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Leafs Comishin shines in KI Three Stars spotlight

The Nelson Daily Sports
By The Nelson Daily Sports
January 9th, 2020

It should come as no surprise to anyone watching the Nelson Leafs this season that it was only a matter time before defenceman Kaleb Comishin was recognized by the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.

The Nelson Minor Hockey grad earned one of the KI’s Three Star Awards for his recent play locking down the Nelson Leafs blueline during the team’s winning streak.

“I thought I played aggressive and moved the puck effectively in the right moments,” said Comishin after hearing he was named Third Star.

Comishin earned five assists in three weekend games Nelson played.

The six-foot, 180-pound rearguard opened the weekend with an assist in Nelson’s 3-2 victory over Murdoch rival Beaver Valley Nitehawks.

He then added two assists in each of the next two games at home for Nelson — a 6-3 win over the Creston Valley Thunder Cats and a 5-3 loss to the Columbia Valley Rockies.

In 35 games this season, Comishin, in his second season with Nelson after opening his KIJHL career in Osoyoos with the Coyotes, has scored eight goals to go with 23 assists for 31 points.

He also has a four-game point streak dating back to New Year’s Eve against Beaver Valley and has points in five of the last seven games for the Green and White.

Kamloops Storm goalie Ethan Paulin-Hatch nabbed the Hot in the KI’s first star thanks to a pair of wins, 5-1 over Sicamous and 3-0 over Kelowna, and finished with a stingy .987 save percentage after turning aside 81 of 82 shots and a miniscule 0.50 goals against average.

“I felt I had a really solid weekend, the team played very well in front of me and bailed me out a couple times in helping me get the shutout, which was a nice bonus to the two wins we picked up,” says Paulin-Hatch, a Fort McMurray, Alta., product. “

Paulin-Hatch, 20, earned the game star for his 48-save shutout performance against the Chiefs.

For the season, Paulin-Hatch has four wins and 12 losses with a 3.30 goals against average and .910 save percentage.

The second star is Princeton Posse forward Brendan Adams. The 19-year-old Calgary native had two goals and seven points in wins over North Okanagan (8-3 ) and over Osoyoos (3-0).

Adams netted the game-winning goal against the Knights.

“It was good to win both of our division games this week,” says Adams. “Most of our team was battling the flu, but everyone stepped up to get four big points. I think I had a consistent offensive weekend, but I can still focus on the little things that will make us successful the rest of the way.”

Adams leads the Posse in scoring with 20 goals and 43 points in 32 games. He is on a four-game point streak with 11 points.

ICE CHIPS: Leafs winger Joe Davidson was also recently recognized by the KIJHL as a Game Star for his three-goal performance December 17th against Castlegar Rebels. . . . Nelson is idle until Tuesday, January 14th when the Leafs travel to Grand Forks to face the Border Bruins in a rare mid-week encounter. Next home game is Friday, January 17th when KIJHL leading Kimberley Dynamiters invade the NDCC Arena. Puck drop is 7 p.m.

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