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Eddie Mountain rookies rocking early on
KIJHL Notebook
Rookies are once making an impact among the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) points leaders. On the skater’s side, five of the top 10 are first-year players – Tysin Mulligan from the Columbia Valley Rockies, Zach Baumann and Tie Schumacher from Spokane and Owen Dewitt and Hayden Evans from Sicamous Eagles.
It’s impressive to see the numbers these players are producing. While Schumacher is noted as a rookie, he did play last season in the North American 3 Hockey League, his first year of junior.
As for goalies, three are in the top-10 for goals against average – Jaiden Jakubowski of the Rockies, Dario Cantini of the Creston Valley Thunder Cats and Gabe Osmond of the Princeton Posse. In the wins category, four cracked the top-10 with Nathan Preston of the Posse at No. 6 with five wins. Jakubowski, Ryder Ponto of the Kimberley Dynamiters and Osmond of the Posse round out the top-10.
Eddie Mountain Division
Kaelen Shelton and Tysin Mulligan collected three points in the Columbia Valley Rockies’ three games last week helping the team win two of their three games. Mulligan, a rookie from Rocky Rapids, Alberta, leads the team with 10 goals and 17 points in 14 games.
Rookie Oleg Bitus matched Shelton’s two goals in three games. Both his came against the Kimberley Dynamiters. The product of the Los Angeles Jr. Kings U18AAA program scored his first junior goal Oct. 14 against the Creston Valley Thunder Cats. Head coach-GM Taylor Sincennes said Bitus has been putting in a lot of work.
“I think it took him a little to settle in,” said Sincennes. “He’s working away from the rink and showing up shooting pucks. He has rented ice on his own time to get better and is doing the small things to create offence. It’s starting to click for him in the last week or so.”
Hudl Instat information shows that Bitus averages 13:05 of ice time a game with 1:08 on the power-play.
Sincennes has been very happy with his team’s performance as they have won seven of their last 10 games.
“We are playing better and better every week and it’s good to see that we got the benefit of a hot start and get to improve while having a winning record,” he said.
Tayler Haggerty had a three point weekend for the Fernie Ghostriders as they won both their games on the weekend over Kimberley and Beaver Valley. Haggerty has 12 points in 12 games and is tied with Kyler Watson for the team lead in goals with seven. Goalies Nick Kynyk and Aiden Kruhlak earned wins.
Head coach Ty Valin says that Haggerty has been coming on all season and is embracing his captaincy.
“He’s doing the little things right. He’s our offensive juggernaut right now,” said Valin, as Haggerty is second in points with 12 in 12 games. “Him and Andrew Kennedy. The way he contributes, he understands he’s going up against top-pairing defencemen every night and he embraces the challenge.”
Valin said Kennedy, a defenceman, is averaging 1.08 points per game. He is tied with Max Chakrabarti for second in points with 13 in 12 games.
“He’s having a hell of a good year,” said Valin.
Tristan Weill had two goals, including an OT winner, and an assist as the Kimberley Dynamiters lost to Fernie and defeated the Columbia Valley Rockies. Weill leads the league with 22 points in 12 games. His 11 goals ties the league lead with Creston Valley Thunder Cat Luke Chakrabarti.
Head coach Derek Stuart said Weill took charge on Saturday against the Rockies, especially in the third period. He kept the puck on his stick in the offensive zone and took it to the net.
“His offensive game speaks for itself. We’re more than happy with that,” said Stuart. “Definitely he’s a bit more responsible and more of a leader.”
Stuart has made a couple of moves to strengthen their roster as they look to defend their KIJHL Teck Cup championship. On Oct. 14, Stuart added Braycen Dube, a Cranbrook native, from the Valley Wildcats in the Maritime Junior Hockey League. Dube had 11 points in 48 games with the Wildcats and Summerside Western Capitals last season. He recorded his first Dynamiter goal in his fourth game against the Rockies.
“He’s a talented, offensive player,” said Stuart.
On Wednesday, the Nitros announced on their social media the addition of defenceman Callan Valstar from the Kindersley Klippers for future considerations.
“He upgrades our defensive core and gives us an experienced player who was a key member of the Calgary Flames U18AAA championship team last year,” said Stuart. “I really like what we have here, but any opportunity we get to improve our team, especially with hosting the Junior A championship in April, we’re going to take. This is all geared to winning the KIJHL championship.”
Stuart added he has interest from other players looking to play there because they are hosting the championship.
Eight players scored for the Creston Valley Thunder Cats in their games, a 4-3 OT loss to Columbia Valley, and a 5-1 win over Golden. Brendan Kindlein, Luke and Max Chakrabarti led with three points.
As mentioned earlier, Max is tied for second among defenceman for points in the league and Head Coach Brad Tobin said the Surrey native is definitely an offensive blueliner.
“He understands the situation and tries to exploit weaknesses in the opposition,” said Tobin.
“He’s become bigger and stronger over the summer, so he uses his size more, while protecting the puck. Defensively, he can always improve his battle level in the corners and around the net.”
Cade Cochlan scored his first goal of the season for the Golden Rockets in their 5-1 loss to Creston Valley. Prezton Stewart leads the Rockets with nine points in 11 games. This month in their five November home games, the Rockets will wear community jerseys that are a tribute to their Indigenous community. Four players – Draeden Bear, Jake Yakubowski, Nathan Andrew and recently acquired Deegan Wapass will have their Indigenous names on their name bars.
Once the month is over, the jerseys will be auctioned off with funds going towards the Rockets community team fund.
“The community fund is used to help people or businesses within our community that may need financial help through donations,” said Cruz Chiappa, the Rockets video analytics coach and trainer.
“There is also a donation made to the cause that we raise awareness for that month. This year it is the local Métis community.”
You can read more about this on the KIJHL website.
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Stephanie Stevens photo
KIJHL
