Fernie Ghostriders

The Ghostriders won their series with the Kimberley Dynamiters but it wasn’t easy. Part of the problem was that they had first place all sewed up by the last week of the regular season and then they had another easy week with the bye in the first round of the playoffs. Those two weeks with no pressure changed quickly when they walked into the second round and met up with their biggest rivals of all, the Kimberley Dynamiters, and promptly lost game one by a 5-1 score.

With all the time off the loss was not that big of a surprise and at times in that first game the Riders looked like the better team and they proved it the next night with an 8-4 win. In Kimberley in games three and four both teams took turns dominating and both teams won a game so it was back to Fernie for game five where the Dynamiters outplayed the Riders for all but the last half of the third period and walked away with a 4-2 win. The Nitros then headed back home to the Kimberley Civic Center feeling pretty good about themselves with a 3-2 series lead and a fairly convincing game five win. But it was not to be, and in game six, a do or die for the Riders, Dave McIvor decided it wasn’t a good time to die and he went out and blasted in 3 goals and had 2 assists to give the Ghost a 6-4 win. That game six road win set up a dramatic game seven back in the Fernie Memorial. When the teams came back on the ice for that last game the Ghostriders had their not so secret weapon (1140 screaming fans) and their talented Captain Scott Traverse (2 goals) on their side and they went on to a 4-2 series ending win.

This series was a very close unpredictable series that saw both teams win two games in each other’s barn with home ice not being that big of a factor until game seven and even then the game went right down to the wire with Scott Traverse’s game winner going in in the last six minutes. The fourth goal went into an empty net with just seconds left on the clock.

Odds and Ends

As the saying goes, to win your best players have to be your best players, and in this series whenever the Ghostriders won a game team Captain Scott Traverse was the best player. Traverse also lead the Riders in scoring with 9 goals and 6 assists in the seven game series and three of his goals were game winners. Dave McIvor was right behind Traverse with 5 goals and 6 assists and Richard Small also had 11 points in 7 games. Jason Greenwell played all the games for the Ghostriders in net and was unbelievable in game seven and was a big factor in all the wins. Point a game defenseman Cody Reinbold and Derek Bishop both missed time in this series but the somewhat unheralded Joe DeLuca, Brandon Stevens, Scott Anderson and Jeff Zmurchyk proved they could play the minutes and played well. Scott Cisco 7 pts. and the Riders two sixteen year olds Brett Lyon 5 pts. and Josh McEwan 1 goal all played a hard nosed style that help make the Ghostriders a harder team to play against. Kyle Chartrand, John Shaw, Ryan Hill, Jordan Reid, Robbie Shaw, and Derek Bishop and Cody Reinbold all missed games because of injuries or penalties. The Ghostriders now move on to play the tough Beaver Valley Nitehawks.

P/O Schedule

Kimberley @ Fernie Fri. Feb. 29

Kimberley @ Fernie Sat. March 1

Fernie @ Kimberley Mon. March 3

Fernie @ Kimberley Tues. March 4

Kimberley @ Fernie Thurs. March 6- if needed

Fernie @ Kimberley Fri. March 7- if needed

Kimberley @ Fernie Sat. March 8-if needed

All games @ 7:30

Riders vs Nitros

The Ghostriders played Kimberley eight times this year and had a winning 5-3 record. Kimberley is a different team since the January deadline. They picked up Grand Forks top two players, Andrew Green and Jerris Gregory, Russell McLean from Nelson and Solomon Maccan. The Nitros beat Creston in four games, Solomon Maccan had 7 points, Andrew Green 6 and Mike Whitequills 5. Tanner Sheridan had 2 wins in net and Paul Basek went 1-1 in net. The Ghostriders last played Kimberley January 18 and won 3-2 in overtime.

The Ghostriders finished the regular season with an excellent 32-17-3 record and a first place finish in the Neil Murdoch East Division. This is a pretty good record considering the Riders lost 15 players from last year’s Championship team, including eight of their top ten scorers, both goalies, five defensemen and every player who won an award on the team.

Lots of credit to head Coach and General Manager Will Verner, who not only lost most of the best players from the year before but had the added disadvantage of not getting hired until the last week in August and then when he got to Fernie he found out that the rink was under construction and camp was 20 miles down the road in Sparwood. But Verner and his assistants Shawn Potyok and Craig Bell persevered and brought in several new players, and coached the boys to a winning record and a league best 145 goals against and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

The Riders were lead in scoring by dynamic second year forward Dave McIvor who almost doubled his point totals from last year and ended up with 65 points. Rider Caption Scott Traverse now in his fourth year was next with 55 points and the most PIM with 228. Cody Reinbold had 38 points and was the highest scoring blueliner.

In net the Riders went through a couple of starting goalies before settling on former KIJHL Rookie of the Year (2004-05) Jason Greenwell. Jason went 15-10 with a 91.67 save % and a 2.54 goals against average and has been a first star in several games. Rookie goalie Jordan Sullivan didn’t play a lot but had a winning 6-2 record and shows signs that he could play a lot more next year.

The Ghostriders Jordan Reid who had 53 points had to retire in the last week of the season because of concussions. Reid missed 10 games and played at less than 100% in many others and if he was healthy all season he likely would have challenged for the top scorer in the league.

Odds and Ends

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks were the only team to sweep in the first round, they knocked out the Castlegar Rebels 3-0. The other winners were Kamloops 3 -1 over Summerland, and Sicamous 3-1 over Invermere. Beaver Valley will now play Nelson, Kamloops will play Princeton and Sicamous will play Revelstoke.

Last Week

The Fernie Ghostriders won 5-3 last Friday night in Fernie against the Columbia Valley Rockies.

This game only took about five minutes for the first of eight goals on the night to be scored when Dave McIvor from Brandon Stevens and Scott Traverse deflected in his 30th goal on the year. For the record an 18 yr old McIvor only had 16 goals last year and finished 7^th in Rider scoring, this year he is leading the team in scoring. David King used his great hand skills on the next goal with Richard Small and Darryl Gagnon getting the assists. Rockie All-Star Brett Bjorkman and Reid Mitchell each scored for the Rockies and the period ended 2-2.

In the second there was only one goal scored and that was by Kyle Chartrand, McIvor and Cody Reinbold had the assists.

In the third period the Riders scored a pair pretty goals, the first was off the stick of new Rider Darryl Gagnon who only had to tap in a perfect back door pass from Richard Small. Derek Bishop had the second assist. Then defenseman Joe DeLuca made the pass of the night from his own end to the tape of a streaking Dave McIvor’s stick and the Riders had their 5^th. Scott Anderson had the second assist. Brett Bjorkman from Reid Mitchell and Tyler Miller scored on the power play for the Rockies with about seven minutes left in the game but it was too little too late.

Rider goalie Jason Greenwell got the win in net stopping 21 shots and Tyrel Jennings took the loss but still stopped 38 of 43. The first star with 2 G and 1A was Dave McIvor, second with 2A was Richard Small and third with 1G 2A was Rockie Reid Mitchell

Riders vs Braves

Friday’s game is game two of a home and home with Spokane. The Ghostriders won 4-3 in overtime last Saturday in Spokane. Dave McIvor, Ray Pressacco, Josh McEwan and Cody Reinbold (OT winner) scored the goals and Jason Greenwell got the win in net even though Matt Randall elbowed him and took a 5 minute major. Brandon Stevens was suspended after that elbow for being in the second fight at the same stoppage. Froward Eli King was hoping to get back in the lineup tonight, Jordan Reid and Scott Cisco are day to day.

Odds and Ends

#15 Dave McIvor is the Ghostriders nominee for the KIJHL player of the Month for January, Dave had 9 goals 5 assists in only 8 games and the team was 5-2-1….. The winner will be announced this week….. The Riders travel to Nelson tomorrow then finish their regular season road schedule in Creston this Tuesday but will play a make up game in Beaver Valley Feb. 10 …. The last home game is February 17 vs the Rockies. …. Dave McIvor scored 3 goals and had 3 assists last weekend and now has a team leading 56 points…. Ray Pressacco scored his first goal in Spokane and has 9 points in 11 games…..Defenseman Cody Reinbold scored his 5^th in Spokane and has the most points 22 for a defenseman…. Derek Bishop is right behind him with 19 in a few less games…..Jeff Zmurchyk played with the Trail Smoke Eaters two weeks ago and by all accounts everything went well and Jeff may go there next year….. Creston’s goalie Wade Waters did not play last Saturday against Kimberley…. the score…. Nitros 7 Thundercats 1….. Waters played Friday vs Kimberley ….. the score…. Creston 6 Kimberley 5…..And then he stoned Spokane last Sunday 1-0 stopping 44 shots…..The Nitros now have a couple of points on Spokane for the last PO spot and have 2 games in hand.

Last Week

The Riders only played one game last weekend a 4-3 shootout loss to Creston. Dave McIvor Richard Small and John Shaw scored the goals.

Riders vs Kimberley

The last time these two teams played was January 8^th in Kimberley where the Ghostriders lost 6-2. Scott Cisco and Jordan Reid scored the Rider goals and Nitro Tommy Latouche Gauvin had 4 assists. Since “K” top scorer Dustin Johnson went up to Junior “A” January 10 the top scorer in the KIJHL now is Gauvin. Kimberley and Spokane are tied for the last P/O spot with 38 points but Kimberley has a game in hand.

Fernie vs Princeton

These teams have only played once this year in Princeton back in October and Princeton won 3-2 in overtime. Cody Hutton and Dave McIvor scored the Rider goals and Devin Hartigan took the loss in net. Princeton has the most penalties of all KIJHL teams with 1696 minutes and Cody Southerland has 331 of them. Princeton lost their last game against Chase 8-4 Mr. Southerland had 27 PIM’s. Brad Gloss with 38 points is their top scorer. The Possey signed Nolan Bowker and Riley Ferster at the deadline. Princeton is one of the top teams with 48 points.

Round the League

Lots of trades last Thursday January 10 when all teams had to get down to 23 players. Here are a few of them. We will start in Fernie where GM Will Verner brought in three experienced players for the playoffs. The first player Eli King ( was already here practicing for a week before he was signed and he played last Friday against Creston. King is the older brother of #22 Dave King (90) Eli came here from the Junior “A” Bonneyville Pontiacs. Verner also signed forward Darryl Gagnon (87) from the Quesnel Millionaires of the BCHL and defenseman Ryan Hill (87) from the junior “A” Port Hope Predators. To make room Verner had to move Tim Crawley to Invermer and trade AJ Gourlay back to Ontario….. Kimberley is gearing up for the Cyclone Taylor Cup this spring (in Kimberley) and they added a few players. Meanwhile Grand Forks has thrown in the towel and have traded their best players Andrew Green and Jerris Gregory to Kimberley. The Nitros gave up Konrad Sander and some undisclosed considerations, Kimberley also signed defenseman Russell McLean from Nelson……Dustin Johnson was the top scorer in the KIJHL before the deadline but now he is playing Junior “A” in Nanimo of the BCHL with former Rider goalie Evan Smith…..The Chase Chiefs got a few players including former Rider goalie Nigel Nolan from Golden ….. And finally, former Rider goalie Devan Hartigan who left a couple of months ago to play Junior “A” in Ontario found out he didn’t like it and ended up in Beaver Valley with former Rider coach Craig Mohr last week.

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Last Week

The Ghostriders played Kimberley twice last weekend losing 4-3 at home but winning 4-0 in Kimberley. On Friday the Ghostriders were leading for most of the game but took several costly penalties and the Nitros scored 3 power play goals and won 4-3. Rider scorers were John Shaw, Scott Cisco and AJ Gourlay. On Saturday in Kimberley the Riders roasted the Nitros 4-0. Dave McIvor had a pair of goals and Jordan Reid and Richard Small each scored singles and Jason Greenwell got the shutout.

Riders vs Summerland

The only time Fernie played Summerland was back on October 20 in the Okanagan where the Ghostriders stung Summerland 7-0. John Shaw and Richard Small had 2 each while Brett Lucente, Jordan Reid and Scott Traverse each had singles. Jordan Sullivan got the shutout in net. Summerland’s 17 yr. old rookie Dustin Johnson is the top scorer in the KIJHL with 56 points and averages 1.7 points a game. The last game the Sting played was on December 19 when they lost 4-2 in Princeton.

Riders vs Nelson

Fernie has only played Nelson once this year and that was here in Fernie September 29^th. Nelson won that game 4-3. Dave McIvor, Tim Crawley and Jordan Reid scored the Rider goals and Nigel Nolan took the loss in net. Nelson had a home and home with the strong Beaver Valley Nitehawks last and won 3-2 S/O on Sunday and 3-2 again on New Years Eve. Their top scorers are 17 yr. Old Riley Loyst and 20 year old Jeremy Van Troyen.

Odds n’ Ends

Last Saturday in Kimberley Jason Greenwell got his 3^rd shutout as a Ghostrider …. Dave McIvor missed the new a few times last Friday but on Saturday had 2 goals and 1 assist and in 2 games last week had 4 points and now has 42pts. …. 23 of those are goals….Jordan Reid leads the Riders with 45 pts…… Derek Bishop and Cody Reinbold have the most points for defensemen at 15 but with 5 goals and 8 assists Joe DeLuca is right behind them….Nitro Nick Grady started all the fights last Friday with a hit from behind that saw the Riders lose three players but it helped Scott Traverse up his team leading PIM to 164….. Last Friday’s game here in Fernie was a total sellout of 1140 and dozens of fans were turned away at the door……The Ghostriders and their Coaches and Board Members thank you for your support.

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Please bring a non perishable food item for the Salvation Army

Last Week

The Ghostriders got hammered at home against Spokane last Friday by a 6 -1 score but bounced back on Saturday with an 8-2 whipping of the the Grand Forks Border Bruins. The goal scorers were Jordan Reid (3) Robbie Shaw and Dave McIvor with 2 each and Dave King with one. Jason Greenwell got the win in net.

Riders vs Creston

The last time these two teams played the Ghostriders won 4-2. Richard Small scored 2 and Dave McIvor and Dave King scored singles. Each team has now won 2 games. Creston lost both games last weekend 4-3 to Golden and 2-1 to Summerland. After last weekend Creston had 41 points and Fernie had 40 but the Riders still had 3 games in hand.

Odds n’ Ends

Jordan Reid was named as the first star last Saturday…. he scored 3 goals and had 4 points…..The under-rated Robbie Shaw had a break out game and scored 2 goals and had 2 assists….Dave McIvor scored 2 and had 3 points…Scott Traverse was the second star with a pair of assists….Quietly 17 year old rookie forward Dave King has been inching his way up on the Ghostrider scoring list and now has 13 points, King was the third star Saturday with a goal and an assist…. King had a bit of a slow start as a rookie but is learning quickly and could really light it up in the new year… Travis Harrad will have to have knee surgery but can skate with a brace and has been practicing with the team…. Raymond Pressacco only played one game with the Ghostriders and had 2 assists but hurt himself then re injured it in practice and missed last weekend, but may be ready for tonight….The boys go to Creston tomorrow then go home for the Christmas break

The Ghostriders Players Coaches and Board Members wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Last Week

The Ghostriders only played one game last weekend and that game was here in Fernie where the boys fought, literally, with the first place Creston Thundercats and ended up with a well deserved 4-2 win. Actually it should have been about 6-2. and one of the Cat goals came when Jason Greenwell was victimized by a fluke bounce that caught him out of the net. The goal scorers were Dave King, Dave McIvor and Richard Small with 2. Jason Greenwell got the win in net for the Ghost and was pretty good the few times he had to be.

Riders vs Spokane

The last time the Ghostriders played Spokane was in November in a home and home and both teams won on the road. Spokane won 3-2 here in Fernie and the Riders won 4-3 in Spokane when Jordan Reid scored his second goal of the game in overtime. Spokane is fighting it out with Kimberley for the last playoff spot and won both games in a home and home with the Nitros last weekend, 3-2 on Friday and 7-5 on Sunday in Spokane. Newcomer Andrew Christ had 4 points Sunday. Spokane’s nominee for the Player of the Month was Alex Lewicx.

Riders Vs Grand Forks

The Ghostriders played in grand Forks on October 5^th where the Ghostriders won 4-1. In that game the Riders also out shot the Bruins 44- 26 yet all three stars were Bruins. Grand Forks is in last place in the tough Neil Murdock West Division with Beaver Valley, Castlegar and Nelson. Grand Forks didn’t bother to nominate a player for the POM but did the Riders a favor and beat Creston 4-2 last Saturday.

Odds n’ Ends

Richard Small scored two goals and was named as the first star last weekend vs Creston….. He was playing with Kyle Chartrand and Ray Pressacco and the three of them, who could be a first line on any team, seemed to gel…. Pressacco was playing in his first game with the Ghostriders and was named as the third star. Raymond is from Trail but was playing Junior “A” in Fort Francis Ontario before coming to Fernie…. In the second period Derek Bishop fed Dave King a breakaway pass and King put some moves on Wade Waters that he is still talkin to himself about. That goal was worth the price of admission….We just don’t see enough of that stuff….But see too much of this….Sixteen year old Josh McEwan fought 20 year old Anthony Leardo and Seventeen year old Jeff Zmurchyk had his first KIJHL fight and it was against Creston’s twenty year old PIM leader Drew Coles…. You 20s can be proud of yourselves…. Robbie Shaw was named as the second star, he was hard to play against all night killed penalties and used his speed to his advantage…. Congratulations to defenseman Brandon Stevens, he was the Ghostriders nominee for the KIJHL Player of the Month. Stevens wears #7 and plays lots of tough minutes against all the top players and is turning into a top K -D- man…. The winners were Dan Salamandyk (Sicamous) and Mike Whitequills (Kimberley)… After all the antics in the Creston game it looked like Scott Traverse and Jeff Zmurchyk would each get a one game suspension and will miss Friday’s game but will play on Saturday vs the Forks….The coaches survived the mini nuclear war.

The Ghostriders will be manning the kettles for the Salvation Army from 10-4 Monday- Thursday until December 20 at the post office…. The Players are also looking for work, so if you need some strong bodies call the office at 423-4153

Last Week

The Ghostriders split their home and home with Kimberley last weekend losing 5-4 here in Fernie and winning 4-3 in a shootout on the road in Kimberley. Richard Small, Kyle Chartrand and Jordan Reid scored the goals in regulation and Dave King and Dave McIvor scored in the shootout. Last Friday the Ghostriders were down 4-0 before making a spirited comeback in the second when Cody Reinbold, Derek Bishop and Jordan Reid (2) all scored to tie the game up only to lose in the third by a PP goal.

Riders vs Creston

The last time the Ghostriders played Creston was November 24^th here in Fernie where the Riders dominated the Thundercats on the ice but could only score two goals and won 2-0. Josh Garneau and Tim Crawley scored the goals…….. Creston won their last game against the surging Kimberley Dynamiters last Tuesday in Creston by a 2-1 score and now have a 5 point lead on the Riders. But Fernie has 2 games in hand.

Odds n’ Ends

Twenty year old Jordan Reid scored three goals vs Kimberley and leads the team with 18 goals, 7 on the PP 1 shorthanded and now has 35 points…..Reid has been wearing a “C” this year but turned over the Captaincy to Scott Traverse last week. Coach Will Verner explains the situation “Scotty Traverse is the Captain of our hockey club now with Cody Reinbold the co-Caption. Scotty will sport the “C” on the blacks and whites and Cody will wear it on the reds. Jordan felt Scotty was ready to take the lead and with him coming back next year he will be the Captain of our team next year”. Verner adds “ Cody will continue as co-Caption and continue his leadership on and off the ice and Jordan will wear an “A” and we will be leaning on him both on and off the ice”.

….Seventeen year old Dave King scored a hi-light reel goal in the shootout in Kimberley….That was his third S/O goal this year and all have all been something to watch…. Rider goalie Jason Greenwell was named as first star in Kimberley… he stoned all of the Nitro shooters in the shootout…. After last weekend the Riders had the lowest goals against at 73….16 year old Brett Lyon was in Pentiction last Saturday and played with the Junior “A” Vees… The Coaches said he played well and even got in a fight in the third….. Travis Harrad was taken off the roster because of a knee injury and Joey McEwan was released but Coach Verner is in the process of finding him a place to play, we wish him all the best in his future hockey and life endeavors …..

The Ghostriders will be manning the kettles for the Salvation Army from 10-4 Monday- Thursday until December 20 at the post office…. The Players are also looking for work, so if you need some strong bodies call the office at 423-5153

The Ghostriders play Kimberley Friday night here in Fernie Gametime is 7:30

Last Week

The last two games against Castlegar and Creston Riders fans saw a new goaltender, here is what happened….A couple of weeks ago goalie Devan Hartigan decided that he wanted to play at a higher level so he left the team and moved on to Ontario where he will play Jr. “A” with the Fort Erie Meteors. Meanwhile as all this was happening quick thinking Rider Coach and GM Will Verner went out and acquired the playing rights to Jason Greenwell from Sopkane via his release from the Surrey Eagles just before Hartigan left.

At only 18 years old you wouldn’t think of Jason Greenwell as a seasoned vet but this guy has been in junior hockey since he was 14 and has 3 years of KIHL experience from his time in Spokane and this year when he played in Surrey of the BCHL. Last year with the Spokane Braves Greenwell stopped over 91 % of the shots he faced, was 25-16-4, played 2682 minutes had 3 assists and even picked up 59 PIM. Some forwards don’t rack up that many PIM. With Hartigan, who was 20 years old leaving, and Greenwell who is only 18 coming in, the Ghostriders now have another 20 year old roster spot open for the December and January cut down dates.

The Ghostriders came up with an uninspired effort against Castlegar last Friday here in the Fernie Memorial and lost 3-1. For the most part the two teams neutralized each other for a couple of hours and the Riders went 1 for 9 on the PP and hardly had any good chances all night. On Saturday the Ghostriders were all over the first place Creston Thunder and won 2-0… the score was flattering to Creston as the Ghost had territorial advantage all game.

Riders vs Nitros

The Ghostriders have played Kimberley only once this year way back in September and the Riders won 5-4 here in Fernie. Although Kimberley is in last place they are a better team than their record shows. Spokane is just the opposite and is self destructing as we speak….Kimberley looks like they will get that last P/O spot, or better, sooner or later…. The Nitros outscored Spokane 8-6 last Friday and Nitro forward Mike Whitequills had 5 points and Ryan Black had 4 in that game. On Saturday Kimberley won 4-1 against Castlegar, who were fresh off a win over Fernie on Friday.

Odds n’ Ends

Last weekend we saw 16 year old Prince George AAA Midget affiliate defenseman Josh Garneau in a Rider uniform …. He was wearing #3 and is the younger brother of #20 Jordan Reid. Garneau did not look out of place against Castlegar and against Creston he excelled scoring a weird disallowed goal and making good plays and passes all night… especially the pass from behind the net to Tim Crawley for the second goal vs Creston….. Kyle Chartrand made the nice pass to Joe Deluca for the first goal….. Unfortunately Travis Harrad injured his ACL and will miss some time…. Jason Greenwell had a shutout in his second game in a Rider uniform, he had two last year…