Week in Review:

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 @ Prince George Cougars

The hockey club made their final trip to Prince George and were defeated by the Cougars 4-2. The Cougars got on the scoreboard first as Brock Hirsche’s centering pass deflected off a skate back to him to allow him to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead through the first period. Prince George got two more goals to begin the second period and took a 3-0 lead twenty six minutes into the game. Starting goaltender Jon Groeheyde stopped 19 of 22 shots and was pulled in favour of Kurtis Mucha. The Blazers responded abruptly; Jordan DePape scored on the powerplay to cut the lead to 3-1. Jake Trask scored shortly after, as JC Lipon set him up at the top of the circle to make it a 3-2 hockey game through two periods. The Blazers hit three posts in the third period, and the Cougars scored the lone goal as insurance to win 4-2. Jon Groenheyde took the loss, but Kurtis Mucha was solid stopping 9 of 10 shots he faced. The special teams were a non factor as the Blazers were 1-for-2 on the penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the powerplay.

Friday, February 12th, 2010 vs. Kelowna Rockets

The Blazers hosted the Rockets for the final time this season and fell 5-3. Jordan DePape got the Blazers on board first for a 1-0 lead. The teams each traded goals as Ryan Funk also scored for Kamloops for a 2-2 tie through the first period. It was a wild second period with a pair of memorable fights; no goals were scored to keep the game at 2-2 through two periods. Brendan Ranford gave the Blazers a 3-2 lead in the third period, but Kelowna stormed back scoring three unanswered goals enroute to a 5-3 victory. The game was a nasty one as it featured a total of 5 fighting majors handed out to each team. Each team was given five powerplays on the night and both teams went 1-for-5 on the powerplay. Kurtis Mucha, who is creeping closer to the all-time saves record, stopped 40 of 45 shots in the loss. 

Saturday, February 13th, 2010 @ Kelowna Rockets

Chase Schaber scored the shootout winning goal to give the Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets scored first, but CJ Stretch replied in on a powerplay to tie the game 1-1 through the first period. Kelowna was awarded four straight powerplays and cashed in on two of them in the second period to take a 3-1 lead midway through the period. The Blazers finally got a powerplay of their own and JC Lipon put in a rebound off a Bronson Maschmeyer shot to cut the lead to 3-2 through two periods. There was no scoring in the second period until CJ Stretch tied the game with 22 seconds left. Overtime solved nothing, and CJ Stretch and Chase Schaber both scored in the shootout while Kurtis Mucha stopped 2 of 3 shooters for the victory; Mucha made 34 saves in the victory. The Blazers had a good night on the special teams going 2-for-2 on the powerplay and were 4-for-6 on the penalty kill. Brendan Ranford was the second star and had 3 assists in the win.

Sunday, February 14th, 2010 @ Tri-City Americans

The Blazers played a solid game but couldn’t create the offence that was needed in their fourth game in five nights in a 3-1 loss in Tri-City. The Americans scored first as Tyler Schmidt walked in on the powerplay and beat Jon Groenheyde five hole for a 1-0 lead. Linden Saip replied for the Blazers with a point shot that beat goaltender Drew Owsley to tie the game 1-1 through one period. Tri-City scored 3 minutes into the second period to give their side a 2-1 lead. Rhyse Dieno and Ryan Hanes each had glorious opportunities to tie the game but were stopped by Owsley. In the third period, Brooks Macek scored 17 seconds into the period for Tri-City and the Americans cruised the rest of the way to a 3-1 victory over the Blazers. Each team was solid in the special teams going 1-for-3 on the powerplay. Jon Groenheyde was back in net for the Blazers and had a solid outing stopping 33 of 36 shots he faced in the loss.

Who Had a Good Week?

• 5th year forward CJ Stretch had a solid week with 2 goals and 5 points in 4 games. Stretch is 13th in league scoring with 68 points.
• Brendan Ranford also had a good week with a goal and 4 assists in 4 games this week. Ranford has been great in the new year with 12 goals and 29 points in 23 games

Syd in Town

With the Winter Olympics fully underway in Vancouver, Blazers co-owner Darryl Sydor is making a trip to Kamloops this week. The Blazers play three home games this week so he will get a rare chance to see the team play.

Sydor, an 18 year NHL veteran, is playing with the St. Louis Blues this season where he has 8 assists in 39 games. Sydor has played 1283 NHL games and has won 2 Stanley Cups with Dallas in 1999 and Tampa Bay in 2004.

Milestones

CJ Stretch has now played in 330 WHL games, all with the Kamloops Blazers. He holds the franchise record for games played in a Blazer uniform. Stretch is also the active WHL leader in games played and is 24th in all time Blazer scoring with 235 points.

Blazer goaltender Kurtis Mucha is continuing to hunt down WHL records. Mucha is first all-time in minutes played amongst goaltenders with 13,301 minutes played. He surpassed the WHL record last month and is the first goaltender in the CHL in excess of 13,000 minutes.

Mucha also holds the WHL record for games played by a goaltender with 237. He is 2 games shy of Ryan Mior’s record of 239 games played with PEI and Gatineau in the QMJHL.

The WHL record for most saves by a goaltender is also in reach for Mucha. He passed Steve Passmore for 2nd on the list with 6,712 saves in his career. Mucha is 246 saves shy of Danny Lorenz’s 6,958 saves.

Team Leaders: 

Goals – CJ Stretch (25)

Assists – CJ Stretch (43)

Points – CJ Stretch (68)

+/- – Josh Caron (+4)

Rookies – Jordan DePape (26)

PIM – Josh Caron (159)

GAA – Kurtis Mucha (3.14)

SV % – Kurtis Mucha (.905) 

Community Service

Tuesday, February 16th

• Regular School visit 9:30amEDGE 10am
• Options Opportunity

Schedule: 

Monday, February 15th, Day of Rest

Tuesday, February 16th, Practice 2:00-4pm ISC

Wednesday, February 17th, Blazers vs. Spokane Chiefs 7pm ISC

Thursday, February 18th, Practice 2:00-4pm ISC

Friday, February 19th, Blazers vs. Seattle Thunderbirds 7pm ISC

Saturday, February 20th, Blazers vs. Calgary Hitmen 7pm ISC

Sunday, February 21st, TBA