The Fernie Ghostriders lost game three Tuesday night in Creston by a 2-1 score. The Riders looked good in the first and seemed to be on their game but slowed down after that and weren’t able get in close all that much, and when they did they were stoned by Joseph. They also wasted some of their shots by missing the net. So it boiled down to this Fernie’s best players weren’t their best players . Their one goal was by defenseman Jeff Zmurchyk, who converted a nice Jordie Cool pass while on a 2 on 1. Mark Strachan had the other assist.

Weston Joseph was the first star stopping 40 of 41 and Andrew Walton the second star stopping 29 of 31. Creston’s Ryan Hewitt scored the game winner late in the second. Although the Riders outshot Creston they also allowed several good scoring chances and Walton had to be good. His post’s and cross bars helped him a couple of times too.

Once again the Riders will have to regroup and get a win at home Thursday night and again on Friday in Creston. Game seven would be in Fernie on Saturday.

Elsewhere last night.

Castlegartakes a 3-1 series lead with a 3-2 win in Beaver Valley. Taylor Andersonhas a goal and 2 A in that one. The Rebels out shot BV 26-14.

Osoyoos remains a perfect 8-0 in the 2011 playoffswith a 5-0 win in Kelowna.. The Coyotes spread out the scoring and Thierry Martinewas the only player to get 2 points last night. They now await the Revelstoke Kamloops series, Revelstoke leads Kamloops 3-1 now and will be in Revelstoke tonight.

Series #1 Fernie vs Kimberley February 14, 2011

The Ghostriders play the Kimberley Dynamiters in the first round of the KIJHL Playoffs. Game # 1 of their best of seven series goes Tuesday night @ 7:30. Because if ice constraints game two is in Kimberley and game three will be here in Fernie this Saturday night.

The Ghostriders won seven of the eight games they played against the Nitros this season. The only game they lost was in Kimberley last Saturday night, the score was 5-4 in OT. Former Ghostrider Darrell Bolden was the first star in that game. The Riders were up 4-1 going into the third but choked and the Nitros scored 4 in a row. Bolden was in on 3 of the goals and scored 2 including the GW in OT. In that game Olli Dickson purposely ran into Fernie Goalie Fraser Abdallah knocking him out of the game and was given 5 and a game, Dickson was the most penalized player in the league with 365PIM .

Kimberley finished the season in fourth place with an 18-28-2-2 record good for 40 points. They scored 185 goals and allowed 234 and were 4-6 in their last ten games. Darrell Bolden is their top scorer with 63 points.

It was a great regular season for Rider fans to watch, the Ghostriders finished  up with a 42-5-0-3 record had 87 pts, were the top scoring team in the league with 265 goals scored and were second best in goals against with118 goals allowed. The Riders only lost 2 home games all season and won 87% of their games. Osoyoos finished 1st overall with 90 pts scored 257 and allowed just 110. Osoyoos also had 42 wins but had more ties and O/T losses than the Riders. The always tough Castlegar Rebels 42-8-1 also had 42 wins. Fernie ended the season 9-0-1 in their last ten games.

The Riders home games in round one are February 15, 19, 21 (if needed) and 23 (if needed).

Last weekend the Riders were shorthanded because of suspensions, sickness and injuries. Kade Pilton, Ty Morton, Connor Morgan, Evan Burgess Josh McSkimming and Jordie Cool all missed games but could be ready for game one but Zach Baba is suspended until Feb. 20.

Ghostriders play Creston Friday night February 1, 2011

The Ghostriders played most of their non divisional games earlier in the season and since December have played 17 divisional games and only 3 non divisional games . And it’s starting to show!!! The Ghostriders went into Creston last Saturday and defeated the Cats by a 3-2 score but not before several cheap shots, altercations and even a suspension. Here’s Rider Coach Will Verner on last Saturday’s game in Creston. The brackets after some of the player’s names are by RN for the fans who don’t remember some of the history.

“Maybe it all started years ago before both Joe ( Creston Coach Joe Martin ) and myself were with our respective clubs or in our 1st year ( 2007/08) when Adam Taylor (who played in Creston but a year later played in Fernie ) jumped Jordan Reid, Tim Crawley manhandled Travis Ludwar or maybe it was the playoff series from last year that has got this rivalry heated up. This season the games against Creston have been intense, physical battles . Neither team wants to give the other an inch and will do anything to keep the other team from winning.. Our record going into Friday’s game vs. Creston is 4-2-0-1 with Creston winning 3 straight games during the month of December. Creston is a big, physical team that gets up for playing our club. With the playoffs looming Friday night’s game will be very entertaining and very physical.

RN Well the Creston game on Friday sounds like a game we will be attending. Fernie had to kill off several penalties in the Creston game but the Ghostriders were perfect in that department. We asked Coach Verner, who was very happy with his PK Saturday night, just who were the stars of the PK and what about all the penalties.

Verner – “It was a team effort killing 16 straight minutes of penalties. Creston was awarded a 9 minute power play when their player #6 ( Steven Casselman ) would not stick up for himself after he cross checked Thomas Abenante in the head. No penalty was called on #6 and we just wish he stepped up for his incident and dealt with the consequence. If the game is not governed correctly by the officials then the players need to take matters into their own hands and deal with major penalties. This game saw many head shots -both ways-, hits from behind -both ways- and severe slashing and cross checking go unpunished. This is going to happen from time to time when the official is not prepared. When this is the case players have to police themselves and players need to be accountable for their actions”.

RN Now I’m really going to the Creston game on Friday. Were always talking about the forwards because they are on the score sheet so much so we’ll change it up a bit and ask about the defensemen that had good game in Creston.

Kade Pilton had a strong game. He moved the puck well, was physical and played disciplined and Mark Strachan did a great job filling in for an injured Evan Burgess.

RN Josh Garneau recieved a gross misconduct at end of game and Marty Wicks and Zach Baba also had misconducts.

Verner “ I have not read the report but after Josh was hit to the head twice during the game and once in the last minute of play where his helmet was knocked off he had some choice words for the official. – We hold our players accountable and the league will impose the automatic 3 game suspension on Josh. The one who should be suspended will not as he has no consequences.

Zach Baba stepped up for our captain Thomas Abenante as he was cross checked in the head. This could have easily saw us get the powerplay and no incident but no call was made. Marty Wicks stepped up for Andrew Walton after he was bumped. #11 (Cody Antos) did recieve a goaltender interfence but no penalty during the fight that saw him throw punches with his gloves on and then turtle. It is funny Creston has always played with so much heart and battle and to see two of their guys decide not to stick up for themselves is disappointing. I guess it is always passed on to the wariors. The guys like Ward (Creston) , or Baba, McDougall (Creston) or Morton, Ludwar (Creston) or Wicks, Dawe (Creston) or Burgess , Those guys don’t ask questions they just stick up for themselves and their teammates.

RN When will Connor McLaughlin get into the lineup …

Verner “We will see how Connor goes and it would be great to see him back this weekend. If not he should be ready for the Home and Home with Kimberley on the 11,12. Jordie Cool should return on Tuesday from Tumbler Ridge where he has been with his family after a devastating avalanche took the life of a very close family friend. Evan Burgess will skate this week and should be back in on Friday while Josh McSkimming continues to rehab. Finally Alex Milhousewill be with the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL though Feb 8, so he will not be in the line-up this coming weekend.

RN Both goalies played last weekend and both guys won their games.

All the Best Top Prospects of the KIJHL In Fernie January 14, 2011

The two teams in tonight’s game feature players from the Kootenay Conference (Fernie, Creston, Golden, Kimberley, Invermere, Castlegar, Beaver Valley, Nelson, Spokane and Grand Forks. And the Okanagan Shuswap Conference, (Revelstoke, Kamloops, Sicamous, Armstrong, Osoyoos, Kelowna, Princeton and Penticton If you follow the KIJHL standings closely you will see that the teams seem to be evenly split this season and the top four teams in each division just happen to be the top teams in the KIJHL.

Some of the Prospects of note are Fernie’s “D” Man Kade Pilton -photo- who just turned 16 in November, Rider Caoch Will Verner say’s Pilton will play in the NHL some day . Creston’s top scorer is 17 yr. old Brandon Formosa and he will play tonight . Revelstoke’s 17 year old goalie Garrett Rockafellow 11-4 is on the roster. There are lost of older players in the KIJHL but in Armstrong it’s a young Shawn Holiday who leads his team in scoring as does Penticton’s Dylan Burton . Tanner Clarkson is second on Kelowna’s stat page while Ryan Sookro is BV’s top scorer

Fernie vs Nelson this Friday @ 7:30 January 4, 2011

Friday the Ghostriders play the Nelson Leafs from the Neil Murdoch Division. In the playoffs the winner of our division, the Eddie Mountain Division, will play the winner of the Neil Murdoch Division. Last season Nelson won their division then defeated the Ghostriders before losing to Revelstoke who ended up winning everything.

Nelson is currently in a fight with Spokane for third place , it doesn’t look like either team will be able to catch catch Beaver Valley for second place. And no one will catch Castlegar for first place in their division . Nelson’s last game was in Spokane last Sunday where the Leafs won 6-3 giving them a 6 point lead with two games in hand on the Braves.
Nelson top scorers are Gavin Currie 43pts. (Currently out with an injury) Colton Schell 31 pts. (Suspended for Friday’s game) and Joel Stewart 27 pts. In Net Darren Hogg is 11-5 and Marcus Beesley is 8-11.
The Ghostrider coaching staff picked # 8 Cale Wright as their nominee for December’s KIJHL Player of the Month. In the nine games he played in Cale scored 11 goals and added 5 assists for 16 points. The Ghostriders went 6-2-1 in December and Wright was named as a game star in three of the games…After last weekend # 9 Thomas Abenante bottom left photo was leading the KIJHL in scoring with 64 points, Scott Morisseau- top photo was right behind in second with 63 points…. a great little rivalry… Castlegar’s Ryan Aynsley was leading the KIJHL in scoring before he went to Trail of the BCHL a month ago… He wasn’t happy there and is now back in Castlegar making the Rebels a force to be recon’d with come playoff time…. Two Nelson players Fernie fans may recognize… 20 year old Joel Stewart played 2 seasons in Spokane before being traded to Nelson three months ago, he had 107 points as a Brave to go along with 400 PIM…. and Brennan Foreman was in his fourth season in Kimberley before all the coaching trouble started, when it was over and just before the coaching staff had been replaced, Foreman was traded from his hometown to Nelson . He has 25 pts. and 104 PIM… Ghostrider Zach Baba is serving a 1 game suspension tonight for a game misconduct at the end of the Invermere game… he also had a pretty good tilt with last season’s penalty minute leader Jake Halderman in that game… Former Ghostrider “D” man Zach Traverse left Fernie to go to school and is now a Saanich Brave. He has played 3 games and has 2 assists…. Andrew Walton bottom right photo- earned his first shutout as a Ghostrider last week and now has 4 on the year… Cale Wright was the Tim Horton’s Player of the week and Ty Morton scored the Subway Goal of the Week.

Riders win 2-1 against division rival Creston January 1, 2011

The Ghostriders had lost three games in a row to the Creston Thundercats dating back to December 3rd in Fernie when the Cats won 2-1. The Riders also lost 5-4 in OT in Creston on Dec. 11 and 2-1 last Thursday in Creston. On Friday the Ghostriders, who should have had a better fate in some of those games would break out of that slump.

The Cats were in Fernie last night and the Riders dominated everywhere except on the scoreboard . They outshot them 39-18, out chanced them by the same wide margin and held the puck all night long but could only beat the game’s first star Weston Joseph twice and only won the game 2-1. The goal scorers were Cale Wright from Luke Richardson ( Richardson’s first point as a Ghostrider) and Thomas Abenante with the GW unassisted. Creston’s goal was off the stick of CJ Caputo from Dylan Solberg . The Riders had several top quality scoring chances cross bars etc. but couldn’t finish and it took a somewhat lucky goal off a wierd bounce to win. Although if you try 39 times your gonna get one in so it’s not really luck. With his game winning goal Abenante is now on top of the KIJHL in scoring with 64 points, Morisseau is in second place. Nice job guys.

Credit coach Joe Martin for Creston’s success against the Riders. His team is not nearly as skilled or as fast as the Ghostriders but he has them doing everything else right. They go after Fernie’s better players, always finish their checks, don’t pass in front of their net and play as physical as possible  “and”  everyone gets back quickly making it hard to get too many real top quality scoring chances. Exactly the way they have to play against the faster Riders.
This was the first time this writer has seen TY Morton and Luke Richardson . In Morton it looks like Fernie has an All- Star , this guy is big, doesn’t panic with the puck, can get shots through the traffic and can make moves around players to get time. A great acquisition as far as I can see. Richardson hasn’t played for a couple of months.

Riders play on Dec. 17 and 18 at home December 17, 2010

The Ghostriders play the Columbia Valley Rockies Friday night in game 5 of the team’s 8 game regular season series. So far the Ghostriders lead the series 4-1. Fernie lost 5-4 in Invermere back on November 6th. The last time these two teams played was on November 25 and 26. The Riders won 4-1 at home and 5-2 in Invermere. The Rockies sit in last place in the standings with a 8-22-3 record and 19 points. They are 9 points out of a playoff spot and are 3-7 in their last ten games.

Invermere won their last game 7-6 last Tuesday night in Golden . The CVR top scorers are; Stephen Hynes 33 pts. Kory Movold 22 pts and Julian Fraser 15 pts. They have 3 goalies on the Roster, Tyler Stamler 3-9 Bruce Corrigal 3-6 and former Rider Jarvis Bender 2-9.

The Rockies didn’t bother to nominate a Player of the Month in November but did place Tryg Strand on the Top Prospects Team and Stephen Hynes on the All-Star Roster. The Rockies have a few suspensions tonight due to a line brawl in Pentiction last Friday. Jacob Halderman, Kevin Dunlop, Julian Fraser, Kevan Mikkelson, Tyler Stamler and Gullaume are all out . But they won the game 4-3 the fights were at the end of the game and the time on the clock was 00:00.

On Saturday the Riders play Golden .
The Golden Rockets are here in Fernie for the first time this season. The Ghostriders have visited Golden three times this season . The last game was on November 20th when the Riders won 3-2. So far Fernie is 3-0 vs the third place Rockets. Golden is in the middle of the Kimberley Creston Golden pack fighting for second place and will need a win Saturday to keep up.

Golden’s top scorers are Tyler Fairall 49 pts. Joshaua McDonald 42, Justin Fulton 42, Tanner Chocrane 34 pts Brett DeFrias 24 Darren Andre and Kyle Garcia 21 pts . Their goalies are James Leonard 12-7 and Crossland Wass 2-7. Golden is 4-5-0-1 in their last ten games and Brett DeFrias was their nominee for the KIJHL Player of the Month.
The Fernie Ghostriders would like to announce that Jordan Hirano1992, has returned to the Ghostriders and will wear #26 tonight. Jordan has been playing in the MJHL for the Waywayseecappo Wolverines. Welcome home Jordan.

Jordie Cool photo- scored four goals last weekend, 2 on the road in Creston and a couple of beauties here in Fernie against Spokane. He won the McDonald’s Goal of the Week Award…. Alex Milhouse had 2 goals and 4 assists last week and was named as the Rider’s Tim Horton’s Player of the Week and Evan Burgess was named as the Subway Practice player of the week…. Thomas Abenante had a goal and 2 assists last Friday and 3 assists last Saturday in Creston… he leads the Riders in scoring with 56 points and is in 3rd place in KIJHL scoring… Scott Morisseau is right behind with 53 pts… This will make for a great race down the stretch.
The Ghostriders lost 5-4 in Creston last Saturday. The undermanned (due to the flu and suspensions) Riders were down 3-0 but fought back and were winning until Creston tied it up with 2 seconds left in the game. The Thundercats won in OT. Creston will be here December 30th .

The All-Star and Top Prospect Games are in Fernie January 14 & 15. You can by tickets on line at the Fernie Ghostrider web site, at our home games and at Fernie Auto Parts. Rider Kade Pilton 94 -photo- will play in the Top Prospect game and Andrew Walton, Fraser Abdallah, Jeff Zmurchyk, Thomas Abenante and Scott Morisseau will play in the All-Star Game. Zach Baba and Johnny Park will finish their suspensions Friday and are eligible to play on December 18.

Fernie Ghostriders add Jeff Zmurchyk November 13, 2010

Jeff Zmurchyk was just 16 when he first played with the Riders as an AP but that year, 2006/07, Fernie won a KIJHL Championship and it was a tough year for a 16 year old to get a spot on the roster. At 17 Jeff became a regular and by the end of the season was a top two defenseman and was named as the team’s Rookie of the Year . The Ghostriders won the KIJHL Championship again that year and a Bronze Medal at the Cyclone Taylor Cup . The fans can see that Zmurchyk is a superb skater in the games but during some of the skating drills at the Rider practices this aspect of his game really stands out.

For the record. At 16 Jeff was listed at 5’10” 165 Lbs. At 20 he is listed at 6’ 190. So far in the two games he has played Jeff has 2 goals and an assist.

Below is the Ghostrider press release.

The Fernie Ghostriders announce that Jeff Zmurchyk has returned home and has rejoined our club. Jeff played the past two seasons in the BCHL for the Merritt Centenials and the Trail Smoke Eaters . Jeff will be pursuing a career as a firefighter and will start working toward his future occupation during his time in Fernie. Jeff was a big part of our 2008 championship and to add a player with his experience and leadership will help our club reach our goal of winning the Keystone Cup.

Ghostriders play a rare Wednesday game Vs Kimberley here in Fernie October 10 @ 7:30 November 8, 2010

The Ghostriders play the Kimberley Dynamiters Wednesday in game one of a home and home series that will resume in Kimberley on Friday night. The Dynamiters only played one game last week and that game was in Castlegar where they lost 5-4. Clayton Tilleman scored 2 in that game and Tory Caldwell took the loss in net. Kimberley outshot the Rebels 38-34 but the Rebel PP scored two and that was the difference.

The Nitros are 3-5-0-2 in their last 10 games and have 16 points. They are in a dog fight with Creston Golden and the surprising Columbia Valley Rockies for second place in the standings. The Nitros top scorers are Clayton Tilleman 12 Gs and 22 pts. Senate Patton 17 pts. Kristian Petit 16 pts Brendan Foreman 14pts and Alex Hall and Richard Hubscher with 13 pts. Hubscher has the most points per game average with 1.4. The Nitros nominee for the KIJHL Player of the Month for October was Goaltender Tory Caldwell . He played 9 games and had a 4-5 record. Caldwell always gives the Dynamiters a chance to win. Nitro’s Brennan Foreman and Oli Dickson had misconducts in the last 10 minutes of the Castlegar game and could miss Wednesday’s game.

The last time Fernie played Kimberley was on October 22 here in Fernie, the Ghostriders won 8-3 . Nitro’s # 15 Clayton Tilleman scored two for the Nitros and Thomas Abenante racked up 4 points for the Riders. Taylor Pears was in net for the Ghostriders while Tory Caldwell got the start for the Nitros but was chased out the Riders had 57 shots, Kimberley 16.

Despite outshooting the Columbia Valley Rockies 67-22 the Ghostriders lost 5-4 on the road in Invermere last Saturday. Jordie Cool, Jamie Vlanich, Chase Golightly and Thomas Abenante scored the Rider’s goals. The Ghostriders are having a hard time finishing their scoring chances but continue on average to outshoot their opponents at a 2-1 margin. The Ghostriders nominee for the KIJHL Player of the Month was Mike Wiest meanwhile Castlegar who won two games vs the Ghostriders in October nominated their goalie Andrew Walton . Here is what their coach Steve Junker said when he nominated his goalie “Andrew capped off the month with 2 huge victories over powerhouse Fernie where he clearly was the difference.”

Riders name Thomas Abenante at Captain November 4, 2010

The Ghostriders have named center Thomas Abenante as their Captain for the 2010-2011 season. They have also named Cale Wright and Zach Baba as assistant Captains. In Abenante they have a relentless superfit center who can stick his nose in and score, in Wright they have probably the most balanced player on the team who can man the blue line or be a valuable forward. In Baba the Riders have some very much needed toughness, and a little toughness is the one thing this team is lacking. Below is the perss release.

Will Verner ” The Fernie Ghostriders have named Thomas Abenante team Captain. Abenante brings a wealth of experience to the Riders leadership role as he has played Junior hockey for the past 4 seasons. Zach Baba and Cale Wright have been named Assistant Captains. This year is very important for our organization and we felt it was critical to allow the group time for the leaders to emerge. We will rely heavily on these 3 young men to lead us to a Western Canadian Championship.