WHL Kamloops Blazers

Blazers Week In Review

Published on January 25, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kamloops Blazers News Release


Week in Review:

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 @ Tri-City Americans

The Blazers made there first trip to Tri-City this season, and had their 5 game winning streak halted as they were downed 6-2 by the Americans. Kamloops scored first as Chase Schaber notched his first goal as a Blazer and gave the hockey club a 1-0 lead. That was the best it was for the Blazers; the Americans would reply with four goals, including scoring on a shorthanded penalty shot and twice on the powerplay, to take a 4-1 lead after the first period. Blazers goaltender Jon Groenheyde was pulled stopping 14 of 18 shots faced in favour of Kurtis Mucha to start the second period. A lone second period goal by Brendan Ranford cut the deficit to 4-2 after two periods. It wasn't to be for the Blazers though; the Americans added two third period goals to win the hockey game 6-2. The Blazers had a night to forget on the special teams as they were 0-for-7 on the powerplay, while giving up a shorthanded goal and only 1-for-4 on the penalty kill. Kurtis Mucha was solid in relief duty as he stopped 20 of 22 shots faced.

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 @ Portland Winterhawks

Goaltender Kurtis Mucha and the Kamloops Blazers made their first trip to Portland this season and were downed 5-2. The Winterhawks scored first, before Chase Schaber scored a nifty goal off a play between him and Brendan Ranford to tie the score 1-1 after the first period. The Blazers took the lead in the second period when Josh Caron scored his first WHL goal. Portland tied it by the end of the period to go into the break at 2-2. The Winterhawks took over in the third period, as Ty Rattie was in the right place at the right time to deflect a centering pass off his skate and in for the winning goal. Portland added two more goals, including an empty netter to ice the Blazers 5-2. It was a special night for Kurtis Mucha as he returned to Portland for the first time since being traded, and he broke the WHL record for minutes played by a goaltender with 12,775 minutes. Mucha was third star in the game and was marvellous in stopping 35 of 39 shots he faced. Special teams weren't a factor in this game as the Blazers were 0-for-4 on the powerplay and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Friday, January 22nd, 2010 vs. Chilliwack Bruins

The Kamloops Blazers played well in winning their fourth consecutive home game 4-3 over the Chilliwack Bruins. The Bruins scored the first and third goal of the game to take a 2-1 lead after the first period. CJ Stretch scored the lone goal for the Blazers in the first frame. The Blazers came roaring out in the second period and got goals from Dalibor Bortnak and Ryan Hanes to take a 3-2 lead going into the third period. The hockey club continued to work hard and play well into the third period. Brendan Ranford, who had two assists, took the puck to the net and aloud CJ Stretch to pot his second goal of the game to give the Blazers a 4-2 lead. The Bruins pushed hard at the end and got a late goal, but Kurtis Mucha was solid in goal stopping 29 of 32 shots he faced, while also earning the second star of the game. The Blazers moved past Chilliwack in the standings for 2nd place in the division and 6th place in the conference. Special teams weren't a factor as the Blazers were 0-for-6 on the powerplay and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 @ Chilliwack Bruins

The Blazers travelled to Chilliwack for their final game of the week and struggled in a 4-1 loss to the Bruins. Chilliwack scored first as Brandon Manning broke through the defence to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The Bruins scored another goal to take a 2-0 lead after the first period. Kamloops woke up in the second period as they controlled the play of the period; Dylan Willick scored a beautiful goal, set up by Chase Schaber and Jordan DePape, to cut the lead to 2-1 after two periods. The hockey club didn't have any gas left in the tank, as the Bruins outshot the Blazers 13-2 in the final period and won 4-1. The powerplay didn't help the Blazers as they went 0-for-6; the hockey club went the entire week without a powerplay goal. The penalty kill was once again strong though, going 5-for-5. Kurtis Mucha took the loss in goal stopping 25 of 29 shots he faced.

Vote for the 1994-95 Blazers

The 1994-1995 Memorial Cup Champion Kamloops Blazers are up for the title of "Best Junior Team" in an online poll being held by CBC Sports for Hockey Day in Canada on Saturday, January 30th. The Blazers are up against three other teams so please take a minute to vote and make sure they take the title! There are four other "Best Team" polls as well, and all the winners will be announced during the Hockey Day in Canada broadcast on the 30th. It seems to be that a vote can be cast every 24 hours per computer. Here is the link to the voting page - info is on the left, voting polls are on the right http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/01/19/sp-hdic-poll.html

Game Change for Olympic Torch Relay

The Kamloops Blazers' originally scheduled game on Wednesday against the Spokane Chiefs has been changed to Tuesday, January 26th, at 7pm to encourage the participation of the Olympic Torch Relay. The celebration starts at 6pm at Hillside Stadium. There will be on-stage performances throughout the evening and many other fun activities. The grand finale will involve the torchbearer's arrival and fireworks.

Go to this link for more details http://www.tourismkamloops.com/home_showSection_ID_569.html

Thanks to Blazer Fans

The Kamloops Blazers would like to thank their fans who helped raise $11,998 to help out Haitian families amongst the catastrophe of an earthquake that has left the country in devastation. Danielle Flukinger, who was born in Haiti and adopted by a Kamloops family, was instrumental in raising the money. She performed a figure skating routine during the first intermission of Friday, January 15th game against the Red Deer Rebels and had a table set up on the concourse to help raise funds.

Milestones and Records

CJ Stretch has now played in 320 WHL games, all with the Kamloops Blazers. Stretch is only the 5th player to play 300 games in a Blazer uniform. Stretch is now second all-time in games played as a Blazer, passing Donnie Kinney's 319 games. He needs to play in only five more games to surpass Aaron Gionet's 324 games played. Stretch has recorded 220 WHL points and is 25th on the Blazers all-time scoring list.

Blazer goaltender Kurtis Mucha has broken one WHL record, with three more in reach. Mucha now is first all-time in minutes played amongst goaltenders with 12,895 minutes played. He surpassed Kyle Moir's (Swift Current 2002-2007) record of 12,774 minutes on Wednesday in Portland. Mucha has now played 230 WHL games and needs to play 4 more games to pass Kyle Moir's record for most games played by a goaltender with 233. Mucha is also third all-time in saves for a goaltender with 6,502 saves. He is 456 saves shy of Danny Lorenz's record of 6,958 saves.

Community Service

Monday, January 25th

- Regular School visit 10am - EDGE 10am

Wednesday, January 27th

- Regular School visit 10am - Wendy's Dreamlift Day 9:00am - 10:30am (varying Wendy's locations) - Participation in the Olympic Torch Relay 6-8pm Hillside Stadium

Team Leaders:

Goals - CJ Stretch (19)

Assists - CJ Stretch (34)

Points - CJ Stretch (53)

+/- - Josh Caron (+2)

Rookies - Dylan Willick, Jordan DePape (22)

PIM - Josh Caron (128)

GAA - Kurtis Mucha (3.21)

SV % - Kurtis Mucha (.902)

Check out the Kamloops Blazers Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2010


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