Friday night in the EM Division

Columbia Valley 5 @ Fernie 4 OT

In Sparwood Jaret Bort scored in double OT to give the Rockies a 5-4 road win. 
The Rockies were up 4-0 after the first but the Ghostriders scored 4 in the third (2PPG) to tie the game. 

Josh Antunes had 2G for CVR and Mitch Titus had 2G 1A for the Riders. The shots were 56-44 FG. Broc Merkl FG and Ben Kelsch were in net.

Kimberley 2 @ Creston 3

In Creston Tyler Witzke scored the GW, Liam Plunkett had 1G 1A and Levi Mitchell stopped 27 for the win.
Creston outshot Kimberley 47-29

Beaver Valley 6 @ Golden 2

In Golden Brad Ross scored 2G and Owen Sikkes had the win in net for the Hawks who outshot Golden 56-26.

Riders lose 5-4 Tuesday night

The Ghostriders lost 5-4 to Kimberley Tuesday night in Sparwood on a fluke goal from a point shot that bounced around before going in.

Mason Palaga got the goal but in another era he wouldn't even be on the ice. Palaga went to the Rider bench and challenged the Riders smallest player Mitch Titus to fight then said he would fight anyone else... but when Jake Hryhoriw challenged him in the second period he went down faster than a porn star and Jake got the only PIM.

No issue at all with that in the playoffs, I get it, but at this time of year with a 17 point lead in the standings and right after their  Lucas Purdy jumped a  top pairing D- Man, it was nothing short of gutless. I sure hope you coaches in the division don't give Stuart any votes when you vote for the "Coach of the Year".

The power play was the difference in Tuesday's game. Kimberley, who are 4th overall in the league on the PP went 3-7 and the Riders who are 7th went 1-5.

Sixteen year old Ethan Jang scored one of the nicest goals of the game on a shorthanded breakaway. It was his 4th of the season.

Greg Susinski scored his first goal as a forward Tuesday. He really looks at home on the wing.

Keelan Saworski continued his point streak but despite getting a few grade A scoring chances he had his goal streak broken at 8 games.  

Mitch Titus had a goal and an assist and is just 1 point behind Saworski for the Rider's top scorer. 

Broc Merkl was the Riders POG, to bad after that effort a fluke goal steals at least a point from the Riders. And maybe two as the boys were equal or better in the third.

Kevin Pierce scored the other Rider goal on the PP, his 3rd PP goal so far this year. 

Kyle Haugo made a few great stops in his end of the ice Tuesday and used his body well. Coach Mohr agrees and says he played pretty good in Creston too. You can always say that about Grayson Neufeld, a nice skater as well. Wondering why that guy didn't challenge him, oh yeah I forgot he might be able to fight...

Jake Beranek has decided to play Midget this season where he will get a ton of ice time that he wasn't getting with the Ghost. We hear they have enough players to form a team so lots of ice time and a few AP games may really help him get ready as an 18 year old next year.

Injuries, Owen Titus, Shaun Pierce, Zak Larson and now Matt Rogers are all out for the weekend game vs the Rockies.

The Rockies have 15 points but the Riders have 4 games in hand... but to catch up they will have to win a few of them.

Saturday Nov 4th in the EM Division

Fernie 4 @ Beaver Valley 2

In Fruitvale Brendan Nemes scored three goals (2PP) Keelan Saworski and Mitch Titus each had 3 points and Broc Merkl stopped 36 of 38 Hawk shots for the Ghostriders second win in a row. 
The Riders went 3-7 on the PP as well.

Castlegar 5 @ Kimberley 4 OT

In Kimberley the Rebel's Ed Lindsey scored the overtime winner and Tanner Douglas had the W in net.
Kimberley's Nicholas Ketola scored 3 goals- 2 were SH and the third one tied the game giving the Nitro's a point.

Grand Forks 2 @ Columbia Valley 9

In Invermere Cooper Krauss had 2 G Tyler Bordt and Davin Burton had 3 points each and Mike Dyck had 4 points as the Rockies rolled over GFBB 9-2. Ben Kelsch had the W in net.

Creston 6 @ Golden 2

In Golden Justin James had 2 goals and 3 assists and Creston outshot Golden 46- 20 as well.   Jaysen MacLean had the W in net. 

With the win in BV the Riders were able to keep pace with the group and still have 5 games in hand on the Rockies and 4 on Creston. No one is likely to catch Kimberley, but it is Jr hockey. 

Next up Kimberley in Sparwood @ 7:30 Tuesday night.

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.