Earlier this week twenty year old Scott Cisco was released. Coach Verner explains. “We advised #14 Scott Cisco that we are making a change with our 20 year olds and he has decided to return home. There are several teams interested in Scott and we are hoping that he decides to continue playing hockey. We feel very fortunate to have had Scott play for our organization as he has been a tremendous individual both on the ice and in our community. Scott was a tremendous teammate and he demanded that his teammates played inspired every night. Scott was a big part of both the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 championships. We wish Scott success in his future endeavors and when his junior hockey career ends he will always be welcome as member of our Ghostrider alumni.

Odds and ends

Captain Scotty Traverse scored 6 of the 7 goals the Riders scored last weekend… and assisted on the other….Jason Greenwell stole the game from Castlegar stopping 40 shots and was second star…Dave McIvor had a goal and 4 assists last week and was outstanding on the road in Invermere. Coach Verner said “ Dave McIvor played one of his best games of his career on Friday night as he was all over the ice creating chances every time he was on the ice” . Brendon Mangone (93) played both games last week…Coach Verner says Sparwood’s Paul Rosler will make his Rider debut Thursday. “Rosler, a Sparwood native, played several games last year for the Columbia Valley Rockies. Paul has practiced with our club throughout the season and he is excited about his first game action. Paul will wear #25.” ….Last Saturday in Kimberley the Nitros and the Leafs were tied 0-0 at the end of the second… the Leafs lit up former Rider goalie Tory Caldwell for six in the third…. Nelson will play here Saturday November29 ….. Photo Dave McIvor

Posted by Rider News

Rider Head Coach and General Manager William Verner had this to say about the Caldwell trade. “ We have traded the playing rights of Tory Caldwell, 1990, to the Kimberley Dynamiters for future considerations. We were really happy with the job Tory did for us as a starting goaltender and how he represented our team on and off the ice. We feel with Jason returning to our program from his affiliate stint in Trail we needed to move Tory to an opportunity to continue as a starting goaltender. Kimberley was very motivated to acquire Tory and the opportunity there will allow Tory to continue to develop and work towards his goals of moving up the Junior hockey ladder. With Tory moving on we have acquired the CHA playing rights of Brady Berisoff, 1990, from the Nelson Leafs for future considerations. This is Brady’s second season in the KIJHL and so far this year he has a record of 6-1 with a GAA of 3.31 and a save % of 88.24.” -Photo Jason Greenwell-

In other Rider news, promising rookie forward Matt MacDonald was cruising along very well with 18 points in 14 games before he was injured a couple of weeks ago and #8 will now miss several games. Coach Verner “ Matt MacDonald has returned to Calgary to re-hab his upper-body injury and he will return to Fernie in early December to start skating with our team. We expect Matt to make a return to the line-up near the end of December or early into the new year.”
-Photo- Matt MacDonald

Chad OlsonScott Traverse

The Ghostriders got three of a possible four points in a home and home battle with the hard checking Golden Rockets last weekend. The Riders had a 2-1 shootout win in Golden Friday night in a game that saw Chad Olson (photo) score in regulation then again in the shootout that featured a total of fourteen players firing shots at Rider goalie Tory Caldwell and Rocket goalie Jesse Kallechy. Only Olson could beat the great goaltending . Corbin Weston scored the lone Rocket goal in regulation.

Photo-Jason Greenwell –On Saturday in Fernie the Ghostriders came out slow and were down 2-0 in the last couple of minutes of the second before Karl Weberg decided to turn it on and skate through the checking and score the Riders first goal. In the third the Riders Brad Sykes and Mark Leblanc combined with Travis Harrad to steal the puck in the Golden end and tie the game at two. A few minutes later Rocket Cody Cringan gave Golden the lead but defenceman Lee Klapp tied the game with a shot from the point with just a minute thirty five left on the clock to give the Riders a point. Golden’s Devin Dunlop scored the O/T winner on a screen shot from the blue line.

Odds and ends
Karl Weberg had a goal and an assist Saturday but in the last half of the game could have had two or three goals…. The same could be said for Dave McIvor who had 2 assists but missed several pretty good scoring chances….The underrated Travis Harrad scored a goal Saturday and was very effective all night….The Riders signed Brad Sykes last week and the 18 year old from Calgary seems to be a pretty good all around player who had an assist on a game tying goal Saturday and another assist on the only goal Friday… Goaltender Jason Greenwell is back in Fernie after being called up to Trail of the BCHL a few weeks ago when the Smokies #1 got hurt, Jason only got the start in one game but he won it…. AP’s Geoff Doka and Josh McSkimming played Saturday because….The Riders were without Evan Burgess, Matt MacDonald, Brock Tailfeathers, Scott Cisco, and their Captain Scott Traverse on Saturday. All with injuries except for Traverse who was suspended October 25 in Invermere with what was at first a Gross Misconduct penalty but a couple of days later the sorcerer, I mean ref, mysteriously turned a Gross into a Match just in time for Halloween. Now a Gross can be anything from verbal abuse to spitting but a Match Penalty is almost always blatant, and everyone in the rink knows there’s been an attempt to injure, but no one seems to be able to say exactly what Traverse did… Anyway, Traverse, who didn’t make his team shorthanded with a Gross but would have for 5 minutes with a Match, will return to action this week in Spokane. Fernie fans -will see him at home Saturday November 15 vs Castlegar.

The Fernie Ghostriders organization will observe a moment of silence Saturday in honor of longtime Ghostrider supporter and sponsor Jim Nicholson who passed away earlier this week. The Players Coaches and Board Members send their condolences and prayers out to the Nicholson family. Jim will be sadly missed.

Last Week
Last weekend the Ghostriders won both of their games, 4-2 at home vs Grand Forks and 4-1 in Invermere.. After the weekend Fernie was tied with Nelson for first overall in the KIJHL with 24 points.
-Left Scott Anderson

Saturday’s Game

Odds and ends

-Left-Karl Weberg- After winning both games in net last week Tory Caldwell had a 7-1 record a 93 save % and was in second place for goalies in the KIKJHL ….#15 Dave McIvor had 2 goals and 4 assists last week and after 13 games is averaging a goal a game and leads the team with 25 points. ….Meanwhile, The Karl Weberg watch continued again last week and # 22 didn’t disappoint, he scored 2 goals and added 2 assists and now has 16 points in only 7 games…. Scott Anderson returned to the lineup in Invermere last Saturday and was named first star and had 2 assists…. Speedy forward Travis Harrad made the hit of the year last Friday, the refs called a penalty but every fan in the building knew it was clean…The referees were flexing their muscles again the next night in Invermere and this time Rider Captain Scott Traverse was nailed with a gross misconduct and will miss 3 games…. Gilbert Bilodeau scored his first goal in Invermere….The KIJHL has penalized the Beaver Valley Nitehawks for playing an in-eligible player in their games of Oct.3, 4, 10 and 11. The result is a default of those four games and the loss of the eight points earned in those games. This decision was reached by the Discipline Committee as it pertains to Regulation 26 of the league constitution. All player stats for the teams involved remain unchanged
Left -Scott Traverse

 Joe Deluca-Chad Olson and Adam Taylor

The Ghostriders played two impressive games last weekend winning 3-2 last Friday on the road against the first place Nelson Leafs, then they shut out Creston 4-0 right here in Fernie. The Riders will play in Invermere Saturday night then next weekend face the tough Golden Rockets in a home and home series that will see the Rockets in Fernie next Saturday night. The season is still young… but with the wins last week the Riders were in first place overall in the KIJHL.

Friday’s Game

The Ghostriders won both of their games last week, the Border Bruins lost 5-3 to Castlegar and 12-2 in Beaver Valley. The Bruins will play in Golden Saturday. Their top scorers are Spencer Hodgson 13 pt. and Stefan Jensen 13pts.

Adam Taylor Photo.–Three players who felt good last week…. (1) #18 Chad Olson scored 3 goals two weeks ago then got a huge game winning goal last Friday against his old team the Nelson Leafs…. (2) Another former Leaf # 22 Karl Weberg had 2 assists in that 3-2 game….. and 3 # 4 Adam Taylor the former Thundercat warrior also scored a nice game winning goal against his former team, Creston, last Saturday…

Adam Taylor-Chad Olson

They keep getting better… Defenseman #3 Lee Klapp had 3 goals and an assist last weekend was first star vs Creston and was rock solid on the blueline as well… With a few of the older guys out for the last few games the Riders went with 5 “D” last week- youngsters Evan Burgess (16) Zach Traverse (17) and Brock Tailfeathers ( played well and played lots and as Coach Verner says “They continue to develop on the back end.” Verner also points to speedy center Travis Harrad. “Harrad has emerged as an excellent face-off man and his line has really given our team strength up front”.

They are healing… The Riders had some injuries the last few games including , Scott Anderson, Gilbert Bilodeau, Dave McIvor, Mark Leblanc and Joe Deluca. Deluca returned last weekend and had 3 assists . Coach Verner said “It was great to have Joey back in the line up as he adds a great presence on our back end. He is so confident with the puck and very good controlling the opposition in our end”.

How many points will they end up with… Karl Weberg had 4 assists last week and now has 12 points in 5 games…. Last week Captain Scott Traverse had 3 assists, was a second star in Nelson and now leads the team with 20 points…Traverse’ line mate Dave McIvor with 19 points missed a few games but should be at full speed Friday.

Goaltender Jason Greenwell has been in Trail for a few games since their goalie got hurt but Trail didn’t play so Jason was back in the Rider net last weekend doing what he does best, shutting out Creston 4-0.

The Ghostriders earned five of a possible six points last week starting with a 5-2 win at home vs Invermere Friday , a 5-4 shoot out loss in Revelstoke and a 4-3 shootout win in Golden Sunday afternoon. With the five points the Riders were tied for first place with the improved Golden Rockets. Golden has been a last place team for the last few years but seem to have turned it around and will be here in Fernie Saturday November 1st. Don’t want to miss this one, the Rockets have two of the smartest players in the league in Zach Baba 466 PIM with Golden last year and new goon Cody Southerland who had a league leading 518 PIM with Princeton last year. Southerland already has 105 PIM in his first 11 games this year and is right on track for another 500 by the end of the season and a guest appearance on Sesame Street. - Rider “D” Lee Klapp in photo
Saturday’s Game vs Creston
The Ghostriders go to NelsonFriday and Creston is at home to the Rockies. Creston won their home game a week ago Friday 5-2 over Spokane then lost 4-3 in a shoot out in Invermere. Cat forward Cole Yurkowski is one of the KIJHL’s top scorers with 9 goals and 20 pts. in 10 games. This is the first time these two teams have played each other in the regular season.

Odds and Ends
Rider Player of the Month Dave McIvor got hurt last Friday and missed the last couple of games and may miss this weekend…. New forward Karl Weberg had a goal and 3 assists Friday a goal and 2 assists in Revelstoke and an assist and the game winner in the shootout in Golden…Weberg is from Nelson where he played as a 17 year old, then last year at 18 he was in the BCHL (Cowachan) and was in Quesnel to start this year… Mark Leblanc had a goal in his first game but got hit by a shot and is day to day… Defenseman Joe Deluca missed last week but should be ready for Saturday’s game…Matt MacDonald and Karl Weberg scored in the last 30 seconds in Revelstoke to tie the game up and eventually get the team a point…Scott Cisco and Travis Harrad each scored their first goals last week… Former Chase Chief Tyson Bentley seems to be getting more comfortable in Fernie and had 3 assists last Friday, a goal and an assist Saturday then scored in the S/O Sunday…Former Kamloops goalie Tory Caldwell played in all three games last week replacing Jason Greenwell who went up toTrail for a few games. Greenwell won his game with the Smokies last week but may not play this weekend so he could be in a Rider uniform Saturday….

Posted by Rider News at 3:48 PM

Friday’s game vs Invermere will start with a moment of silence for a member of the Ghostrider family who passed away last week. Aggie Podrasky has been the voice of Ghostrider Bingo for several years and will be fondly remembered by the hockey team for all her work at Monday night Bingo.

Friday’s Game

The last time these two teams played the Ghostriders won at home 6-2 then lost the next night in Invermere 4-3. The Rockies are very undisciplined and have been accused of being a bunch of cheap shot artists. There have been several fights in the first two games between these two division rivals so far this season.
The Ghostriders played two games on the road last weekend losing a close one in Chase Friday night by a 3-2 score and winning in a shootout in Kamloops by an identical 3-2 score. The Columbia Valley Rockies also split last weekend losing 5-3 to Kimberley Friday and winning 3-1 at home vs Spokane on Saturday then hosted Kimberley last Tuesday where they won 6-3. Rockie stars Reid Mitchell with 4 points and Brett Bjorkman with 5 lead the way in that game.

Odds and Ends

Rider forward Dave McIvor continues to light it up and scored in both games last week. As of last Monday Dave was the Top Scorer in the league with 11 goals 8 assists in 9 games, McIvor had 3 goals and 2 assists in the home opener vs Invermere back in September…. Team Captain Scott Traverse is right behind with 5 goals and 9 assists…. Chad Olson was first star in Kamloops with a goal in regulation and one in the shootout….Mike Oldfield also scored in the shootout….Jason Greenwell was named as a game star in net both games last weekend… he played so well the Jr. “A” Trail Smoke Eaters of the BCHL brought him up for a few games. If Greenwell isn’t back Either Robin McColl or Tory Caldwell (trade from the Kamloops Storm last week) will start …..Former Calgary Buffalo Mark Leblanc was also expected to be in the lineup Friday.

Congratulations #15 Dave McIvor

Every month each team gets a chance to nominate one of their players for the the KIHL Player of the Month Award. The league then picks the winner. With 9 goals and 8 assists in only 7 games #15 Dave McIvor was the Ghostriders nominee for the month of September and Dave won the award. Head Coach Will Verner said. “ Dave was a top offensive player throughout the 07-08 season helping lead the Ghostriders to a 2007-2008 KIJHL championship. In September Dave started where he left off as he currently leads the KIJHL with 17 points and has helped our team to a 4-2-1 start. …Despite having two players in the top five of all KIJHL scorers The Columbia Valley Rockies didn’t bother to nominate any of their players. Reid Mitchell and Brett Bjorkman who after last Tuesday are now number one and two in KIJHL scoring must be pleased.

Next Games

The Ghostriders go to Revelstoke Saturday and are in Golden on Sunday. The boys are also in Nelson next Friday then return home on Saturday October 18 to play Creston. The Rockies play Creston at home Saturday night.

]]> http://fernieblogs.com/ghostriders/2008/10/09/ghostriders-play-invermere-friday-october-10-730/feed/ http://fernieblogs.com/ghostriders/2008/09/30/five-minutes-with-ghostrider-head-coach-and-general-manager-will-verner/ http://fernieblogs.com/ghostriders/2008/09/30/five-minutes-with-ghostrider-head-coach-and-general-manager-will-verner/#comments Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:01:21 +0000 ghostriders Fernie http://fernieblogs.com/ghostriders/2008/09/30/five-minutes-with-ghostrider-head-coach-and-general-manager-will-verner/ 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

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”