Week in Review:

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 vs. Everett Silvertips

Kamloops was trying to put back to back wins together for the first time since early November and were unsuccessful in their bid losing 5-3. In an uneventful first period, former Blazer Curtis Kulchar scored the lone goal to give the Silvertips a 1-0 lead. The flood gates opened in the second period as Everett scored 4 goals to lead 5-0 after two periods. The Blazers went to two lines and pushed back as Dylan Willick scored after redirecting a point shot on the powerplay. Shortly after, Tyler Shattock tipped a Tyler Hansen point shot to cut the lead to 5-2 halfway through the third period. Converted forward Zak Stebner scored his 3rd goal in 2 games, but that was all the Blazers mustered as they were downed 5-3. Kurtis Mucha got his third straight start stopping 33 of 28 shots. The hockey club was 1-for-4 on the powerplay and only 1-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Friday, January 8th, 2010 vs. Kelowna Rockets

The hockey club put in a terrific effort in a 6-4 win over their division rival Kelowna Rockets. The Blazers got two first period goals from Linden Saip and goals from Jimmy Bubnick and Brendan Ranford to lead 4-2 after the first period. Kamloops scored first in the second period to extend their lead, but the Rockets connected on a penalty shot to cut the lead to 6-3 after two periods. The third period was fairly uneventful as the Rockets scored once, but the Blazers earned a 6-4 win. The hockey club had tremendous effort from the line of CJ Stretch, Brendan Ranford and Jimmy Bubnick which combined for 11 points and were +14. Jon Groenheyde was credited with the win stopping 17 of 21 shots faced. The Blazers were 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

Saturday, January 9th, 2010 @ Kelowna Rockets

The Blazers, backed by a strong goaltending performance by Kurtis Mucha, took down the Rockets 4-1 in Kelowna. The Rockets scored first in this one, but the Blazers replied with three of their own goals in the first period. Tyler Shattock, Dalibor Bortnak and Jimmy Bubnick scored for the Blazers to give the team a 3-1 lead after the first period. The hockey club had to kill of a series of penalties in the second period. Mucha was the star of the period as he stopped all 20 shots he faced to keep the score at 3-1. The Blazers continued their strong play in the third period as Colin Smith added a goal to solidify a 4-1 win over the Rockets. Mucha had a tremendous night in goal finishing with 42 saves on the night. The Blazers were 1-for-4 on the powerplay and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, including killing a 5-on-3.

Shaw TV / First Nations Night

On Wednesday, January 13th vs. Portland Winterhawks the game will be broadcast live on Shaw TV across Western Canada. The game is also First Nations Night as Fred Sasakamoose, the first aboriginal player in the NHL and Gino Odjick, a former Vancouver Canuck will be signing autographs and honoured prior to the puck drop.

Deals, Deals, Deals

The Blazers made a blockbuster deal before the trade deadline on Sunday, January 10th. The hockey club traded their 19 year old Captain Tyler Shattock, 18 year old forward Jimmy Bubnick and 19 year old defenseman Zak Stebner to the Calgary Hitmen. The Blazers received 18 year old forward Chase Schaber and 17 year old defenseman Austin Madaisky as well as a conditional draft pick.

Central Scouting 2010 NHL Mid-Season Draft Rankings

The Blazers had two players ranked in central scouting’s mid-season rankings. Newly acquired defenseman Austin Madaisky has been ranked 59th among North American skaters. Forward Brendan Ranford was ranked 168th among North American skaters.

Milestones

CJ Stretch has now played in 313 WHL games, all with the Kamloops Blazers. Stretch is only the 5th player to play 300 games in a Blazer uniform. Erik Christensen (304), Greg Hawgood (310), Donnie Kinney (319), and Aaron Gionet (324) are the others. Stretch has recorded 214 WHL points and is 26th on the Blazers all-time scoring list.

Blazer goaltender Kurtis Mucha is on pace to break three WHL records. Mucha has played 224 WHL games and needs to play 10 more games to have played the most games by a goaltender with 12,556 minutes played. He now sits third all-time in minutes played amongst goaltenders. Mucha is also now third all-time in saves for a goaltender with 6,358 saves.

Team Leaders: 

Goals – CJ Stretch (16)

Assists – CJ Stretch (31)

Points – CJ Stretch (47)

+/- – Linden Saip (+2)

Rookies – Dylan Willick (19)

PIM – Brandon Underwood (98)

GAA – Kurtis Mucha (3.14)

SV % – Kurtis Mucha (.903) 

Schedule: 

Monday, January 11th, Practice 2:00-4pm ISC

Tuesday, January 12th, Practice 2:00-4pm ISC

Wednesday, January 13th, Blazers vs. Winterhawks 7pm ISC SHAW GAME

Thursday, January 14th, Practice 2:00-4pm ISC

Friday, January 15th, Blazers vs. Red Deer Rebels 7pm ISC

Saturday, January 16th, Blazers @ Seattle Thunderbirds 7pm ShoWare Center

Sunday, January 17th, Practice 11:00am-12:30pm Toyota Center – Tri-City