Rockets burn Blazers

From The Daily News of Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007. . . .

KELOWNA — The Kamloops Blazers’ search for their game took them to the Little Apple on Tuesday night.
The search will continue Friday when the Prince George Cougars visit Kamloops.
Thud!
That noise you heard last night was the Blazers falling into ninth place in the WHL’s 10-team Western Conference, thanks to a 6-1 loss to the Kelowna Rockets before 6,059 observers at Prospera Place.
The victory lifted the Rockets (6-7-1-1) into a tie with the idle Cougars (7-9-0-0) for seventh place in the conference. Were the playoffs to begin today, the Blazers (6-8-1-0), seen as challengers for the pennant in preseason polls, would be on the outside looking in.
“Everyone’s waiting around for someone else to do it,” Kamloops defenceman Victor Bartley said. “Overall, guys are just getting too comfortable.
“We’ve got guys finishing their checks on the last shift of the game. Where is that on the first shift?”
Bartley was done early in the first period, a leg injury suffered in practice Monday taking him out of the lineup after just two shifts.
“I was embarrassed to be in the stands tonight,” he said.
This was a Rockets team missing its two best defencemen — Luke Schenn (suspended) and Tyler Myers (shoulder). The Blazers, however, weren’t able to take advantage of the situation.
“Some younger guys stepped up and played well,” offered Kelowna centre Cody Almond, 18, who went into the game with nine points this season and came out with 14. He had a third-period goal and four assists. “We came out hard and ended up on top.”
His wingers, Lucas Bloodoff and Brandon McMillan, also had big nights. Bloodoff, 18, had two goals and an assist; McMillan, 17, struck for a goal and three helpers.
Almond also felt the Rockets had some extra motivation.
“They beat us pretty bad in Kamloops,” he said, referring to a 5-3 Blazers victory Friday in which the home side led 5-1 at one point. “We kind of had some fire in our stomachs from that.”
The Blazers actually scored first last night — only the fourth time that has happened in 15 games — and it came 19 seconds in when winger Kenton Dulle fired a shot from the right wing that went through goaltender Kris Westblom
Shortly thereafter, the Blazers got their second shot on goal. And that was it for the offence. Pffffft! It didn’t record another shot on goal in the period, managed just five in the second and finished with 13.
“You score first on the first shot of the game . . .,” Dean Clark, the Blazers’ general manager and head coach, said. “But we turned pucks over. We turned pucks over all night. We were a bakery.”
The Rockets were quick to take advantage of the visitors’ generosity.
“It was kind of disappointing,” Almond said of giving up the early goal, “but we bounced right back., We had a good next shift and came right back at them.”
Oh, did they!
They beat Kamloops goaltender Justin Leclerc with two goals late in the opening 20 minutes. First, winger Kevin St. Denis, all 5-foot-6 of him, was allowed more than enough time to slap his own rebound under Leclerc at 16:25.
Then, at 19:30, Kamloops defenceman Ryan Bender, usually Mr. Off The Glass And Out, coughed up the puck to centre Colin Long right at the net. Just like that the home side had a 2-1 lead.
“There’s 30 seconds left in the period,” Clark said, “and our captain puts it right on the guy’s stick. That’s not focused hockey.”
It was that kind of night. And it only got worse.
When penalties to Travis Dunstall and Keaton Ellerby gave the Rockets a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage early in the second period, Bloodoff tapped in a rebound and the home side was out of the barn and headed over the hill.
McMillan, who mans a point on the first power-play unit alongside defenceman Tyson Barrie, 16, upped the count to 4-1 at 12:21. At that point, Clark sent James Priestner in to replace Leclerc.
When Bloodoff scored again, at 17:48, the Rockets had a 5-1 lead and the shot clock went off the air. It likely couldn’t believe what was happening, either.
“We knew they beat us the last time and we hadn’t won at home for a while,” said Bloodoff, whose side now is 3-4-1-1 at home. “We just really wanted it. Everybody bought in and everybody was going.
“We were sticking to the game plan and communicating and letting things happen instead of trying to force it.”
That wasn’t the case at the other bench.
“Back to the drawing board . . . the basics of the game,” Clark said. “It’s amazing that we have a bunch of skilled players who can go out on some occasions and play as well as they do and on some occasions look like they don’t know the game.”
With that, he headed off down the concourse in the direction of the Blazers’ dressing room.
The search continues.
JUST NOTES: Referee Derek Zalaski gave the Blazers eight of 11 minors and one of two majors. . . . The majors went to D Mike Gauthier of the Blazers and Kelowna’s James McEwan. They combined for 43 bouts last season but this one ended quickly with a takedown by McEwan. . . . Bartley will see a doctor today and, for now, is listed as day-to-day. . . . G Jon Groenheyde, who joined the Blazers a couple of weeks ago while Leclerc was recovering from a sprained ankle, remains with the team. He won’t be returning to the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials, but likely will be assigned to another junior A team in time.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca