By the time you read this the Ghostriders will have already held their main training camp and will be well into their four game exhibition schedule. The last home game before the regular season starts is on Saturday September 4th, vs. Kimberley. After that the boys will be out of town for a couple of weekends playing games in Kamloops and Armstrong on the first weekend then on to Creston and finally in Golden before coming home on the 24th to face the rival Creston Thundercats.

The Ghostriders seem to be stockpiling an excess of players in the offseason but that’s because some of the players Fernie Coach Will Verner has picked up are pretty good and have a shot at playing Jr. “A”. Most of them will try out at that level first and some of them may never play a game with the Riders. So with that in mind Verner keeps on acquiring the CHA rights to as many veteran players as he can and last week he completed one trade and started another with the KIJHL’s newest franchise, the Kelowna Chiefs. Well they’re not actually new, Kelowna, in a very controversial (we like that) move relocated from Chase, BC last spring. Below is the press release from the Ghostrider office.

The Fernie Ghostriders are excited to add Jordan Cool and Kevin Monfette from the Kelowna Chiefs (formerly the Chase Chiefs.) Monfette completed the Tyson Bentley trade from 2009 and we acquired Cool for future considerations. Jordan Cool played 2 games for the Riders last season before we moved him to Chase due to numbers and opportunity. In 39 games last year Jordan had 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points. Jordan will attend camp in Prince George before coming to Fernie.

0Kevin Monfette will be a strong member of our blue-line. Kevin skates well, moves the puck well and in 50 games last season he registered 5 goals and 15 assists. Kevin will attend Junior ‘A’ camp before heading to Fernie.

And finally, Sparwood’s Michael Anderson is a player everyone is hoping can take another step in what has been his continual development. Here’s Coach Verner on his 19 year old forward. “Michael Anderson is coming into his 3rd year and we expect him to be a big part of our leadership group and we expect him to break out offensively. Last season Michael became a very reliable player that learned to be one of our top penalty killers. He was also able to chip in with 8 goals, 12 assists in the 44 games he played.”

By George Hurlbut