marian University in Wisconsin where he will play hockey.

We wish nothing but the best for all of these players.

It’s looking like the Riders will have a couple of 16 year old’s in the lineup this year and we’ll have more on that in August as training camp approaches. 

And finally, and not a moment to soon

We stir up a lot of sh#@ here at the blog and some teams and coaches including the KIJHL President  are not fans... but former Creston HC and GM Jeff Dubois, was, and he understood when and when not to take things serious... so we will miss having him in the league. 

Dubios, for the record,is going to Alberni Valley as an assistant Coach and GM where he will team up with Matt Hughes, a former Columbia Valley Rockies HC and GM. Good luck in the BCHL Jeff!... and for that matter Matt.