Fernie Ghostriders

Rider News: After the first couple of weeks the Ghostriders have a pretty good 4-2-1 record and are in third place in what is turning out to be a much tougher than some of us thought Eddie Mountain Division. When the KIJHL realigned last summer some of the fans who think they know everything (like Rider News) were thinking the Ghostriders would have a bit of a battle but when it was all over would end up in first place by a country mile. You didn’t agree with us back then and you are being proven right now.

Will Verner: “It is hard to win, I believe that we need to be better than last year to win as everyone else is getting better. I definitely thought our division was going to be a battle and there are several rinks that are not fun to play in. It will be an exciting year and it is going to be a tough race to get a highly coveted playoff spot.”

Rider News: We haven’t seen Creston yet but Coach Joe Martin and his Thundercats are in first place so far in this young season and they always seem to play the Ghostriders close.

Will Verner: “Creston will be tough, they have added some real high end talent and they are a team that has their core back from last year. Their goaltending is again excellent, their back end much improved, and they have definitely added skill to their line-up this year.”

Rider News: Even the Golden Rockets who were dead last in the KIJHL last year are up off the mat and fighting and so far second year Coach Rockie Zinger has a winning record. The franchise also seems to have some pretty good community support with a new web site (that is second to none) and lots of media attention.

Will Verner: “ Golden is as hard a working team as we have seen in the last couple of years. With more talent this year and many returning players they are going to win a lot of games including many on the road”.

Rider News: It looks like Columbia Valley will be able to win some of the games they couldn’t win last year and Coach Darren Naylor now in his second year has some key returning players.

Will Verner: “ Columbia Valley has two of the best forwards in the league in Reid Mitchell and Brett Bjorkman along with experienced, tough forward Brent McQueen. Columbia Valley is not a fun team to play against and they will have the ability to challenge teams mentally and they will take advantage with their strong powerplay”.

Rider News: All Ghostrider fans know that new Coach Wayne Kiever and the hated Kimberley Dynamiters will fight with the Riders to the gates of hell and you never know who will be standing when it’s over.

Will Verner: “Kimberley has several players back from their silver medal team at the Cyclone Taylor. Jesse Felske will again be one of the best “D” men in the league and Andrew Green, Cody Lester and Leo Keefer will make up one of the best lines in the league. Several young players in Kimberley are going to develop into excellent hockey players including Matt Wilkins and Sam Mellor. ”
“With all of this being said we are still the team to beat and our guys know that they need to pick up their play. We need to improve at all positions and work each day to get better so that we will again become the team to defend our back to back championships. Every game is hard to win and we need to prepare for every shift. It will definitely be a battle for the next 5 months to win the division banner and our guys know the commitment we need to achieve success”.

Rider News: You still have great leadership and goaltending from last season, how important is that as you try and repeat.

Will Verner: “Leadership and goaltending are the most important pieces to building a championship team. Scotty Traverse and Joe DeLuca are two of the best leaders I have seen at the Junior level and Jason Greenwell is one heck of a goaltender. We need to get back on track and win hockey games; with the emotion and passion our Captain brings we are in good hands. Every time he is on the ice he makes players around him better. Scotty Traverse does what it takes to win and he demands his teammates follow his lead”.

Rider News: After the first couple of weeks Dave McIvor is the top scorer in the KIJHL with 9 goals and17 points in only 7 games. Rider fans have delighted in watching him and his slick moves for the last three years. Do you think he could score 50.

Will Verner: “McIvor is off to a good start and we look for him to continue building on his two way play. It is very important for Dave to play in all situations and we demand that he competes every time he is on the ice. When Dave has his feet moving he is a very effective two way player and he definitely has the ability to put up excellent numbers this season. We definitely want more from him as he is an elite player in the league. Discipline needs to be better and his attention to detail needs to be better. 50 goals would be a good season for most top line players in our league and we believe that he needs to score at least 50 times and we feel that he has the ability to surpass 60″.

Rider News: When your blue line is healthy you seem to have a pretty good mix of veterans, toughness and a couple of youngsters who show a lot of promise.

Will Verner: “We feel we have a strong “D”-core anchored by 4 solid veterans. We moved a young promising “D”man, Neil Rooney, to Sicamous to open up ice for Evan, Zach and Brock. Then as normal when you have an abundance of defense men and you trade one of them the others start to fall off. Within a seven day stretch we lost three to injury and one to a suspension. The great news is our young 16 and 17 year olds are going to get some great experience over the next couple weeks and it will definitely help their development in establishing themselves as everyday players. 17 year old Zach Traverse is gaining more confidence after each skate and played a solid two way game on Saturday against Beaver Valley. Evan Burgess is going to get better and better every day as he gets comfortable playing at this level. He is already showing signs that he will be able to compete with oppositions top lines.This was definitely evident on Saturday night when he was regularly out there against Beaver Valley’s top line”.

vs Friday October 10 @ 7:30

GM Will Verner Shuffles The Deck

Coach Will Verner continues to shuffle the deck as he tries to bring another Championship back home to Fernie by making a few trades and signing a couple of players. Verner says “ We traded defenseman Neil Rooney to the Sicamous Eagles for future considerations. We wish Neil well and thank him for his efforts.” “We also released Goaltender Jordan Givens and wish him well and again thank him for his efforts.”

Down a goalie and a forward Verner made a couple of other moves. Verner said “ We have acquired Goaltender Robin Mccoll 89 from the Golden Rockets for future considerations. This deal also finalized the futures owed to Golden for the Liam Buliziuk trade. And have agreed to sign James Braakman, 1990 from Calgary Alberta Last season, James played 36 games with the Calgary Royals Midget AAA team registering 5 goals, 11 assists for 16 points and he had 40 minutes in penalties. James will center Matt MacDonald and Tyson Bentley on Friday night in Golden. Liam Buliziuk, Lee Klapp and Evan Burgess should return to the line-up Friday night as they all have recovered from their injuries. We currently have a roster that includes 15 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goaltenders”

Ghostriders get the hat-trick on the road !

Last Friday the Ghostriders won 6-2 in Grand Forks, Scott Traverse (2), Zach Traverse, Tim Crawley,Jordan Hirano and Tyson Bentley scored the goals and Jason Greenwell got the win in net.

On Saturday 150 people watched the Riders thump Princeton 7-3. Dave McIvor, Adam Taylor, Chad Olson, Matt MacDonald, Scott Anderson Scott Traverse and Tim Crawley scored the goals and Jason Greenwell got the win in goal.

On Sunday the boys completed the weekend sweep winning 4-3 in a S/O vs Sicamous. It took 15 shooters before Evan Burgess scored the winner. Geoff Doka,Dave McIvor and Brock Tailfeathers scored in regulation and Scott Cisco scored the first goal in the S/O and Jason Greenwell was sensational in the game and was named as a game star in two of the 3 games last weekend. The line of Traverse , McIvor and MacDonald had 18 points in three games for the Riders. Rookie MacDonald was leading the KIJHL in scoring after the weekend with 7 points McIvor with 6 and Traverse with 5 were right behind him .

After losing their first two exhibition games 6-3 in Creston and 3-0 to Kimberley here in Fernie the Ghostriders got their first win of the year against the Creston Thunder Cats on Friday night.

The Riders got off to a slow start Friday and were down 2-0 before former Nelson Leaf Chad Olson scored in the second period. After that it was all Ghostriders and in the third the Riders scored four unanswered goals. Scott Cisco, Matt MacDonald, Dave McIvor and Chad Olson with his second on the night finished off the Cats 5-2. Longtime Thunder Cat Cole Yurkowski scored both Creston’s goals.

In the first period Creston was the better team with several good scoring chances but last year’s playoff MVP Jason Greenwell kept the score down until the Ghostriders settled down and eliminated the odd man rushes. A coupla fights in this one with Joe Deluca featured in the main event.

The Ghostriders go to Kimberley Saturday then open the season on the road Friday September 12 in Grand Forks, Saturday in Princeton and Sunday in Summerland.

The Ghostriders home opener is on Friday September 19 when they host the Columbia Valley Rockies, game time is 7:30. See you at the rink.

The Ghostriders training camp is just around the corner and starts Friday August 29^th running through Sunday the 30th . Coach Will Verner is only bringing in about 40 players for this short intense camp that will see the players go through fitness testing, practices, scrimmages, hikes, inter-squad game and even an exhibition game in Creston Saturday night. All players will be housed and fed at the Community Center right next to the arena.

This year the Ghostriders are planning on only carrying 21 players so the competition will be intense on the Labor Day weekend. The public is more than welcome to come out and watch the players at the camp Friday at 4:00 and the team invites everyone to come out to the inter-squad game Friday night at 8:00. On Saturday there will be practices at 9:00 AM and again at 4:00 for the players who don’t go to Creston for the exhibition game.

The Ghostriders can only carry 4 twenty year olds and ended last year with 11. With that thought in mind Coach Verner moved 20 year old Raymond Pressacco to Victoria for the Jr. “B”rights to star forward Jimmy Carter and future considerations. The Riders wish Ray all the best in Victoria.

Exhibition Schedule

In Creston August 30

At home Wednesday September 30 vs Kimberley @ 7:30

At home Friday September 5 vs Creston @ 7:30

In Kimberley Saturday September 6

The defending KIJHL Champion Fernie Ghostriders are gearing up for the upcoming KIJHL season by bringing in a few new players, running a couple of mini camps and completely renovating their dressing room. The Ghostriders Main Camp will be held August 29-31 with a road game in Creston on the 30th.
Head Coach and General Manager William Verner has been hard at work this summer and has already brought in a few new players and a couple of old ones too. One of the first things he did was re-acquire the rights of forward Tim Crawley from the Columbia Valley Rockies in June. After playing on the 2006-07 Championship Rider team and playing most of last year here in Fernie Crawley went to Invermere in January at the deadline. Crawley is a big 19 year old veteran from Cranbrook with a great attitude who knows what it takes to win and should blend right with the Riders again this season.
Another veteran Verner now has the rights to is former Creston Thundercat Adam Taylor. Taylor spent the last three years in Creston where he was known as a gritty stay at home “D” man. So now the stay at home defenseman who was born twenty miles down the road in Sparwood has a chance to play at home too.
At only 15 forward Jordan Hirano was an AP with the Ghostriders last season where he played four games and managed to score his first KIJHL goal in one of them. Head Coach Will Verner liked Hirano so much he has committed one of the two 1992 roster spots to him this year. Verner says “Jordan is a strong member of the community as he coaches a local soccer team, is an honor role with distinction student and is very motivated in the gym”.
A few other local players are hoping to crack the lineup this year. One is seventeen year old Zak Traverse. Traverse is a defenseman who managed to get into three games last year as an AP but should be ready to play a lot more this year. He certainly has the blood lines to be a great player as he is Rider Captain Scott Traverse’s cousin. And another player with the blodlines is forward Michael Anderson. Michael is the younger brother of Rider veteran defenseman Scott Anderson. Geoff Doka is yet another local with a shot at the roster. Doka is a 92 who played in Castlegar last year and will be competing for one of two 92 roster spots.
Kyle Brennan played with the Ghostriders for a few years and was on the 2006-07 Championship team but took last year off to travel Australia. Brennan was named as the the Most Inspirational Player in his last year in Fernie and everyone was disappointed that he didn’t play last year. Kyle is back in Sparwood now and will compete for one of the four 20 year old roster spots.

All teams can have a couple of sixteen year olds on the roster and last year the Ghostriders had forwards Josh McEwan and Brett Lyon and both players developed throughout the year and are moving on. McEwan is headed to Langley of the BCHL and Lyon is going to the Vancouver Giants (WHL) camp. Last year 17 year old defenseman Jeff Zmurchyk played a full season with the Riders and by the end of the year was one of the top two defensemen and was named as the Ghostriders Rookie of the Year. Jeff is going to the Prince George Cougars (WHL) camp this fall. The Ghostriders organization wishes all these young players the best in furthering their hockey careers.
The Fernie Ghostriders are renovating their dressing room this summer and when it’s finished the players will have lots of extra dressing room space, a separate training room and a separate skate and tool room. The room should be done by the home opener and photos of the room will be posted on the Ghostrider web site.

The Ghostriders held their annual windup banquet ending what turned out to be another successful year both on the ice and off it. The team got off to a rough start with out a coach in place until late August and no ice in Fernie until mid September but everyone persevered and by the end of the year Ghostrider Head Coach and General Manager Will Verner had his team in first place in the Murdoch East with the lowest goals against in the league. The Riders went on to fight it out it out with Kimberley, Beaver Valley and Kamloops in the playoffs winning their second KIJHL title in a row and a Bronze Medal in the Cyclone Taylor Cup.

The Ghostrider Team Awards

MVP & Inspirational - At times throughout the year different players took the spotlight on the ice but Scott Traverse was always one of the best players and as the team’s Captain he was a leader both on and off the ice and was usually a game star in the close games. Traverse was also second on the team in scoring in the regular season and first overall in the playoffs. #17 Scott Traverse is your Most Valuable and Most Inspirational Player.

Exciting- Jordan Reid missed the end of the season and playoffs with a concussion but when he was healthy he was playing with an edge and scoring a couple of points a game. A healthy Reid all year would have challenged for the KIJHL top scorer and made a difference in the Cyclone Taylor Cup. #20 Jordan Reid is your Most Exciting Player this year.

Defenseman- Not much doubt about the “D” award this year. Cody Reinbold was the top scoring defenseman who played lots of minutes and made life miserable for anyone skating in the the Riders end of the ice. Reinbold was very hard to play against and the former Rookie of the Year (2005-06) and all around warrior #9 Cody Reinbold is your Best Defenseman.

The Top Scorer Award went to the electrifying puck handling hi-lite reel scorer Dave McIvor who with 34 goals and had 65 points was the Top Scorer on the team, and Rider fans can look forward to next year because at 19 number #15 can play one more year.

Rookie- This year all the Ghostrider rookies made huge strides in their development and by the end of the year were playing like seasoned veterans, but defenseman Jeff Zmurchyk stood out from the crowd and went from a timid can’t get rid of the puck fast enough blue liner to an impressive smooth skating puck moving defneseman who can play in all situations and shutdown all the best players. Seventeen year old #27 Jeff Zmurchyk is your Rookie of the Year.

Improved- # 18 Josh McEwan started in Fernie as a 5” 10” 165 pound sixteen year old but no one told him how big he was so he acted like he was 6′ 200 and he hit and fought as much as he could and by the end of the year he had scored some important goals and and his defensive play improved so much the coaches selected Josh McEwan as the Most Improved Player.

A couple of new awards were presented for the first time this year. The Most Sportsman Like Player went to a defenseman who got better and better as the year went on and in the end was always on the ice. Brandon Stevens was the Most Sportsman Like Player.

Unsung Hero- is another new award and with blazing speed and lots of grit # 10 Robbie Shaw was selected as the Ghostriders Unsung Hero.

Playoff MVP -Is another new award this year and if you watched the playoff games you will know that the one player who always showed up and made the big save when it was needed and almost never let in a weak goal was Jason Greenwell. This year your Playoff MVP was Jason Greenwell.

Scholastic Award- The Ghostriders are a junior team and recognize the importance of not only keeping the younger players in school but having them get good marks . With that thought in mind Jordan Sullivan was the Scholastic Player of the Year.

Scholarships Each year the Ghostriders organization awards two $1000 scholarships and this year Travis Harrad and Cody Reinbold were the recipients.

Four of the Ghostriders 20 year olds can not return next year and are graduating. All four of the players received a watch from Jay’s Jewellers, their Jersey’s and a Championship Hoodie from the booster club. The players are Jordan Reid, Darryl Gagnon, Cody Reinbold and Ryan Hill.

The Ghostriders organization wishes these players all the best in the future.

Riders vs Kamloops

After winning the first two games in Fernie, both 2-1 and both in overtime, the Riders traveled to Kamloops for games last Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday the Kamloops Storm won game three by that same 2-1 score but it was in regulation time. On Wednesday the Riders gave up three goals in the second period and lost 4-2.

Odds and Ends

So far this low scoring series has been all about goaltending. Storm goalie Anthony Manfredi with a 9.42 save % has been outstanding and has been named as a game star in all four games….. Rider goalie Jason Greenwell 9.17 save % has also been outstanding and was a game star in three of the games. …. Dave McIvor, who has been battling the flu has 2 goals and an assist so far in the four games….Lundy Trenaman has 2 goals and 2 assists to lead the Storm in this series……Fernie local # 17 Scotty Traverse continues to lead the KIJHL in P/O scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists…… Storm Forward # 37 Lundy Trenaman is right behind with 10 goals and 9 assists….These two teams will travel to Kamloops for game six Sunday and if there is a game seven it is here in Fernie Tuesday night @ 7:30. …..The winner of this series will go to Kimberley next Thursday – Sunday for the Cyclone Taylor Cup where the three Junior “B” Leagues in BC will compete for the Provincial Championship….. The other leagues are on the coast, the Pacific International Junior Hockey League (PIJHL) and on the Island Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) ….. The winner of the Cyclone Taylor Cup goes to the Western Canadian Championship (Keystone Cup) in Manitoba that will be hosted by the Selkirk Fishermen.

Riders vs Kamloops

The Ghostriders played the Kamloops Storm twice this year winning 4-1 back on September 21^st in the Ghostriders first home game and winning again on November 2 in Kamloops by a 3-1 score. Dave McIvor scored 2 in those games and Jordan Reid had 4 and Joe Deluca 1. Devin Gannon was a star for the Storm in both games. The Ghostriders defeated Kamloops in the semi finals last year.

Odds and Ends

The Ghostriders haven’t seen the Storm since November and both teams have made several changes since. The biggest change Kamloops made was in net and they now have all-star goalie Anthony Manfredi back in net again….. The Ghostriders have also made changes in net. When the Riders played the Storm in September Nigel Nolan was in goal and in November Devan Hartigan was between the pipes for the Riders….. You may remember Hartigan in the last series with Beaver Valley when new Rider goalie Jason Greenwell out dueled him and sent em to the golf course…..Greenwell is at 8-5 with a 906 save %…. Lundy Trenaman 15, David Gore 15 and Jassi Sanga 14 pts. are the Storm’s top scorers in the playoffs so far. Sanga was fourth overall in the KIJHL in the regular season…..With 19 points Scott Traverse is the Top P/O scorer in the league so far….. Dave McIvor has 15 and Richard Small 13 …..Brett Lyon is right behind them with 11 pts. and had 5 goals in the last series and 2 of them were game winners, one in overtime in game 4 and 2 including the game winner in the final game.

Riders- Nitehawks

The Ghostriders lost the first two games in this series on the road in Beaver Valley by scores of 4-1 and 4-2. The shots were almost even in both of the games and the score was close until late in the games. Back home in the Fernie Memorial in game three the Ghostriders exploded for a 9-1 win. That game was a team effort with everyone hitting and everyone scoring. Of the 9 goals only Eil King had more than one and all the lines contributed. In game four the Ghostriders were once again the better team and had almost all the good scoring chances, had a huge territorial advantage and took advantage of the Hawk mistakes as they made them.

Odds and Ends

The shots were almost even in the first two games but in the games three and four they were almost 2-1 for the Ghostriders…. Jason Greenwell got both the wins in net and was great when he had to be but the Hawks didn’t get enough good shots for Greenwell to get named as a game star…..Even in the 3-2 OT game…..The average attendance was over a thousand in Fernie….Brett Lyon’s second goal of the game made him the overtime hero in game four, Lyon is from Grand Forks and just turned 17 in January…. Faceoff magician Ray Pressacco, who does lots of little things you don’t always notice scored his first goal in this series when he intercepted a pass through the middle in the Hawk end in game four….Robbie Shaw had 2 assists in the 3-2 OT win…. Hawk forward James Neitsch who was BV’s top scorer this year has 3 goals so far….Rider rookie defenseman Jeff Zmurchyk has been a game star in two games …. Scott Cisco is getting a point a game…..Joe DeLuca joined the sick list in game four after playing a gritty game and getting 2 assists as a forward in game three…..BV wouldn’t start game four until one of the signs the fans had put up was taken down….No one can take a joke anymore.