The Comox Valley Glacier Kings have been fine-tuning their lineup with a series of roster moves. But they’re still in need of a jump start to get their game back into high gear.
Saturday night at the Sports Centre, the Yetis dropped their fifth straight game when they fell 6-3 to the Westshore Wolves. After leading the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League North Division for most of the season, the Icemen now find themselves in third place.
There is no panic in the ranks, however, as head coach Bill Rotheisler is optimistic that the fresh faces on the bench will improve the team’s overall game play.
“We made essentially four mistakes that resulted in four goals,” Rotheisler said of Saturday’s setback. “It’s not as frustrating as it appears. Our special teams are working like they’re supposed too. We worked on our penalty
kill in practice, and tonight it showed. We killed every penalty. We have new players in the dressing room and we are on the right track, it just takes more than one game to work it out.”
A solid first period had the Glacier Kings up 1-0 courtesy of Jack Kennelly’s seventh of the season. Tyson Rennie made it 2-0 at 7:35 of the second, but the Wolves tallied three goals in four minutes to grab a lead they would not relinquish. Cody Eliason’s third period tally at 12:10 made it 4-3, but with goalie Bryce DiRocco on the bench for an extra attacker, the visitors popped a pair of empty netters to seal the deal.
Westshore outshot Comox Valley 22-21 with Matt Chester picking up the win. The Yetis killed off all three of their penalties but were unable to capitalize on their two power-play opportunities.
The Icemen return to action Friday night in Saanich against the Braves. On Saturday they host the surging Nanaimo Buccaneers (now tops in the North Division) in a 7:30 p.m. start at Sports Centre Arena #1. Fans are invited to take part in the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss at that game.
ICE CHIPS The 2013 All-Star Classic goes Jan. 13 in Parksville, with details at www.vijhl.com … Mitch Ball leads the Glacier Kings scoring with 38 points (19g, 19a) …
