Island junior hockey’s fresh pack of Wolves
There’s plenty new in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League this season, including in the Wolves’ den on the Westshore.
The Wolves, fresh off a solid playoff run last spring, have nearly a whole new team and a brand new coach to go with it as they get set to drop the puck on the 2018-19 VIJHL regular season tonight at The Q Centre against the Peninsula Panthers.
Longtime minor hockey coach Ian Birnie makes the jump to Junior B and he’s looking forward to the new challenges of working with a young Wolves squad.
“I’m excited and everyone is excited to finally get things going for real,” said Birnie, who joins the Wolves after coaching the Saanich Minor Hockey Midget AAA team to the provincial tournament the past five years.
“Some would say we’re rebuilding but we have some excellent young players so I think it’s more retooling than anything else.”
The Wolves have lost a lot of offence, including last year’s captain, Brandon Tutte and his 25 goals and 58 points. Tutte has moved on to college hockey at the University of Alabama, but Birnie expects a new breed of leadership to fill the void this season and expects big things from new captain Keegan Durrance.
“Keegan is a 19-year-old so he knows the league very well and he’s the hardest working player on the team. He’s also calm and collected so he’s the perfect captain for our team, I think,” Birnie said.
Forwards Clark Pickup, Chase O’Keefe and Benjamin Duffin return and will be joined by a new group in Blake Bentham and Connor Eddy, who starred with the South Island Royals last season, Dylan Parson from Yale Hockey Academy and Nevan Flay, who comes over from the Port Moody Panthers in the Pacific Junior Hockey League.
Between the pipes, Birnie is expected to rely heavily on returnee Jordan Spandli, who played 35 games last season with an 18-17 record.
“We still have three goalies right now because they’ve all been very good,” Birnie said. “Luke [Sheldrake] has some experience from last season as well so I expect us to play those two a lot.”
The young Wolves will get a stiff test right off the bat. The Panthers are a team on the rise in the South Division.
“Peninsula is a team that started a rebuild a couple of years ago and now most of those young players are now older and playing well now. Peninsula has done a good job of developing their own players,” Birnie said.
“And the [Saanich] Braves and [Victoria] Cougars will always be tough so the South is going to be very competitive this season.”
And while the South Division will be defined by parity, the perennial powerhouse Campbell River Storm are again expected to dominate in the North.
“I would say the Storm are the team to beat in the league,” Birnie said.
“They’re hosting the provincial championship [Cyclone Taylor Cup] and have put together another real strong team.”
Fans will notice some changes to the standings as well.
VIJHL teams will now get three points for a win, two points for an overtime or shootout win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss. It’s a pilot project approved by B.C. Hockey.
“It’s going to make things very interesting, for sure, and I think the fans are going to like it,” Birnie said.
The league was also set to bring in another significant change, but that may be on hold now. Last spring the league announced it would require all players, regardless of age, to wear a full-face cage or shield. But they may have jumped the gun.
After a summer of meetings, all three Junior B leagues in the province have appealed that decision, and the matter has been taken to court.
“The full cage matter has become a very contentious issue and I’ve been told to hold off on having the cages put on the helmets,” Birnie said.
“It’s not ideal but I can see both sides’ reasoning. There’re some 20-year-olds who have quit because they don’t want to wear a full cage after not having worn one for years. So I think some of the leagues were hoping for maybe a grandfather clause that would just force new players to wear them.
“And B.C. Hockey obviously has its reasons, like facial injuries and dental problems occurring, so they have a tough decision to make.”
While the Wolves and Panthers are the lone game tonight, the Cougars have their home opener on Thursday night with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings paying a visit to Archie Browning Sports Centre. The Braves host the Kerry Park Islanders on Friday night at Pearkes Arena, and the Wolves and Panthers will do it all again on Friday night, this time at Panorama Recreation Centre.