The Port Alberni Bombers have had a strong start to the 2024-25 Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) season, picking up two wins on the road in their first two games.
The Bombers won their only pre-season contest, 5-4 in overtime, against the Comox Valley Glacier Kings. New Bombers forward Leim Smith picked up a hat trick, including the game-winner 37 seconds into overtime.
The team officially opened the season on Thursday, Sept. 5 with a convincing 6-2 win over the Nanaimo Buccaneers in Nanaimo. Six different players — Smith, Sean Richards, Elliot Kuprash, Grayson Salmon, Luke Ridgway and Joel Dorn — scored their first goals of the season, while Richards added three assists and Solstice Tennant contributed two helpers. Goaltender Evan Grant stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced.
On Saturday, Sept. 7, the Bombers travelled to Parksville and improved their record to 2-0 with a 4-1 victory against the Oceanside Generals. Despite surrendering an early goal in the first period, the Bombers scored four unanswered goals and outshot their hosts 57-29 over the course of the evening. Richards had two goals, while Smith and Kai Verbrugge each scored one.
This is the VIJHL's first season as an independent junior hockey league associated with the BC Hockey League. Each of the league's 11 teams will play a 48-game schedule that will be completed at the end of February, followed by playoffs.
“This is going to be a great season for the VIJHL,” said Mark MacDonald, the league's president, in a press release. “We pride ourselves on being a league that features local Vancouver Islanders playing hockey in their own backyards before families and friends, which has been a key to the league’s success over the years."
As a newly independent league, new doors have been opened regarding recruiting. Players from the United States and Europe can join teams in the VIJHL, and teams are allowed to sign one 15-year-old player. The Bombers have already taken advantage of this new rule by signing 2009-born forward Joel Dorn.
Dorn is from Port Alberni, and the right-handed shooting forward played with the U15 AAA Vancouver Island Royals in the BC Elite Hockey League. In 26 regular season and postseason games, he scored seven goals and added seven assists for 14 points.
“Joel is a two-way player that can score but is also responsible and stays on the right side of the puck," said the team's assistant coach and assistant general manager Mike Doucette. "We believe he has the potential to play a big role in the future in Hockey Valley."
The Bombers' next game is in Campbell River on Friday night. They will step onto Alberni Valley Multiplex ice for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 14 when they host the Lake Cowichan Kraken.
They will host the Kraken again on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.portalbernibombers.ca and at the Alberni Valley Multiplex.
