The Nelson Leafs’ new goalie had only been in the city an hour and didn’t even have a name on the back of his jersey before playing his first game.
It didn’t matter — everyone will know Karl Soneff’s name now.
Acquired at the KIJHL’s trade deadline Jan. 10 by the Leafs, Soneff made his debut with a 30-save performance as Nelson beat the Kimberley Dynamiters 5-2 at home Friday night.
Soneff was supposed to arrive Thursday but his flight to Cranbrook was delayed a day. He arrived to the ice about an hour before the game, left his bags in head coach Briar McNaney’s office and put on a nameless jersey. He was ready to go.
“I could feel the plane and the car in the legs in the third, but I was pretty good the rest of the game I thought.”
He didn’t need long to make an impression. Eight minutes into the game a turnover by defenceman Bhavin Serown led to a one-on-one with a Dynamiters forward, who was beat by a flashy glove save from Soneff.
He stole another one shortly after when he made one save, wobbled and looked as though he might fall backward only to regain his stance at the last moment to stop another shot across the crease.
McNaney, looking a little bleary eyed himself after driving Soneff back to Nelson, said he was confident about playing him even against one of the best teams in the KIJHL.
“It’s not like he’s been off the ice not skating and not playing against good hockey players himself. He’s a junior hockey player who already has a year of professional experience under his belt.
“You look a man in the eye and if he says he wants in, you let your guy go in. So we’re pretty fortunate. We’ve got two guys that we believe in.”
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark to a Canadian father, Soneff said it was a dream to play in Canada. He made the dream real this season, playing 10 games with the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League before being acquired by Nelson. The trade, he said, was unexpected.
“Obviously, I was a bit disappointed at first but then I was also very excited about the opportunity to get to play and win some hockey games and hopefully win a cup.”
Quinn Ramsay scored twice while Xaiden Bignell, Dawson Davis and JD Hemming scored for the Leafs (15-15-2).
Kade Leskosky and Justin Sommer replied for the Dynamiters (22-10-2), while Ryder Ponto stopped 26 shots.
The Leafs looked delighted to have Soneff join them. He’s already made a fan out of Davis.
“I didn’t expect him to play to be honest. But he stood on his head tonight for us and led to the win.”
After a first-period goalie duel, Nelson opened the scoring five minutes into the second. A point shot by Tyler Seminoff was deflected by Ramsay past Ponto for the first goal.
Ramsay scored his second five minutes later on an odd shot that took Ponto by surprise. The Leafs were on a power play when Ramsay’s shot hit a Dynamiter, bounced high up into the air and dropped behind Ponto for a 2-0 lead.
It was Nelson again while they were playing shorthanded. Davis stole the puck at Kimberley’s blueline, whiffed on a breakaway shot but didn’t give up on the play. Instead he regained the puck behind the net and fed Bignell with a nice one-handed pass for the goal.
Kimberley caught the Leafs napping 20 seconds later. A defensive breakdown led to a Dynamiters’ forward Parker Konneke finding a wide-open Leskosky for a shot Soneff had no chance on.
Nelson pressed in the third period. The team’s best early chance came via a sweet spin pass from Parker White to Kane Kennedy, who couldn’t get a shot off but was all smiles on the bench after McNaney took his stick and pretended to warm it up.
At the other end, Kimberley looked dangerous on a power play with nice passing but no goal. As soon as the penalty ended, Davis carried the puck back into the opposing zone. and tried a pass back when the puck took a surprise redirection into the net for a 4-1 lead.
“I was just trying to put it in the slot for someone coming in,” he said. “But I think it went off the defender and bounced in the net luckily, so I’ll take it.”
Kimberley struck back on the power play. Sommer whipped a short-side shot that was too quick for Soneff to handle.
The visitors pulled Ponto with three minutes left to claw back the deficit. Soneff made another great save on a shot by Leskosky with one minute left and needed a moment to collect himself after the puck hit him in the mask.
Shortly after, Hemming returned the puck up the ice and scored into an empty net. The Leafs then swarmed their new netminder at the buzzer.
Soneff knew how he planned to celebrate winning his first game in Nelson: “I’ve got to go to sleep.”
Leaflets: Hemming returned to the team after an extended absence. … Nelson next hosts the Golden Rockets on Saturday.