The Quality Foods Oceanside Generals looked good in their new camouflage jerseys last Friday.
But they almost ended up looking bad and gave some home fans a second dose of fright just after Halloween when they were held to a scoreless tie in the first two periods by the struggling Comox Valley Glacier Kings, who are still winless in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
The Generals fired everything they could muster but were stymied by the Glacier Kings solid defence, particularly goaltender Jacob Bennett, who did a remarkable job between the pipes. They finally broke Bennett’s wall in the third and ended up skating away with a 3-1 win.
The win gave the Generals another .500 week, after losing to the Nanaimo Buccaneers 4-2 on Halloween Night at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.
Against the Glacier Kings, the Generals were strong offensively and outshot the visitors 45-21 in the end.
Elijah Goyer scored the Generals’ first goal at the 55 second mark in the third and less than minute later Cage Newans made it 2-0. However, the Glacier Kings came back cut the lead in half at 7:29. Newans quickly restored the two point lead 30 seconds later and it stayed that way till the end.
The Generals improved their record to 12 wins and five losses. They continue to lead the North Division.
On Halloween night, the Generals had a tough outing against the arch-nemesis Buccaneers. It was a physical game with both sides playing with an extra edge.
Aides Sutherland staked the Generals to a 1-0 lead in the first period, but in the second it was all Buccaneers who scored four unanswered goals to enter the third with a 4-1 lead. In the third, the Generals Brady Kay made it 3-2 and despite outshooting the Buccaneers 15-6 in that frame alone, they were not able to make up the deficit.
Meanwhile, the new military-looking jerseys of Generals have now become an annual tradition for the club. They started this last year.
“We have a number of veterans that actually volunteer here with the Generals organization,” said club president Gerry Bickerton. “So we thought, in support of the legion as well as the local legion branch, this would be a way we could support that and honour our military, veterans and the people that served for us in this country.”
Part of the proceeds the Generals would collect from sale and auctioning of the new jerseys would be donated to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 49 in Parksville.
“We will wear it throughout November during our home games,” said Bickerton. “We are hoping to be able to do that on the road but we have to connect with the other teams to make sure they were the proper colours so there’s no conflict.”
ICE CHIPS: The Generals will play another home game on Friday, Nov. 8 against the Westshore Wolves at Oceanside Place Arena at 7 p.m. Then the next day they hit the road to the Comox Valley to face the Glacier Kings at 7:30 p.m.