By the time you read this the Ghostriders will have already finished their mini training camp and will be loading the buss for a couple of exhibition games with Beaver Valley and Kimberley. Their first home exhibition game is on Tuesday September 13 against the Kimberley Dynamiters. At the Riders conditioning camp two weeks ago there was one player who seemed to stick out a bit. He played with an edge even in the non-contact scrimmages and was one of the few players making tape to tape passes on both his forehand and backhand. The player was Daniel Higgs and he is a bit of a hostile witness (that’s lawyer talk) and should be a fan favourite here in Fernie. Higgs may even make the KIJHL’s ten most wanted list. Hope springs eternal.
As we write this there is quite a battle going on for the two 16 year old spots on the team and the coaches will also have some hard decisions to make on some pretty good 17 year olds as well. These are good problems for the coaching staff to have and to compound the situation the BCHL is still trimming their rosters and Coach Verner’s phone is ringing regularly now with guys looking for a good place to hang out this winter .
Missing a full season with an injury at the important, as far as hockey development goes, age of 17 was too much for Brendon Mangone and he didn’t make it in Trail with the Smoke Eaters. The betting here is that Mangone probably only needs a couple of months of ice and some games under his belt before some other Jr “A” team comes trolling along. Big strong 6’1” 190 pound skilled centers are in demand. Last season we saw Chase Golightly and the Hawryluk twins move up to Jr “A” during the season and Golightly ended up being a star at that level and was voted Prince George’s best defenseman.
And finally, the Ghostriders have quietly raised their ticket prices for adults from $9 to $10 and lowered their student and senior price by a dollar to $5 this year. It will be faster making change now and the lineups’ at the gate should speed up. Think of it as a sort of “harmonised” ticket price, just like the HST was …except… you don’t get to vote on it