Week in Review:

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 vs. Lethbridge Hurricanes

Justin Leclerc started for the first time since the first game of the regular season and made 37 saves to lead to the Blazers to a 5-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes Wednesday night. The Blazers had five different goal scorers, including Tyler Shattock’s game winner that came from a penalty shot late in the second period. The other goal scorers for the Blazers were Brendan Ranford, Dylan Willick, CJ Stretch and Shayne Wiebe. The Blazers were 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. Lethbridge outshot Kamloops 40-26 in this one, with Linden Rowat making 21 saves in a losing cause. The Blazers record improves to 4-1-0-0.

Friday, October 2, 2009 vs. Vancouver Giants 

It was “Pink Powerplay Night” in Kamloops as the Blazers wore special edition pink jerseys. The jerseys brought good luck to the team as the hockey club went on to beat the Vancouver Giants 2-1 in a shootout. Shayne Wiebe opened the scoring for the Blazers midway thru the second period from a tic-tac- toe play between Wiebe, CJ Stretch and Tyler Shattock. Craig Cunningham replied early in the third period to send the game to a shootout. Justin Leclerc was the hero of the night as he made 47 saves and was exceptional in goal. Jimmy Bubnick scored the shootout winner for the home side. The Blazers were 0-for-4 on the powerplay and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. Final shots on goal were 48-28.

Saturday, October 3, 2009 @ Vancouver Giants

The Blazers got off to a great start in Vancouver as they had a 4-2 lead going into the third period, but couldn’t hang on as they were defeated 5-4 in overtime. Brandon Underwood, Zak Stebner and Jake Trask all scored in the first period to get the Blazers out to a 3-1 lead. Jake Trask added another in the second period, but David Musil scored 2 goals in the final 7 minutes of the hockey game, and Craig Cunningham scored with 29 seconds left on a powerplay in overtime to clinch the victory. Justin Leclerc had another solid outing as he stopped 48 of 53 shots he faced. The Blazers were 0-for-3 on the powerplay and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill. Final shots on goal in the hockey game were 53-27. The hockey team’s record drops to 5-1-1-0.

Sunday October 4, 2009 vs. Portland Winterhawks

It was the team’s 4th game in 5 nights, and by the end of the night it may have been a deciding factor. The Blazers held a 2-0 lead on goals by JC Lipon and Shayne Wiebe, but it wasn’t enough as the Portland Winterhawks came back to win the game 4-3 in overtime. The Winterhawks took a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period, but the Blazers battled back as JC Lipon scored his second goal of the game as he tipped a shot in from CJ Stretch late in the 3rd period. For the Blazers it capped a 4 game weekend in which they collected 6 of 8 points up for grabs. The Blazers finished the game 1-for-10 on the powerplay and were 7-for-8 on the penalty kill. Jon Groenheyde was exceptional in goal stopping 55 of 59 shots he faced.

Skate with the Blazers!

Next Monday, October 12, 2009 at 2pm, the Blazers will be hosting the Medicine Hat Tigers. All Blazer fans are invited to bring their skates and come out for a skate with the Blazers following the game where they will be signing autographs and visiting with fans.

Team Building

Major David Andersen of the United States Marines will be doing a variety of team building exercises with the hockey club this week. Major Dave is from New York City and has done team building and leadership building all across the United States.  

Team Leaders: 

Goals – Tyler Shattock (6)

Assists – Tyler Shattock, Bronson Maschmeyer (7)

Points – Tyler Shattock (13)

PIM – Brandon Underwood, Zak Stebner (18)

GAA – Justin Leclerc (2.89)

SV % – Justin Leclerc (.934) 

Schedule: 

Monday, October 5th Team Building

Tuesday, October 6th Practice 2:00-4pm Memorial (Team Building)

Wednesday, October 7th Practice 2:00-4pm Memorial (Team Building)

Thursday, October 8th Practice 2:00-4pm Memorial (Team Building)

Friday, October 9th Cougars @ Blazers 7pm ISC

Saturday, October 10th Bruins @ Blazers 7pm ISC

Sunday, October 11th Practice 11-12:30pm ISC                                        

Monday, October 12th Tigers @ Blazers 2pm ISC (Skate with the Blazers)