By adding goalie Kyan Gray and defenceman Jimmy Proulx for goalie Josh Hager in Oct. 28 trade with the Kimberley Dynamiters, the Quesnel River Rush got younger in net and improved their penalty-killing depth.
“Kyan has got lots of upside,” said River Rush head coach-general manager Logan Maxwell. “He had good numbers in Kimberley and wants to be here and is willing to learn.”
In six games with the Dynamiters, Gray won four games, had an .881 save rate with a 3.31 goals against average.
The Dynamiters perspective on the trade just below in the KIJHL Notebook.
Maxwell also added Christian Rapp, 20, who was playing in the Superior International Junior Hockey League with the Ironwood Lumberjacks. In nine games, Rapp had two assists. Last season, Rapp dressed for three teams (Chilliwack Jets – PJHL/Oceanside Generals – VIJHL/Thunder Bay North Stars – SIJHL), playing a combined 42 regular season games and registered nine goals and 19 points.
Maxwell is looking for veteran leadership from him and likes his size – 6-6, 185-pounds.
Eddie Mountain Division
In adding Hager, the Bill Ohlhausen Division’s Top Goalie last year, to play with Marc Samyn, Dynamiters head coach-general manager Derek Stuart feels they have the best goaltending tandem in the KIJHL.
Making the move required patience, but it was worth it for Stuart.
“Having two elite goaltenders is better than having just one,” he said. “It just made sense for our hockey club. We lost our 18-year-old backup and gained a 20-year-old elite starter.”
Hager had two wins in eight games with the River Rush and a .890 SP with a 4.70 GAA. Last season with the North Okanagan Knights, Hager went 7-7-0 with a 2.58 GAA and a .932 SP. In last season’s Teck Cup playoffs, Hager won seven games, had a 2.90 GAA and a .930 SP.
Stuart said he’s happy to hear that Gray will get a starting opportunity in Quesnel.
“Marc Samyn has been fantastic and separated himself from Kyan, so we decided for his sake as well, it was better for him to go to Quesnel.”
Hager now gives Stuart the flexibility to choose which goalie he wants playing in specific situations.
In adding Jake Briltz from the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Stuart said he fills a hole on the wing.
“He plays it hard,” said Stuart. “Jake’s a very smart player with a high hockey IQ, he’s not afraid to be physical, and he’s got offensive abilities. He’s starting to figure out the league. It takes awhile sometimes for guys coming from different leagues and he’s feeling more and more comfortable.”
Stuart had learned about Briltz earlier this month when the 18-year-old wasn’t getting the opportunity he hoped for with the Millionaires.
“I think he’s enjoying his decision so far,” said Stuart, as the Regina native has three goals in five games, scoring his first goal against the Williams Lake Mustangs.
Captain Johnny Lozeman is fifth on the Columbia Valley Rockies with 11 points in 12 games. Recently head coach-general manager Tayler Sincennes said Lozeman has been awesome.
“He slides into that middle six centremen role, kills penalties and has done it excellently. He shows up every night and gives his best effort.”
Lozeman has six points in his last three games.
Carter Hensch, brought in from Kimberley, is similar to Lozeman.
“He does all the little things the right way and works hard,” said Sincennes. “Guys like that, their mentality bleeds through the lineup.”
Hensch has 10 points in 12 games and is five points away from equaling his rookie output from last season. Carter Velker had a three-game goal-scoring streak snapped, in which he scored five goals, while Owen Ditzel had a nine-game point streak end on Oct. 25, in which he collected 14 points.
On Oct. 15, Creston Valley Thunder Cats forward Liam Munro had nine goals and no assists. His head coach Geordie Wudrick jokingly asked him if he was going for the Cy Young Award.
Two weeks ago Wudrick talked about how excellent Munro had been despite not having any assists.
“I can see his confidence really blossoming,” said Wudrick. “He’s turning into a really dominant player in this league.”
Now Munro is tied for the team lead with 19 points alongside linemate Berkley Gross, after collecting 10 assists in five games.
“Liam has been great all season and I think the team as a whole had a little bit of a slow start just with a lot of new players, new systems and new things that I was teaching them, but Liam’s been our leader on the ice every single day,” said Wudrick. “He’s got a great combination of speed, skill, good hockey IQ and a great shot.”
When the opposition focuses on him, he’s able to find his linemates. Wudrick said that Gross is one of the beneficiaries of Munro’s playmaking, as is Ti Regan.
“Liam has a great ability to create plays and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised or shocked at some of the stuff he comes up with,” added Wudrick.
Chad Scharff just returned to the Fernie Ghostriders with a gold medal as part of the Team Alberta coaching staff from the WHL Cup, which showcased the top 2009-born players from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Team Alberta defeated Team Manitoba 8-1.
The process for Scharff and the team began last March.
“To see it come full circle and accomplish what we set out to do is an unbelievable experience,” he said. “We had great staff, great players, and it was a great organization with a lot of hard work put into it, but when you win a gold medal there’s nothing better than that.”
Scharff said he took on the opportunity to learn and likes being involved in these tournaments to work with other great coaches and learn from them.
“You take things you like, take things you don’t like and hopefully bring them back to your club teams,” he said.
While Scharff was away, his team earned a pair of 9-1 wins against the Quesnel River Rush and Williams Lake Mustangs.
“Kudos to my assistant coach Dante Raposo, who took over the reins and he did a heck of a job working with the guys throughout the week,” said Scharff. “I talked to the players today (Tuesday) and honestly when I came back, it was almost like trying to stay out of the way. When you score 18 goals in a weekend, obviously the goal scoring part is a nice thing, but for me, the flip side of it was we only gave up two goals, which is almost more impressive than getting the 18. It’s about continuing to build.”
Goalie Nick Kunyk had a .969 SP, and that type of play is their expectation for him.
“Coming off a strong season last year, we expect Nick to be the guy, and credit to him, he put in the work over the week and was able to have a solid weekend.”
Kanye Huang leads the Golden Rockets with 10 points in 11 games. Head coach Jed Houseman said as a rookie coming in and leading a junior team in points is a great thing. Huang is featured in this week’s Top Shelf: The KIJHL podcast episode.
“We’re very happy to have Kanye here and he’s been solid for us since Day 1,” said Houseman, noting he’s been involved in the community. “He’s setting the tone off the ice, in the gym, but then on the ice, the pace that kid can play with is great. He flies around, has a great shot, good release, he’s not scared to be effective defensively either. I’ve used on the penalty-kill, I’ve used him on the power-play, which has struggled a bit, but he’s found a way to get it done a couple times. He’s just well-rounded.”
Neil Murdoch Division
Grand Forks Border Bruins head coach-general manager Dave Hnatiuk really liked how his team played following the trade for Jasper Tait. Hnatiuk said Tait has fit in well as though he had been there to start the season.
“He’s been an instant asset to the room and a great asset on the ice,” said Hnatiuk. “Anytime there’s a big movement, it shakes up the room a bit, and harnesses it into some focus. We had a good weekend.”
With Desabrais moved on, a player taking on his minutes is based on merit.
“Guys who have earned it, played well, and have bought into structure, the details and all those little things that we look for,” he said. “Jace Koole right away was put into a position to play into the top six. Jace has been a guy who could have been up there before. I kind of see him as a top-nine now.”
However, Hnatiuk is also seeing the group develop into a top-12.
“I think we’re finding our groove and hopefully better is yet to come,” he said.
On Oct. 27, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks acquired defenceman Brett Moch from the Kimberley Dynamiters. Moch was recruited hard by the Nitehawks, head coach-general manager Terry Jones said.
“He was available and this is a guy who we thought highly of and wanted to see what he could bring and if he can help our team win,” said Jones, adding they have some injuries right now that are significant. “We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to help us win games.”
Moch is expected to make his Nitehawks debut on Friday. When Jones saw Moch at their spring camp, he liked Moch’s size – 6-2, 200-pounds, as well as his offensive skills, which features a good shot.
“I think more than anything, we just like the complete package,” Jones added. “What kind of kid he is, seems like a real, hard working kid and I think a guy that will fit in well here.”
Heading into the weekend, Jones felt his team had a “couple of ugly road wins.”
“We hung in there and had great goaltending, and I felt we had some timely scoring with different guys showing up. I really felt like this is one of those road trips, where you take it shift by shift. I felt like our guys really built off the play of Connor Stojan, and we had some great play from Ryan Neufeld and timely goals from Johnathan Strecheniuk and Sam Chartres.”
Briar McNaney has been busy making trades to improve the Nelson Leafs. He picked up Shawn Minnabarriet from the Columbia Valley Rockies, Brendon Hall from the La Ronge Ice Wolves in the SJHL, moved Jimmy Proulx to the Kimberley Dynamiters, and added goalie Jacob Armstrong from the Portage Terriers in the MJHL.
McNaney, the Leafs’ head coach-general manager, thanked Proulx for his time with the Leafs and everything he did with a positive attitude. It made him well liked.
With Minnabarriet, McNaney is familiar with the Ashcroft native and added him to address their physicality on defence. He has worked out well so far.
“He’s fit into the dressing room seamlessly, he’s asked a lot of questions which has been great and we’re pretty excited to add a player who brings a bit more grit and can help round out our backend,” said McNaney. “Brendon Hall, we’re very excited about. He’s a dynamic two-way forward, who against Grand Forks, we gave limited minutes to try and ease him into the playing time and his new roles.”
Hall scored a gorgeous breakaway goal and ended up playing 18:18 due to the Leafs losing Cale Nachai late in the second period. McNaney is looking for Hall to provide strong two-way play and produce offensively. He also has Nelson roots through his grandparents, and his father is from Nelson.
On Armstrong: “When you get a chance to upgrade the most important position and a guy like Jacob becomes available, it’s a no-brainer, you have to go for it.”
Armstrong played in two games for the Terriers, allowing 11 goals in 119 minutes of action.
Their starting goalie Ryder Gregga is currently injured. The Leafs also added Dylan Spackman, who they talked with in the summer, and had signed with the Merritt Centennials. He made his KIJHL debut against Grand Forks for the Leafs.
“He’s shown that he’s a highly competitive individual, which is something we wanted to have in our goaltending tandem,” said McNaney. “He’s a great teammate, and we’re excited to have him and Jacob push each other.”
With seven goals in their last four games, the Castlegar Rebels are focused on generating offence.
“I think a lot of our opportunities are kind of one and done and it comes on the rush and then out of the zone right away,” said Rebels head coach Nick Headrick. “Our main focus going into this week is to try to get inside the dots and generate second and third opportunities more often compared to just shooting from the outside.”
Defenceman Kage Prediger leads the Rebels with two goals in that four-game stretch.
Headrick talked about needing to stick with their structure in the offensive zone.
“Hopefully we can try to get some dirty goals around the crease and get more Grade A chances inside the dots.”
Originally signed by the Dynamiters, Tyler Picha made his KIJHL debut with the Spokane Braves on Oct. 8 against the Nitehawks, then earned his first KIJHL win against the Castlegar Rebels on Oct. 18, making 43 saves. Jason Greenwell, the Braves assistant coach and goalie coach, believes Tyler has done a great job overall at coming in and stepping up.
“However, we are looking for him to be more consistent in the net and continue to make the saves we know he’s capable of,” he said. “Tyler is calm, cool and collective in net and that’s what we need. He can help us control the pace of play with his rebound control and demeanor. That is vital to a team’s success.”
Greenwell added that many times goalies put too much pressure on themselves. The Braves are working with Picha to understand about taking some of that pressure off and focus on the things he can control. They want him to make the first save, getting whistles, and “overall being the leader from the back end that we know he’s capable of being.”
