The Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League will have a new champion in 2024, thanks to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings.

The Yetis disposed of the defending champion Oceanside Generals on Saturday night, posting a 2-1 overtime victory, to win the best-of-seven North Division semifinal series, four games to two.

The Glacier Kings will face the Kerry Park Islanders in the North Division championship.

The Islanders upset the North Division regular season champion Campbell River Storm by an identical 4-2 margin in their best-of-seven series.

Saturday night鈥檚 game in Parksville was a goaltenders鈥� duel, with Glacier King goalie Ryer Lally winning his third straight game, making 42 saves for the visitors.

Logan Furlong scored the series winner, taking a long outlet pass from Lare Pahteyken, cutting to the middle of the ice in the Oceanside zone and wristing a shot past Generals鈥� goalie Marc Samyn for the victory.

Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.

They (officials) let the boys play tonight,鈥� said Glacier Kings coach Mike Nesbitt. 鈥淒on鈥檛 call the small stuff; just major infractions were called.

鈥淲e got what we wanted in the game. We played a great road game. We really didn鈥檛 want to go to a Game 7. A lot of the guys on this team have lost Round 1 Game 7s in back-to-back seasons now.鈥�

Lally was outstanding since stepping into the starter鈥檚 role with the Glacier Kings down 2-1 in the series. He won three straight games, allowing only five goals on 129 shots for a .961 save percentage.

鈥淟ally was spectacular, and Ryan Knight was good in the first three games as well. But we had lost two in a row and it (Game 4) was a good time to put Lally in, and he took over from there,鈥� said Nesbitt. 鈥淭his was a bit of redemption for him because he was the goalie playing in both those Game 7 losses too. But he was dialed in. He moves very well, and he works really hard at his craft.鈥�

Nesbitt鈥檚 special teams were another other big factor in the series. They allowed only two goals in 14 opportunities in the final three games, including killing off a pair of lengthy five-on-three advantages, as well as a five-minute major.

On the other side, the Glacier Kings scored four power-play goals, another just as time expired on a penalty, and added a shorthanded goal.

鈥淥ur special teams have been great all year. We finished first overall in penalty kill鈥� that鈥檚 a pretty big feat for the team defence and our goaltending,鈥� said Nesbitt.

As important as it was mentally for the Glacier Kings to avoid a senth game in the first round of the playoffs for a third straight season, it was equally as important physically, considering Kerry Park has been resting since last Wednesday.

鈥淥ur guys really left everything out there (Saturday night) and a lot of guys were looking pretty beat up at the end of the day so today is a well-earned day off, for sure.鈥� said Nesbitt.

Nesbitt said he wasn鈥檛 surprised about the result in the KP/Campbell River series, despite the Storm coming into that serieds with an 18-point advantage in regular season play.

鈥淚 really figured both series in the North could go either way, to be honest with you. Campbell River had a very good regular season, but other teams have been battling and building all year long. Kerry Park has been very active this year. They got three or four guys back from junior A鈥� so I knew that series was going to be a tight one.

鈥淲e know exactly how we are going to (approach) the next series. We are going to get one or two (injured players) back here in the next couple of days鈥� so we will get a full team healthy again.鈥�

As for the Game 1 starter for the Glacier Kings, Nesbitt didn鈥檛 hesitate with his answer.

鈥淩yder Lally will start Game 1. I鈥檓 the type of coach that you get what you earn.鈥�

The Glacier Kings will have home-ice advantage for the North Division championship series. The series starts Wednesday, March 13, at 7:15 at the Comox Valley Sports Centre.

The rest of the series is as follows:

Game 2 Friday, March 15, 7:30 p.m. in Kerry Park

Game 3 Saturday, March 16 7:30 in CV

Game 4 Tuesday, March 19 7:30 in KP

Game 5 Wednesday, March 7:30 in CV

Game 6 Friday, March 22 7:30 in KP

Game 7 Saturday, March 23 7:30 in CV