The KIJHL Notebook: Kootenay Conference

Neil Murdoch Division

The Nelson Leafs are embarking on another three games in a three-day weekend. Head coach-general manager Briar McNaney gave the players some time off, then had a maintenance and skills day. 

McNaney said that Quinn Ramsay is playing a very strong two-way game and is “probably the best two-way forward I’ve been able to coach at any level throughout my coaching career so far.”

He’s also been impressed with Carsyn Crawford.

“He’s easily one of the best defencemen in the league,” said McNaney. “He’s not gonna put up a million points, but he’s going to shut down every rush, every defensive play. He communicates, he’s positive on the bench and that’s why he’s getting a lot of Division 3 looks right now. He’s a pretty steady, two-way, all-around defenceman.”

New addition Cale Nachai is big, “physical and brings a little bit of competitiveness and juice.” 

Talin McLeod is another forward who is on the fourth line on “paper”, but is anchoring it defensively and doing quite well. McLeod, 18, has also been a solid leader and has proven to be an effective penalty-killer earning trust to lock down a game.

 

The Grand Forks Border Bruins host Creston Valley (Saturday) and Columbia Valley (Sunday) for their first meetings of the season. Head coach-general manager David Hnatiuk has relied on video of both opponents to get his team ready.

Playing their 10th game on Friday, Hnatiuk said there are plenty of areas to improve on.

“That’s part of the process of getting better every day and week and identifying our areas throughout the weekend. After playing some games that gives us the ability to reflect on our last three games from the last road trip,” he said. “Overall, 10 games in there are some good, bad and ugly.”

Forward Tyler Burke had five points in three games and Hnatiuk said he’s a creative player, “who is pretty nifty with the puck and makes things happen out there.” 

“He has a knack for the net and now he’s been on a little bit of a hot streak scoring and that’s what Tyler does,” said Hnatiuk. “When he’s playing his hockey, he is on the scoreboard, driving the play offensively.”

Burke has developed chemistry with rookie Justin Mol. Hnatiuk said they complement each other well and each have 11 points, which is tied for second on the team. Burke has seven goals in nine games. In his KIJHL career, the Vernon product has 50 goals and 134 points in 139 career regular season games.

 

Revelstoke and Nelson are the next opponents for the Beaver Valley Nitehawks, and head coach-general manager Terry Jones has them focused on small things they haven’t done well, such as their power-play, defensive zone play, as well as faceoffs. Jones also wants to see his group maintain a level of consistency. 

Over the last couple of weeks, Jones has been impressed with defencemen Jack Bodel and Ryan Neufeld. 

“I thought they were two of our best players in Kimberley,” he said. “One guy who’s always been very consistent is Hunter Hanson. “He’s always playing at that level and gives it all he’s got all the time. He’s an intelligent player.”

Nitehawks alumni note: Jones’ son Connor is in his first season as an assistant coach with Princeton University in the National Collegiate Athletic Conference. Connor was a scout with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights the previous two seasons, earning a Stanley Cup ring his first year.

Connor was added to the Tigers coaching staff by Ben Syer, who recruited the former Nitehawk to Quinnipiac.

“He is really excited about this new job,” said Terry.

 

Castlegar Rebels forwards Kwentyn Oss and Carter Peters, along with defenceman Ben Filippone each have two goals and two assists in their last four games. 

“Carter Peters plays in every situation,” said Rebels head coach Nick Headrick. ”I think he works like crazy. He does everything right on and off the ice.”

Headrick has also been very happy with goalies Mason Hillier and Haden Heide, who is featured on this week’s Top Shelf: The KIJHL Podcast. Headrick said they give the Rebels a chance to win every game.

“Kwentyn Oss and Filippone have been playing well, I’ve been getting efforts from everybody, it’s been awesome,” he said.

The Rebels have the third best power-play in the league at 24.3 per cent (9-for-37), while their penalty-kill is seventh best at 86.8 per cent (33-for-38).

Headrick noted that after costing them games last season, the power-play has had early success with players making second and third efforts on turnovers in the offensive zone, getting pucks back.

“The support from our other players without the puck, getting open, getting in the right spots and being very direct in what we’re doing, getting pucks to the net quicker has given us good success.”

 

The Spokane Braves have been working on protecting their net better and assistant coach Jason Greenwell said they also need to constantly out work other teams. 

“It has been a good week of practice and focusing on getting better everyday,” he said.

Captain Cameron Oien had six points in three games and Greenwell said that he has always been a great leader and his play really showed that he can lead by example as well. 

“Owen Ames and Deegan Sellers have excelled in their roles as top line players with Cam and the three of them have complimented each other well,” said Greenwell, as Ames has five points in three games, while Sellers have five points in eight games.

The Braves have alum and NHLer Derek Ryan involved with the organization as a Pro Hockey Consultant. Greenwell noted in that role Ryan is a constant resource and expands their horizons in development discussions with players. 

“We’re constantly in communication and discussion with Derek on systems and overall player development,” said Greenwell.

 

Eddie Mountain Division

Kimberley Dynamiters head coach-general manager Derek Stuart has been very happy with his younger players lately.

“Aiden MacDonald has found his groove, Luke Davies has continued his hot start and Nathan Laforge was a pleasant surprise after being out since August with an injury,” said Stuart. “Both goaltenders have also been really good over the last four or five games.”

In that time, rookie Kyan Gray is 4-0 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .907 save rate, while Marc Samyn is 1-1 with a 3.02 GAA and a .903 SP.

The Dynamiters are always putting in special teams work, and Stuart said both have improved, especially the penalty kill (now 81.8 per cent), but there are minor adjustments needed in both areas.

 

Columbia Valley Rockies head coach-general manager Tayler Sincennes said his team is doing a better job of executing and competing.

“Our compete level was way higher, we were in the battle for pretty much a full 60 minutes and the biggest key piece to us, playing good on Saturday, is we stayed out of the box,” he said. “At 5-on-5, we’re a very good hockey team. Once we get into the penalty-killing a bunch of times, it takes away from the depth of our group and doesn’t allow us to establish our game.”

This weekend the Rockies play in Princeton, Osoyoos and Grand Forks and the focus is on their mentality and being mentally prepared for the travel.

“We just have to stay in the moment and show up ready to play every night,” he said. “I mentioned our depth a bit earlier, having that depth allows us to play as many guys as possible and gives us the best chance to win.”

It’s the first time this season they play three games in three days.

 

Creston Valley Thunder Cats head coach-general manager Geordie Wudrick has been working on their power-play, which he felt struggled at the start. Wudrick said they are seeing some success from the work and that the percentage is improving – now at 13 per cent.

“The big things for us too is cleaning up our defensive zone and getting back to pucks a little bit quicker and trying to make easy, simple plays out of our zone,” he said. “I think some of our results, we haven’t had too many wins, but some of the games have been a little bit closer than maybe it seems in the standings.”

In goal, Wudrick likes their tandem of Jacob Burnside with Brendan Smith. When Wudrick saw that Smith was available, he was excited to add him. Wudrick was familiar with Smith, who tried out for the Melville Millionaires last year while he was an assistant coach.

“I knew he was a quality young man, so when I saw that he was available, it was an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up even with another 2004 goalie. He’s been excellent,” said Wudrick. “He’s been playing a lot of hard matchups.”

Wudrick considers Burnside and Smith their backbone.

 

Chad Scharff saw success for the Fernie Ghostriders that has them going in the right direction. Following a good weekend against the Thunder Cats and Spokane, the head coach-general manager said the “challenge is, can we do it against a top team in Kimberley?”

“For us, it’s being able to focus on what we do and continue to take the strides,” he said. “I think with our will to get better every week, now we’re starting to find our groove.”

A week after being hired by the Ghostriders, Scharff had defenceman Govind Dhillon on his radar to acquire him.

“First and foremost he is a good skating, right-handed defenseman and they’re hard to find, especially a right shot defenceman,” said Scharff. “I’ve known Govind for a little while through minor hockey. I’m looking for him to solidify our top-four and be a guy that can produce offensively, but also defend in our end. In the first game he did that.”

 

Playing in Merritt’s smaller arena, Golden Rockets head coach-general manager Jed Houseman wants them to be ready to play a physical game.

“It’s going to take a gutsy effort from everybody in the lineup to get it done,” he said. “They’re gonna be coming hard, they’ve been knocking off some good teams and we have to be ready to go.”

They also play in Kelowna, where he said it’s important to stick to their game.

“Ultimately, these are weekends we need to be grabbing points. We have to find a way to get it done and create more offence,” he said.

Houseman has been happy with the play of Maddox DePasquale, a new addition.

“I’ve been impressed with his game, he’s got great gap control and finishes his checks,” he said. “He’s tough to play against, is defending well and he’s a really good skater. He’s great for our group and adds great value to our defence core.”

Below is a Facebook post from their page highlighting a trip to Calgary. DePasquale’s father Mark is an equipment manager for the Calgary Flames.