Player Commitment – Jared Winkel
The Oceanside Generals are excited to announce that they have committed to Forward Jared Winkel for the 2017/2018 VIJHL Season. At 5’9 and 170 pounds Jared is a solid lad that is tough to play against. He is well known for being a player that plays whistle to whistle and sometimes a bit extra. Think Brad Marchant and you get the picture. Jared spent last season with the BCMML North Island Silvertips and is from just down the road in Lantzville BC. Welcome to the club Jared!
Generals participating in Canada Day
The Quality Foods Oceanside Generals will be participating in the Canada Day activities in Beautiful Parksville, British Columbia.
Join the Generals for the Canada Day Parade and Join them at the Park for Canada Day Activities.
More Info to Come…
Player Commitment – Greyson Weme
The Oceanside Generals are excited to announce they have signed Parksville’s own Greyson Weme. Greyson played his minor hockey in Parksville and spent last season with the Pacific Sea Devils of the CSSHL. Greyson plays Forward and is 5’11 and 175. You can catch up with Greyson and the Gens at our Main Camp in mid August. #gogens
Generals head coach Bickerton steps down to become president
Hammill to take over coaching chores while also serving as general manager
The Quality Foods Oceanside Generals have shuffled their administration as they prepare for their next Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League season.
Topping the list of changes was Gerry Bickerton’s resignation as head coach. He was handed a new role as president at the Generals’ annual general meeting held on May 8.
Jesse Hammill, who was hired midway through last season as general manager, has agreed to take over the head coaching responsibility. He will also continue to serve as general manager.
The Generals are also bringing back last season’s assistant coaches, Chris Lennox and Scott Bickerton.
“They are a few changes which we think are all positive and hopefully it’s gonna reflect that next season moving forward,” said Bickerton.
Hammill is no stranger to coaching, said Gerry Bickerton. He has been involved with hockey since a very young age. He played at all levels of minor and junior hockey before pursuing a professional career in Europe where he both coached and managed.
Bickerton said they’re aiming to be a lot more competitive next season and hoping to win more games.
“It’s important for us to have a full culture change, both off and on the ice,” said Bickerton
“There’s a lot of stuff and reasons why I made the move that I did to push the organization forward from an off-ice standpoint and basically get Jesse to push it from an on-ice standpoint. So we will see a lot of changes from both areas. It’s going to be a lot of work but we are really excited for it.”
The Generals have been busy recruiting players as well. They recently got commitments from two defencemen, Erik Hanus, who played with the North Island Silvertips of the BC Major Midget League, and Brandon Hannibal, who last year played for the Nanaimo Clippers Midget Tier 1 and was an affiliate player with the Generals where he played eight games.
Hanus, who stands at six foot five inches, could be an imposing figure on the Generals’ blue line. He is a strong, physical defenseman who can bring a steady supply of hard work and team play. Hannibal is a 5’7 smooth skater who sees the ice well and can execute great first passes.
The Generals will hold their main camp August 11-13.
Bickerton said he expects some of his veteran players to return but he won’t know for sure until they find out results of their Junior A tryouts.
“We as an organization want our players to progress to the next level,” said Bicketon.
During the course of the summer, the Generals plan to take part in some of the community events that include the Canada Day Parade on July 1 and helping at Beach Fest in August.
General manager Jesse Hammill, left, will step into the head coaching role for the Oceanside Generals Junior B hockey club for the coming season, while former coach Gerry Bickerton, right, takes over as president of the Generals Hockey Society. — NEWS file photo
Article from PQB News
VI Introduces TV Time-outs
New to the VIJHL for the 2017/18 season, a VIJHL TV time-out.
For many Island fans, it was at the Cyclone Taylor Cup in Creston that they first witnessed this strange break midway through each period.
At the first stoppage in action, not involving a penalty or icing, after the 10 minute mark of the period, the officials will call a one minute time-out. This break won’t impact the traditional 30 second time-out each team is guaranteed.
According to VIJHL President, Barb Byrne, “This is a great idea that can assist the teams and the officials. It’s a great strategy for assisting Officials in bringing teams under control and allowing coaching staff to better communicate with their players.” This isn’t the first time the league president has witnessed these time-outs, “after seeing this in play at the last Cyclone Taylor Cup and working with it during my WHL time, I believe this will be a great addition to our games.”
Wes Roed, the Campbell River Storm Governor, saw the usefulness of the time-outs when his club was at the Cyclone, “having witnessed the effective use of 1 minute time-outs at the CTC, I thought it worthy to bring this idea to the Board of Governors for consideration.”
Wes sees the key advantage of the new time-out is in player development, “from a coaching perspective, what coach wouldn’t want to have 3 extra time-outs per game to keep the boys on track.”
The Board of Governors liked what they heard. According to Wes, “much to my delight, the board passed this proposal to be implemented this season.”
Josh Lockhart, whose ‘Nitros Night in Kimberley’ blog is a mainstay of the KIJHL Dynamiters’ website, says the timeouts have benefits, “it gives the players, fans and webcasts a breather and allows the webcast crew and arena announcer to share sponsored commercials.”
Game 1 of the VIJHL regular season kicks off on September 1 in Campbell River when the Storm host the Oceanside Generals.
*Article from the VIJHL Website
Player Commitment – Isaac Finner
Issac Finner is a product of Nanaimo Minor Hockey’s Rep Program. Issac is 5’10 and 170 pounds but plays like he is twice that size. Issac is known for his open ice hits and always finishing his checks. He has a bullet of a shot that we hope to see as often as possible this coming season. Welcome to the Gen’s Issac !
Player Commitment – Brady Kay
Brady Kay is a hard working two way forward. He is 5’9” and 165lbs. Brady plays with a lot of Grit and is tough to play against.
He is from Nanaimo where he played minor hockey and spent last season with the BCMML North Island Silvertips.
He AP’d with the Generals last year and scored his first VIJHL goal vs the Victoria Cougars in his second game with the
club. Welcome to the Team Brady.
Player Commitment – Erik Hanus
Erik is a strong physical defenseman that will bring a steady supply of hard work and team play to the back end for the Generals this season. Erik spent last season with the North Island Silver Tips of the BCMML. Erik played his minor hockey in Nanaimo and his favorite player is Chris Pronger.
Player Commitment – Brandon Hannibal
Brandon is a 5’7″ 150 lb smooth skating puck moving defensemen from Nanaimo.
Brandon see’s the ice well and always makes a great first pass.
Last year Brandon played for the Nanaimo Clippers Midget Tier 1 as well as an affiliate with the Oceanside Generals where he played 8 games.
Brandon is attending Dover Bay Secondary where he will graduate in 2018.