FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20th, 2010

BLAZERS GOALTENDER KURTIS MUCHA BREAKS WHL RECORD

The Kamloops Blazers Hockey Club is proud to announce that 20 year old goaltender Kurtis Mucha has set the record for most minutes played by a WHL goaltender with 12,775 minutes played. Mucha surpasses Kyle Moir’s 12,774 minutes that he played, all with the Swift Current Broncos, from 2002-2006. Mucha broke this record against his former team the Portland Winterhawks in Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss.

"We're thrilled for Kurtis to break this record in a Blazer uniform" says General Manager. Craig Bonner. "Kurtis has been a tremendous goaltender throughout his WHL career and has earned everything that he has accomplished ".

Kurtis played 213 games over four and a half seasons with the Portland Winterhawks. In 15 games with the Kamloops Blazers this season Mucha has a 7-4-0-2 record with a 3.25 GAA and a .902 SV%.

Mucha may break two more WHL records this season. Mucha’s 228 games played is 3rd all time, one game shy of Jeff Calvert’s 229 games played and only five games away from Kyle Moir’s 233 games played. He also is 3rd all time in saves with 6,448. Mucha is 510 saves short of Danny Lorenz’s record of 6,958 saves. 

"It is exciting to break this record in Portland where I played the majority of my WHL career,” explained Mucha. “I am thankful to the Blazers for giving me the opportunity to play as a 20 year old and hope we can continue to work hard and play well leading into the playoffs," Mucha concluded.

Mucha will be saluted at the next Blazer home game on Friday, January 22nd against the Chilliwack Bruins.