Over the course of three seasons, Powell River has seen many different goaltenders play for the Kings. In the 2019-20 season alone, seven goaltenders suited up for the Sunshine Coast squad. During the 2021 pod season, three goalies skated for Powell River. This past season saw five goaltenders don the green and gold.
It’s not like using 15 goalies over the last three seasons was by choice. Injuries have often forced Powell River to seek out emergency replacements, some of which only play a few games for the Kings. Other netminders wound up becoming permanent members of the team.
For this article, I’ll examine three seasons of Kings goalies, including how they ended up in Powell River and what happened to them afterward. I’ll also note the goalies who formed the primary goaltending tandem during those seasons.
2019-20 season
As mentioned above, seven different goaltenders played for Powell River during the 2019-20 season. Derek Krall was Powell River’s number one goalie after the Kings acquired him from the Penticton Vees on October 23, 2019. He graduated from the Kings to play one NCAA season at the University of Alabama-Huntsville before switching to Vancouver Island University of the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League for the 2021-22 season.
Matteo Paler-Chow was part of Powell River’s goalie tandem in 2019-20 before being traded to Trail on October 25, 2019. Paler-Chow ended his junior hockey career with the Smoke Eaters and has spent the last two seasons playing NCAA Division III hockey at Aurora University.
Thomas Wardle was signed as a free agent by the Kings at the end of October 2019. He had started the season with the Coquitlam Express before being released. The West Vancouver, BC product is entering his fourth season with the Kings in 2022-23.
One of Powell River’s affiliate fill-ins in 2019-20 was Alex Rolfe. He played one game for Powell River during the season, coming on in relief of Paler-Chow. The previous season, Rolfe was an AP for Langley and Prince George in the BCHL and the Langley Trappers in the Pacific Junior Hockey League. He also served as an AP for Powell River in 2017-18.
Rolfe hasn’t played anywhere of record since that lone game with the Kings in 2019-20.
The next AP goalie to highlight is Eric Clark. Like Rolfe, Clark only played one game for the Kings 2019-20. At the time, he was with the North Van Wolf Pack of the PJHL. He finished the 2021-22 season as a member of the Superior International Junior Hockey League’s Dryden Ice Dogs.
The next goalie to look at is Eli Pulver. Pulver was brought in by the Kings as an affiliate from St. George’s School of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League and played two games with Powell River. He went back to St. George’s for 2020-21 and joined the Surrey Eagles for this season, playing 21 games as a rookie.
The final goalie to look at in 2019-20 was Braedy Euerby, who was a Western Hockey League Bantam Draft pick of the Vancouver Giants. He had signed with Powell River to start the season but was released after three appearances. Euerby has spent the last three seasons split between the Richmond Sockeyes and Delta Ice Hawks of the PJHL.
2020-21 pod season
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Powell River was a member of the Coquitlam pod that played out of Scotia Barn in Burnaby, BC. Roster rules afforded three goalies to join each team and Powell River had three netminders on its roster. Joining Wardle in the pod were Jakob Drapeau and Nick Peters.
Peters was signed from the Okanagan Hockey Academy Elite 15 team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. After getting into eight games during the pod season, Peters spent this past season with Campbell River of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. He also played one game in 2021-22 as an affiliate call-up for the Kings.
Finally, Drapeau joined Powell River in the Coquitlam pod after starting the season with the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Kamloops Storm. After 2020-21, Drapeau committed to the University of Victoria of the BCIHL.
2021-22 season
For this past season, the Kings goaltending tandem started out as Zak Brice and Wardle. Later, it became Brice and Matthias Smith. Wardle battled injuries and was out for all but five games in 2021-22. Brice also missed nearly a month with an injury last November.
Because of this, some familiar faces filled the crease. As mentioned above, Peters was an AP call-up for the Kings, playing a single game before returning to the Campbell River Storm.
As for Smith, the Kings signed him in November after he played the last two seasons for the Dauphin Kings in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Powell River’s other goalie for the 2021-22 season was Kenny Gerow. Gerow, who’s from Quesnel, BC, got into four games for the Kings before being released in late October. Gerow then joined the KIJHL’s Osoyoos Coyotes for the remainder of the season.
2022-23 season
There are several questions facing Powell River for next season. Brice is leaving to attend Arizona State University while Smith is committed to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. As a 2002-born player, Wardle has another season of junior hockey before he ages out.
During the season, both of Powell River’s regular goalies were injured. Keeping their goalies healthy is key to the Kings success in 2022-23. If not, the unfortunate goalie carousel will continue.
Although there’s no rhyme or reason when it comes to injuries, the Kings can only hope to take a page from former Island Division foes in Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, and Victoria. Both the Capitals, Clippers, and Grizzlies have found stable goaltending through different means.
McCoy Bidewell was a standout junior B goalie before the Capitals signed him during the season. The Clippers have been successful in recruiting import netminders like Cooper Black and Jed Baliotti. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have acquired goalies with major junior experience as both Kurtis Chapman and Cole Schwebius played in the WHL.
Depending on Wardle’s health and the recruiting done by Kings general manager Chad Van Dieman and head coach Brock Sawyer, it’s entirely possible Powell River has a new goalie tandem next season. For Kings fans and staff, health and consistency in net will go a long way toward getting back to the playoffs in 2023.