鈥淚t鈥檚 been good,鈥� he said of his team鈥檚 start. 鈥淲e definitely didn鈥檛 expect to be this far ahead at this point, but the pieces are falling into place.
鈥淚 definitely expected a strong season. I thought there might be some more growing pains off the bat, but the guys have got together very early. With Thursday night games, we use the weekend to bond and come together as a team,鈥� he said prior to Thursday night鈥檚 6-1 win over Comox Valley that improved the Bucs鈥� record to a league-leading 11-1, including 10 straight victories.
The Buccaneers venture into Panorama Recreation Centre tonight to face the Peninsula Panthers at 7:30.
Nanaimo lost its second game of the year, 6-1 in Campbell River, but since then has defeated the Storm twice, 2-1 at home and 4-0 on the road.
Toneff, who joined the team from his position as an assistant coach and assistant GM in Trail of the sa国际传媒 Hockey League, is getting yeoman鈥檚 service from his goaltending tandem of 18-year-old Derek Krall, who was 7-0 heading into Thursday鈥檚 game with a 1.39 goals-against average and .960 save percentage, and 16-year-old Blake Wood.
Both are Nanaimo products, as most of the Bucs are local players. Krall is a relative of jazz singer Diana Krall.
Mathieu Jallabert, who played in the Saskatchewn Junior Hockey League last season, leads the team and league in scoring with 14 goals and 27 points in 11 games, but is currently suspended. His linemates Jayden Schubert (10G, 8A) and Booker Chacalias (4G, 10A) are third and tied for seventh in league points, respectively.
Chacalias, who dressed as an affiliated player for the BCHL鈥檚 Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Wednesday, joined the team from Calgary.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 been a real positive combination of them pushing each other day in and day out,鈥� Toneff said of his netminding. 鈥淲oody has been great, too. The numbers might not be the same, but I think we let him down on a couple of nights.
鈥淜rall is real hot right now and that鈥檚 been a great combination. That was one of the biggest question marks going into the year,鈥� Toneff said of his goaltending. 鈥淭hat was the first thing I did when I took the job . . . to go after the two best goalies I could find.鈥�
The team had John Hawthorne last year and he鈥檚 making a name for himself in the BCHL for Alberni. Toneff traded Hawthorne鈥檚 playing rights to Campbell River and got the rights to Jallabert in return 鈥� move that鈥檚 paid off well.
As for giving the defending league champion Storm a run for their money, Toneff said he likes his team鈥檚 chances, especially now that the playoff format has changed in the VIJHL.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 one through eight makes the playoffs and crosses over, so there鈥檚 no real North and South in the playoffs, so the two best teams should be facing off against each other in the finals this year,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e just focusing on the next few games, we don鈥檛 look too far ahead because it鈥檚 too easy to get caught up in all that.鈥�
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