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Oceanside Generals have new bench boss

Club has hired former Generals player Dan Lemmon
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The Quality Foods Oceanside Generals have a new leader behind the bench.

The club has hired former Generals player Dan Lemmon, who replaces Jesse Hammill, who was released from his coaching and management commitments last Friday.

President Gerry Bickerton said that Lemmon has a thorough hockey background, having coached in the VIJHL both in Oceanside and Nanaimo. He was named VIJHL coach of the year in 2016-17.

“Dan is known for his up-tempo coaching style, valuing hard working players and developing a team that will compete night in and night out,” said Bickerton. “When we spoke with some of Dan’s former players, it quickly became clear that Dan is a player’s coach. Many of his past players describe Dan as their favourite coach and loved to play for him. He has a proven track record of graduating players to the next level and beyond.”

Despite losing their head coach last Friday, the Generals were still able to focus on their task at hand to score a 4-1 win against the Glacier Kings.

The next night, against bitter rivals Nanaimo Buccaneers, the Generals had a good start but faded in the end to lose 6-3.

Greyson Weme led the Generals in Comox with two goals with one each coming from Jory Swanson and Chase Heslop. Goalie Jacob Sweet earned the win at the pipes, making 25 saves.

Against the Buccaneers, the Generals scored an early goal by Landon Dziadyk to take a 1-0. But the Buccaneers came back strong late in the period with Darian Harris scoring three goals to give Nanaimo a 3-1 lead.

The Generals defense faltered again in the second as the Buccaneers scored again to make it 4-1. Brady Kay was able to cut the lead in half midway but Harris netted his fourth of the night to make it 5-1. Dziadyk scored his second of the night late in the period but only to see the Buccaneers reclaim the point in the dying seconds.

In the third, the Generals had three power plays but were not able to capitalize on them. Final score was 6-3 for the Buccaneers.

Generals assistant coach Andrew Riddell said the defensive effort was lacking.

“We were standing around in the defensive zone,” said Riddell. “Guys were watching the puck instead of watching their man. They scored four goals right from the slot. That’s goal scoring area and guys have to be there.”

Riddell said it is frustrating when they don’t perform to their potential.

“What went right is we played with some passion in the first 40 minutes of the game,” said Riddell.

“We took it to them. The score doesn’t dictate the style of the game tonight, the what could, should have, what if. We worked hard tonight. And that’s what we’re looking for from our core players.”

This week, the Generals head to Nanaimo to take on the Buccaneers at the Nanaimo Ice Centre Thursday night, Oct. 18 at 7:15. They are back home Saturday night against the Campbell River Storm at Oceanside Place at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the Generals hit the road to Victoria to face the Cougars at Archie Browning Arena for afternoon match at 3 p.m.



Michael Briones

About the Author: Michael Briones

I rejoined the PQB News team in April 2017 from the Comox Valley Echo, having previously covered sports for The NEWS in 1997.
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