A review of the Campbell River Storm's 2010-2011 season as it happens and news from around the VIJHL, along with stories about other local sports teams.
It might be a little early to plan the parade route for the Patterson Memorial Trophy celebration, but last night's 4-2 win over the Westshore Stingers proved to be a huge confidence booster for this young Storm team.
First off, it showed them that they could win without Steven Schmidt and Jesse Bachmeier in the line-up. Secondly, it showed them they could also win away from Rod Brind'Amour arena.
Granted, it was not the prettiest of games, but every line and every d-pairing stepped up at one point during the game to make a contribution.
The "Kid line" of Wade Bartlett, Mat Tilton and Brandon Tidy played with lots of energy and showed enough flashes to get Storm fans excited for the remainder of the season.
Danny Hall and Corey MacLachlan each scored, but the best player on their line might have been Andrew Gaiga, who showed great jump through-out the contest.
Robo Eliason scored his second goal in as many nights on a line with Jesse Spooner and Rob Iszak, who also scored, while the Chase Hailey, Alex Benjestorf and Tyler Bachmeier line provided an aggressive spark when called upon.
# 5 Boston McNeill
The defense continues to evolve. There were moments where they made some excellent decisions, while other times showed their lack of experience. I thought Boston McNeill had his best game in a Storm jersey, with a couple of assists and a big hit.
Nice to see Taylor Scott get a game in after being the third goalie the past few weeks. Had decent rebound control and couldn't be faulted on either goal that beat him. He was one of four players we caught up with after the 4-2 win over the Stingers.
Next up is a rematch with the Oceanside Generals at 7:30 friday, Rod Brind'Amour arena.
After 3 very physical games in 4 nights, the Storm may want to replace the Thunderbolt in their logo with an icepack. After the hit-fest in the sardine can known as George Pearkes arena Wednesday, the Storm faced a much bigger Kerry Park team at the Brindy friday.
Despite being out-shot 21-7, the Storm actually had a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes, thanks to goals by Danny Hall (shorthanded), Mat Tilton and Brendan Enns. The Islanders could only muster a goal in the second, so the Storm still had a slim 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. The Islanders would come out fired up in the third, score less than a minute in. Then former Storm player Trevor Burnett would give the Islanders the lead for good 30 seconds later. Cole Thomson had the hat-trick, scoring the final goal with the Storm net empty. 6-3 Kerry Park. As it has been for most of the season, lack of productivity from special teams would haunt the Storm on this night, as they went 0-7. Tyler Bachmeier with 39 saves.
The following night, Saturday, the Storm would face the Oceanside Generals at the Howie Meeker arena. Traditionally, Dave Johnson coached teams are aggressive and physical, and this year's edition of the Generals continues in that mold.
The Generals would strike for three in the first, while holding the Storm off the score sheet. Neither team scored in the second, and in fact the next goal wouldn't come until 5 and a half minutes had transpired in the third.
Andrew Gaiga broke in short handed after an Oceanside defender lost his footing at the Storm blue-line. Gaiga would beat Kolding Larson with a terrific shot, and I thought that might give the Storm some momentum, now only down a pair.
Boy, was I wrong!
Catlin McLeod scored his second of the game one minute later, which opened the floodgates. 3 goals in 2 minutes for the homeside, en route to an 8-2 win. Robert Eliason would score the other Storm goal. Tyler Bachmeier with 30 saves, Ryan Fairgray 11 in relief.
I had a chance to talk with Jesse Spooner after the Oceanside loss. I also spoke with Andrew Gaiga after the Kerry Park game, along with Danny Hall who you'll hear first.
The Storm are at Bear Mountain arena to face the Westshore Stingers tomorrow (monday, Oct 4). Storm won 5-4 in their previous meeting, the second game of the season. Pregame show at 7:15, brought to you by Work World in the Tyee Plaza and Home DEpot.
As a Storm fan, you knew goals would be hard to come by going into the game against the Saanich Braves when you found out that Steven Schmidt had been called up to the Nanaimo Clippers and Jesse Bachmeier was unavailable.
The Storm would missing two guys that had scored 14 of their 24 goals in the first 6 games. They would also be facing a physical Braves team that might not score a whole bunch, but also don't give up many. That was definitely the case wednesday night.
Matt Chester shut the door on any opportunities the Storm generated with their 25 shots, and the Braves defense did a nice job of not allowing many chances off of rebounds. They also capitalized on two of their power-play chances, while the Storm did little to generate much offense when they had the man advantage. The result was a 3-0 loss at the George Pearkes arena.
There were some positives to take from the game. Danny Hall and Jesse Spooner received praise from Coach Jim Revenberg after the game for the solid games they played. Also, Tyler Bachmeier made his return to the net after missing the last 5 with an injury. He says it was good to get back between the pipes.
The Storm play the first of four games in six nights tomorrow at venerable George Pearkes arena in Saanich. They will face a team standings-wise that mirrors them. Both teams at 2-4, both teams trying to prove something in a big game early on. For the Storm, they'll look to snap out of a 2 game slide and grab their first win away from the Brindy this season. For the Braves, they'll try to show they can beat someone other than the Westshore Stingers.
It seems apart from the standings, these two teams are very different. The Storm have shown in at least half of the games, they are capable of scoring with anyone. The biggest problem might be a lack of discipline at key times, and the eery ability of their opponent to capitalize on every minuscule mistake they make, while showing an inability to do the same.
In the Braves case, it seems that getting someone other than captain Trevor Yee on the score sheet with any consistency has been a big challenge under first year coach Robin Gomez. A hard-nosed, gritty veteran of 6 seasons in the ECHL, including a season with the Victoria Salmon Kings, it's been a transition from playing just last season with the Bloomington Prairie Thunder to mentoring a group of teenagers. I spoke with Robin today about that transition, along with his thoughts on this year's Braves team.
The Storm wrapped up a tough 4 game set against the 3 best teams in the VIJHL Friday with a 3-2 loss to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. The Storm were missing Jordan Suzuki, who was nursing an injury, so it would fall on some of the young defenseman to shoulder the load and log some extra ice time.
Before the game started, the Storm honoured last year's captain Gavin Bergey with a surprise ceremony, presenting him with a jersey and a framed picture of him and his team mates. I spoke with him during the intermission and he said he had a suspicion that something was up when he saw all of his family at the game, along with some of his former team mates from last year's squad. Gavin was slated to rejoin the Storm this year before he got a call from the RCMP, letting him know he was accepted and would head to Regina for training late September. I thought last night was a nice gesture to a classy captain that represented the Storm well both on and off the ice.
From the opening faceoff on it was a tentative start for the Storm, who seemed to be struggling with their passes in the first period, which was magnified by an aggressive Kings forecheck.
There was no score until midway through the opening frame, when at 11:55 CMX’s Kelin Hrycuik scored on a terrific solo rush, driving around the defense wide left, then cutting to the net and beating Storm goalie Ryan Fairgray on a back-hand glove side to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Fast forward less than 2 minutes, with the Kings on the power-play, rookie Max Mois tipped a Brian Rideout point shot and Comox Valley would hold a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission, also out-shooting the Storm 6-5.
In the second, the Storm got on the board early in the period. Steven Schmidt on the power play at 4:55 wristed a shot from the right boards just inside the Kings blueline, fooling Cam Waddington short-side and pulling the Storm to with-in 1. Corey MacLachlan the lone assist.
The jubilation inside Rod Brind’Amour arena would be short-lived. At 6:50, Kelin Hrycuik on the power-play scored his second of the game, restoring the Kings two goal lead after 40 minutes. Comox out-shot the Storm 17-10 in the middle frame.
Only one goal in the third. Corey MacLachlan with 5 minutes remaining tipped a puck past Waddington on the power play to score his second goal this year. Brandon Tidy and Steven Schmidt with the helpers, 3-2 Comox Valley.
Jim Revenberg would pull Ryan Fairgray, and the Storm would press, but couldn’t find the equalizer. The Storm with the 11-5 edge in shots in the third.
Despite the loss, there were once again some positives. Andrew Gaiga and Mat Tilton did a nice job forechecking for the Storm, while on the blueline, Jordie Eliason and Kiefer Rivington rewarded Coach Revvy's decision to give them more minutes by playing solid games. Post game I caught up with both of them, along with Steven Schmidt. He credits King's keeper Cam Waddington, who made some terrific saves in the 3rd and 26 overall, in helping the visitors win, along with the Kings ability to stick to their game plan.
It's been a tough 4 game stretch, where the Storm have faced the team with maybe the most talent in the league in the Peninsula Panthers, the team with the best defensive corps in the Victoria Cougars, and perhaps the team who play their system better than any other in the league in the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. Each game, we've seen growth from this young Storm team, as they learn what it takes to compete at this level and should benefit them later in the season, when it's most critical.
The Storm now off until Wednesday, when they face the Saanich Braves for the first time this year. The Braves blanked Westshore 2-0, Connor Stephens with a goal and an assist, Eric Brabander 26 saves in recording the shutout. Both Braves wins this year have come over the Stingers.
The other game last night a bit of an upset, as the Peninsula Panthers lost their second straight, 3-1 at home to Oceanside.
Nice to see former Tyee Josh Caron ink a 3 year deal with the Minnesota Wild. A 6'2'', 200 lb heavyweight with the WHL Kamloops Blazers, from all accounts more than held his own at the Wild's prospects camp.
Here he is taking on Cameron Abney of the Edmonton Oil Kings last year.
Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted: “Kamloops D Josh Caron is heavyweight,
trying out for MIN. Curious to see if Wild sign. Toughness is duly
noted. Takes punches, throws bombs.”
Caron did play a handful of games for the Storm in 2008.
Coming into the season, there were those who were of the mind that the Peninsula Panthers were the team to beat in the VIJHL, while others held the Victoria Cougars in high regard. After seeing both teams first hand this past week, I give a slight edge to the boys from Esquimalt.
The Storm fell 4-1 tonight to a Cougars team loaded on the blueline. Despite not scoring in 9 chances on the man advantage, the Cougars quite ofter kept the Storm hemmed in their zone for extended periods of time, thanks to great work by point men such as Jusin Sotkowy and Adam Seenbergen.
The Cougars jumped in front 2-0 in the first off of goals by Clark Anderson and Trevor McNeill. Shots were pretty even, 11-8 in favour of the Cougars. Jesse Bachmeier created a breakaway with some great speed in the first, but young Corey Koop in net made a brilliant save on the deek to preserve the goose-egg after 20 minutes.
In the second, the Cougars would widen the gap to 4 goals after Josh Wyatt and Adam Steenbergen on a wonderful shorthanded effort, before Rob Iszak scored on the power play, putting one in short side on the back hand past Koop. 4-1 after 40 minutes, with Fairgary making 14 saves, Koop with 5.
In the third no goals, but the Cougars put the clamp down defensively, along with the Storm taking some undisciplined penalties to snuff out any comeback thoughts. Credit the Cougars for sticking with their game plan and chalk this up as a learning experience for this young Storm team.
I thought Jordie Eliason had his best game on the blueline, logging a lot of ice time and deserving every minute of it with a simple hardnosed game.
Up front, Danny Hall and Andrew Gaiga had solid efforts and maybe generated the most opportunities for the Bolts.
Not much time to rest, as the boys host the North division leading Comox Valley Glacier Kings tomorrow (friday) at 7:30. Pregame show at 7:15 on 99.7 the River.
Yesterday was one of those special days for myself as a broadcaster. The Tour de Rock rolled in to Campbell River Common in the afternoon, with bagpipes playing in front of the Tour Riders all clad in red, as a jam-packed section of the mall cheered on these remarkable RCMP members that were biking 1,000 km to raise money for Camp Goodtimes. I was honored to do part of my afternoon show from right behind the stage.
It was a festive atmosphere complete with a Bounce-a-rama for the kids, manned by none other than some of the Storm players. About a dozen of the boys took part in a variety of ways, including 4 of them that shaved their heads to honour the young,brave cancer patients that Camp Goodtimes benefits. Among them was Danny Hall, who's family has been impacted by Cancer, and Steven Schmidt, who joined me on my show along with a very special young man named Trevor, as you'll hear on this clip.
So far, Campbell River has raised over $70,000 dollars this year. Amazing.Great to see Revvy's boys there giving back to the community. Yet another reason I bleed green, gold and red.
As for the Storm on the ice, two more tough games in two nights. First up is a showdown at the Arch against one of the best teams in the 'V' the past 7 years, the Victoria Cougars, who are loaded at the backend and are riding a 4 game winning streak. Then friday, they face the Comox Valley Glacier Kings at the Brindy. That's a game you need to buy tickets for, as they are always intense.
The Storm will look to use the momentum they gained in the home and home against the Peninsula Panthers, where they proved they could play with the defending champions. The Panthers didn't have an answer for Jesse Bachmeier, who scored 7 goals in 2 games.
#9 Jesse Bachmeier and # 21 Brandon Tidy
Here's Jim Revenberg's thoughts on sunday's win, along with comments from Andrew Gaiga, who scored his first goal as a member of the Storm.
Next up is a rematch with the Oceanside Generals at 7:30 friday, Rod Brind'Amour arena.
