The Comox Valley Glacier Kings will have a couple of new faces in their lineup when they take on the Nanaimo Buccaneers tonight (Oct. 15) in Nanaimo.
The Yetis picked up 18-year-old goaltender Braddock Otton and 19-year-old forward Jordan Harding-Bautista from the Oceanside Generals, according to an Oct. 15 transaction report on the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League website.
The moves came after the G-Kings swept a home-and-away series with the Generals (winning 7-3 Oct. 9 in Courtenay and 3-2 Oct. 10 in Parksville) and a 3-1 Oceanside loss Oct. 14 to the Westshore Wolves.
Following the 3-2 loss to the Glacier Kings, Oceanside head coach Brad Knight said he was impressed by the play of 16-year-old goalie Matt Henwood of Comox, who in his first VIJHL start gave up three goals on 25 shots and made some key saves.
That loss dropped the Generals’ record to 2-7-1-0 and left them in fourth place in the North Division, nine points back of third-place Comox Valley. “…we’ve had 10 games to look at this roster and we’re going to make some tough decisions that people are going to be surprised by,” Knight told the Parksville Qualicum News.
“If you want to survive, you’ve got to cull the weak, and those are the kind of decisions that we as an organization need to start making to get to where we want to be.”
Noting his team needs to be ready for the playoffs, Knight added, “We’ll make a couple decisions this week on the roster and get on with it.”
Otton, from Aurora, Ont., was 2-5 with the Generals with a 4.64 GAA and .858 save percentage. Harding-Bautista, from Kelowna, had two goals and one assist in nine games this season. In 38 games last year he tallied nine goals and 19 assists.
Tonight’s game in Nanaimo is a four-pointer for the Icemen (6-5-0-2) as they trail the second-place Bucs (7-3-1-1) by just two points.
They’ll also have a chance to gain ground on North Division leading Campbell River Storm (8-2-1-1) when they host the VIJHL’s top team on Saturday, Oct. 17. Face-off is 7:30 p.m. at Comox Valley Sports Centre Arena #1.
ICE CHIPS Henwood appeared in two games with the Glacier Kings in 2014-15, giving up nine goals in 42 minutes of playing time … Otton’s first win of the season came in Oceanside’s first win of the season, 4-2 over the Glacier Kings on Sept. 22 … G-Kings’ 2015-16 starting netminder Paul Broadbent is in a four-way tie for most wins this season with five … Grayden McInnes of the Yetis is fourth in league scoring with 18 points (6g, 12a) in 13 games …
