Under the guidance of new head coach Richard Chernomaz, the Lake Cowichan Kraken had a 19-26 record through 45 VIJHL regular season games and are squarely in the playoff hunt, the only detriment being the teams chasing them have games in hand.
Lake Cowichan placed fifth in their division in their first two seasons and fourth in their third. All three times it came down to the season's final games with the team falling just short of a playoff berth. It's been an up and down year for the club, but they've found a new gear as the season nears its end and once again, it will come down to the last three games to decide their fate.
A pivotal game on Feb. 14 went a long way toward deciding the Kraken's post-season fate, but given the Family Day holiday, the result wasn't available before the Gazette's press deadline.
Winners of their last four games in 2024, the Lake Cowichan Kraken started the new year off trending upward with five wins in nine games through January.
Two wins against Nanaimo and one against each of Peninsula, Oceanside and Comox in the first month of 2025 had the Kraken in the hunt to make the playoffs for the first time in the franchise's four-season history.
With six games to go in February, Lake Cowichan was sitting fourth in the VIJHL's North Division. The team kept on track in their first February game, beating the Saanich Predators 6-5.
"Both teams made it through the falling snow to put on a show for the fans," said the team on Facebook. "Lake Cowichan secured another two very valuable points in their attempts to be playoff bound," added the team. "There are still a number of regular season games remaining, meaning, there is still a lot of hard work to do."
Gellert Kiss-Molnar started off the scoring against Saanich in the second period but only after the Predators had gone up 3-0.
Yaroslav Morozov scored not long after his teammate to pull the home team to within one, but Saanich scored once more to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
Lake Cowichan exploded in the third period with another goal each for Kiss-Molnart and Morozov and one each from Carter Anderson and Cooper Barclay to put the Kraken up 6-4.
A late goal from the Predators made it close but they ran out of time and the Kraken took the victory.
Kadin Bilajbegovic and Bevin Williams both had two assists while single assists were earned by defencemen Carter, Nathan Forster, Landon Carson, Logan Walz, and Owen Rattray, as well as forwards Charles Fleming, Aleksander Leonelli and Drury Lamb.
Goalie Tanner Ferrill made 30 saves to earn the victory.
A home-and-home set with the Comox Valley Glacier Kings Feb. 7 and Feb. 8 kept the standings the same and with just a handful of games left to play in the regular season, as of Feb. 11, the Kraken sat third in the North, good for a playoff spot, if they can hang on.
Should they place fourth, they still have a chance to advance via one of the final two playoff slots.
