Week in Review:

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 @ Edmonton Oil Kings 

It was a rough ride in Edmonton as the Blazers were dropped 5-1 by the Oil Kings. The Blazers had many chances early in the first period, but failed to score. The Oil Kings got goals from Mike Piluso and Gary Nunn on a short handed breakaway to take a 2-0 lead through the first period. Jordan DePape finally got the Blazers on the board and Bronson Maschmeyer and Chase Schaber set up DePape’s goal to cut the lead to 2-1 through two periods. Oil Kings goaltender Cam Lanigan was terrific in the third period stoning CJ Stretch and Brendan Ranford on glorious chances, while the Oil Kings scored three more times to win the game 5-1. Goaltender Kurtis Mucha didn’t have his best outing as he stopped 30 of 35 shots. Final shots on goal were 35-20 in favour of the Oil Kings. The Blazers were 0-for-3 on the powerplay giving up a shorthanded goal, and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Friday, February 26th, 2010 @ Lethbridge Hurricanes

The hockey club fought hard all night and came out on top with a 4-3 victory, in overtime, over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Dylan Willick scored first for the Blazers as he potted a rebound after Austin Madaisky blasted a shot on goal to take a 1-0 lead through the first period.  The Hurricanes got on the board in the second period with a powerplay goal to tie the game 1-1. Linden Saip scored a powerplay goal with under 3 minutes left in the second period to give the hockey club a 2-1 lead through two periods. CJ Stretch extended the lead to 3-1, but the Hurricanes replied shortly after Stretch’s goal to cut the lead to 3-2. The Hurricanes tied the game late in the third period to send the game to overtime. Jordan DePape was the hero as he scored the game winner to give the Blazers a 4-3 win. Jon Groenheyde was outstanding stopping 42 of 39 shots to earn the victory.

Saturday, February 27th, 2010 @ Medicine Hat Tigers

A hat trick by Chase Schaber helped the Blazers beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3 on Saturday night. Schaber scored first for the Blazers to give the club a 1-0 lead. The Tigers scored shortly after with Zdenek Okal finishing a pretty play to tie the game 1-1 through one period. Medicine Hat scored first in the second period, but Mark Hall and Chase Schaber replied for the Blazers to give the club a 3-2 lead through two periods. The Tigers tied the game once again in the third period, but the Blazers cashed in  on a couple late powerplays. CJ Stretch scored his 8th game winning goal of the season on a 5-on-3 powerplay while, Chase Schaber and Jordan DePape each potted empty net goals to win the game 6-3. Jon Groenheyde started his second game in a row and earned another win stopping 26 of 29 shots. The Blazers finished 2-for-5 on the powerplay and were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.

The Playoffs Are Coming!

The Blazers have only five games remaining until the end of the 2009-2010 regular season. The hockey club is currently in a tie for 6th place in the Western Conference and have reached the 30 win plateau for the 25th time in the franchises 29 seasons in Kamloops.

Here are the updated Western Conference Standings.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

1) Tri-City Americans * X            44-18-1-2,    91pts,  7 games remaining

2) Vancouver Giants* XY           39-22-2-3,    83pts,  6 games remaining

3) Everett Silvertips X                41-19-3-2,    87pts,  7 games remaining

4) Spokane Chiefs X                  40-21-3-1,    84pts,  7 games remaining

5) Portland Winterhawks X         40-23-2-1,    83pts,  6 games remaining

6) Kelowna Rockets X                30-30-2-4,    66pts,  6 games remaining

7) Kamloops Blazers X              30-31-2-4,    66pts,  5 games remaining

8) Chilliwack Bruins X                 29-31-1-5,    64pts,  6 games remaining

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9) Seattle Thunderbirds              17-36-7-5,    46pts,  7 games remaining

10) Prince George Cougars        11-51-1-2,    25pts,  7 games remaining

Here are the Blazers five remaining games this season:

• Tuesday, March 2nd vs. Everett
• Friday, March 5th vs. Vancouver
• Sunday, March 7 vs. Prince George *6pm*
• Friday, March 12 vs. Prince George
• Saturday, March 13 @ Vancouver

Iginla, Niedermayer Win Olympic Gold Medal!

Blazers co-owner Jarome Iginla set up Sidney Crosby’s game winning goal in overtime to help Canada win a Gold Medal in Men’s Hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Iginla also led the team in goals with 5 and tied for the lead in points with 7.

Former Blazers defenseman Scott Niedermayer was the Captain of the team and a vital part of winning the Gold Medal. Former Blazers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock was an Assistant Coach for Team Canada.

Blazers on Facebook

You can now check out the Kamloops Blazers on facebook! Go to this link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kamloops-Blazers-Hockey/309165971271 to see the latest pictures, videos and other information about the hockey club.

Milestones Watch

CJ Stretch has now played in 336 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 20th in all time Blazer scoring with 240 points.

Blazer goaltender Kurtis Mucha now has two WHL records and two CHL records. Mucha is first all-time in minutes played amongst goaltenders with 13,503 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 and CHL record for games played by a goaltender with 241. He passed Ryan Mior’s CHL record of 239 games played with PEI and Gatineau in the QMJHL on February 20th versus the Calgary Hitmen.

The WHL record for most saves by a goaltender is also in reach for Mucha. He recently passed Steve Passmore for 2nd on the list with 6,798 saves in his career. Mucha is 160 saves shy of Danny Lorenz’s 6,958 saves.

Team Leaders: 

Goals – CJ Stretch (28)

Assists – CJ Stretch (45)

Points – CJ Stretch (73)

+/- – Josh Caron (+4)

Rookies – Jordan DePape (36)

PIM – Josh Caron (182)

GAA – Kurtis Mucha (3.27)

SV % – Kurtis Mucha (.900) 

Schedule: 

Monday, March 1st, Practice 2:00-4pm ISC

Tuesday, March 2nd, Blazers vs. Everett Silvertips 7pm ISC

Wednesday, March 3rd, Practice 2:00-4pm Memorial

Thursday, March 4th, Practice 2:00-4pm Mac. Island - Olympic ice

Friday, March 5th, Blazers vs. Vancouver Giants 7pm ISC

Saturday, March 6th, Practice 11:00-12:30pm ISC

Sunday, March 7th, Blazers vs. Prince George Cougars *6pm* ISC