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A VISIT TO LETHBRIDGE TONIGHT
21-Oct-11Vs. Lethbridge - Last Season (3-Game Series)
Game 1: 11/06/10, at Lethbridge 5, Kamloops 4
Game 2: 02/23/11, at Lethbridge 4, Kamloops 5 OT
Game 3: 03/04/11, vs. Lethbridge 4, Kamloops 1
Vs. Lethbridge - This Season (2-Game Series)
Game 1: 10/21/11, at Lethbridge, Kamloops
Game 2: 01/18/12, vs. Lethbridge, Kamloops
Blazers lost season series 1-2-0-0
STARTING SOMETHING NEW: The Blazers had a disappointing end to the 2010-11 season, going 0-6-0-2 down the stretch and narrowly missing the playoffs. The hockey club is out for redemption this season. In the off-season, Dave Hunchak was hired by the Blazers as the team’s Associate Coach to work closely with Head Coach, Guy Charron. Hunchak has a proven track record with seven years of WHL coaching experience, including spending the last four seasons as the Head Coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Blazers also added Ed Patterson as an Assistant Coach, and Mike Needham as the team’s skills coach. Patterson and Needham are both former Blazers with NHL experience. Goaltender Coach Dan De Palma rounds out the coaching staff starting his third season.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The Blazers roster currently sits at 24 players (2 goaltenders, 8 defensemen and 14 forwards). The roster includes 11 players selected in the WHL Bantam Draft, 7 players via trade, 5 players from the free agent list, and 1 player selected from the CHL Import Draft. The roster breakdown by region includes 8 players from Alberta, 6 from B.C., 2 from Manitoba, 4 from Saskatchewan, 2 from the USA, 1 from the Czech Republic, and 1 from Switzerland. There are 17 WHL veterans on the roster and 7 WHL rookies. Four of those rookies suited up for the Blazers during the regular season last year. This includes forward Jordan DePape who the Blazers will be without most of the season due to injury.
RETURN OF RANFORD: 19-year-old forward Brendan Ranford missed the first 3 games of the regular season due to a lengthy 6-game suspension that he incurred in the 69th game of the 2010-11 WHL season. Ranford, who was tied for the league lead in scoring with 58 points at the Christmas break, had a poor second half of the 2010-11 season. He is out for redemption though after being named a second-team Western Conference All-Star last season. The Edmonton native hasn’t disappointed with a 7 goals and 4 assists in his first 7 games back. This includes a 4-goal effort last Friday night in a 5-4 overtime win in Portland.
KAMLOOPS BLAZERS ‘Who to Watch’: The Kamloops Blazers are entering a new season with a mix of WHL veterans and WHL rookies. The Blazers key to offense will be spread out amongst the top two lines. The Chase Schaber and Brendan Ranford are the veteran leaders up front that should pace the offence. The loss of forward Jordan DePape will be tough on the hockey club, but will give opportunity to some of the younger players. DePape will be out for up to 4 months with an injury. The Blazers will also rely on veterans Dylan Willick, Colin Smith and JT Barnett to carry the offensive load. Some young rookies expected to catch the eyes of scouts and fans include a pair of 16-year-old forwards, Matthew Needham and Cole Ully. Import Tim Bozon and 17-year-old Aspen Sterzer have been impressive throughout the start of the season because of their consistent work ethic. On the back end, the Blazers trio of Austin Madaisky, Josh Caron, and Bronson Maschmeyer are expected to lead the defensemen. Add in veterans Marek Hrbas, Tyler Hansen and Brady Gaudet and the Blazers have a lot of experience on the back end. The goaltending position is starting to figure itself out with veteran Cam Lanigan and rookie Cole Cheveldave as the two goaltenders. Cheveldave and Lanigan have both played well, so the starting position is still up for grabs. Cheveldave will get the start tonight.
LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES ‘Who to Watch’: The Hurricanes have some good players up front, including their captain Cam Braes, Brody Sutter, Philip Tot, Graham Hood, Brady Ramsay, Russell Maxwell and recently acquired forward Nick Buonassisi. Hood and Sutter are big bodies that can make room for some of their smaller forwards. The rest of the Hurricanes forward group is mostly made up of younger players led by Jay Merkley. Merkley was a high 1st round pick in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft and is a big part of the future for the Hurricanes. On defence, veterans Landon Oslanski and Daniel Johnston need to be the leaders of a young group. Spencer Gailbrath and Tyler Kiziuk, both will play bigger roles for the Hurricanes this season. Mix in rookies Macoy Erkamps, Albin Blomqvist, Joel Topping and Adam Henry to round out the Hurricanes defence. In goal, the Hurricanes have a three headed goaltender situation, similar to what the Blazers solved earlier this week by reassigning Taran Kozun to the SJHL. 20-year-old Damien Ketlo, 18-year-old Liam Liston and 17-year-old Tanner Kovacs are what the Hurricanes are going with for now. The Hurricanes have had a tough start to the season with a 2-9-0-1 start, but they are built on their youth.
NHL DRAFT: Austin Madaisky (Columbus, 5th round, 124th overall in 2010), Brendan Ranford (Philadelphia, 7th round, 209th overall in 2010), Josh Caron (SIGNED by Minnesota, 2010)
INJURY REPORT: Jordan DePape (Upper Body, one month+), Chase Souto (Upper Body, day-to-day). Man games lost due to injury – 10.
DID YOU KNOW… Forward Colin Smith leads the Blazers with 12 points this season… 19-year-old defenseman Austin Madaisky leads the Blazers defence in scoring with 3 goals, 7 assists and 10 points playing in 10 games… 17-year-old import forward Tim Bozon along with defensemen Josh Caron and Tyler Hansen lead the Blazers with +8 ratings… Brendan Ranford led the Blazers in scoring with 33 goals, 53 assists for 86 points last season… Matthew Needham is the first second generation Blazer in franchise history… The Blazers lost 144 man-games to injury last season and another 21 games to suspensions… Colin Smith, Dylan Willick, JT Barnett, and Bronson Maschmeyer were the only players to play in all 72 games last season… Bronson Maschmeyer is the Blazers current iron man playing in his 155th consecutive game tonight… Chase Schaber is the team’s Captain, while Dylan Willick, Bronson Maschmeyer, and Austin Madaisky will be the team’s Assistant Captains... Four of the Blazers’ eight rookies saw game time with the Blazers last season, including Matthew Needham (13 games), Aspen Sterzer (10 games), Landon Cross (10 games) and Cole Ully (1 game)… Defenseman Josh Caron is among the league leaders in penalty minutes with 33 so far this season… The Blazers have outshot their opponents in eight of ten games this season… The Blazers have won seven games this season, with seven different players scoring the game winning goal.
