Blazers dump Cougars

From The Daily News of Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007 . . .
It was centre Mark Hall who, in typical fashion, put the exclamation mark on
the Kamloops Blazers’ sixth straight WHL victory Friday night.
With the Blazers leading 4-1 early in the third period — they would go on to
beat Prince George by that score — Hall laid a hit on Cougars defenceman
Patrik Magnusson deep in the visitor’s zone. The Swede, who goes 6-foot-7
and 250 pounds, went down. Hall, at 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds, went to the
penalty box for roughing as referee Ryan Agar made perhaps the season’s
goofiest call and earned the wrath of most fans in the Interior Savings
Centre crowd of 4,606.
“To get called for roughing . . . I thought you had to get your hands up in
his face and he’s a little tall for me to get my hands in his face,” said
Hall.
Kamloops head coach Greg Hawgood just shook his head.
“I don’t know why that was a penalty,” he said. “He only hit half his body
and it was a clean check.”
“Hallsy’s known to do that,” offered Shayne Wiebe, who plays on an energy
line with Hall and Travis Dunstall. “He gets in there, greases it up and
gets the team going. That’s good to have.”
The last time these teams met, right here on Nov. 2, the Cougars outshot the
Blazers 30-21 and buried them 8-3. It was obvious early on that the Blazers’
memories extended at least that far back.
“There was lots of talk” before the game, said Hall, who also incurred a
misconduct in the third period, that for yapping at Prince George
right-winger Matt Sokol. “It was 7-3 or whatever and they put their No. 1
power play out there. So we wanted a little revenge. They embarrassed us in
our own barn.
“This is what the new Blazers are all about.”
The new Blazers have won five games in a row and seven of their last eight,
outscoring the opposition 30-19 in the process.
Veteran defenceman Victor Bartley set the tone for this one when he hammered
Prince George right-winger Alex Poulter just 10 seconds into the game.
For most of the opening 13 minutes, it was like a pinball game, with the
Blazers as the balls and the Cougars the bumpers. Only the referees — Agar
and Steve Papp — slowed down the home side, hitting it with the game’s first
three minors.
And the Cougars got the game’s first goal on the third of those penalties,
with right-winger Marcus Watson redirecting a point pass from Kalvin Sagert
past goaltender Justin Leclerc.
After that, however, it was all Blazers — they outshot the visitors, 34-14,
including 13-2 in the second period. The Blazers also rang four shots off
posts, something the Cougars did once.
Right-winger Juuso Puustinen pulled the home boys even when he snapped a
wrist shot over goaltender Real Cyr’s glove hand in the final minute of the
first period.
Centre Brock Nixon got the eventual game-winner, splitting Sagert and Art
Bidlevskii to get to a long rebound and stuff it through Cyr.
And the insurance came just 48 seconds into the second period when Dunstall,
who was pointless over his last eight games — he also missed three games
with a sprained ankle — stripped Sagert and went in to beat Cyr.
“Real maybe should have controlled the rebound better on the dump in and
then Kalvin turns the puck over,” Drew Schoneck, Prince George’s head coach,
said after his squad’s ninth straight loss. “Those are two pretty big goals
in a close game.
“That takes away the momentum you’re trying to build.”
The play that resulted in Dunstall’s goal actually began with Poulter firing
high and wide when he was in close on Leclerc’s left side. The puck rimmed
the boards and, ultimately, ended up in P.G.’s net.
“We had probably four chances where we shot overtop of the net,” Schoneck
said, “and it rimmed around, and either they get the puck or we’re having to
try and dump it back in and get something going. You’re not going to score
goals if you don’t hit the net.”
Kamloops right-winger Tyler Shattock, who was scoreless in the season’s
first 17 games, rounded out the scoring with his sixth goal in eight games.
“The guys are just getting better every day,” Hawgood said. “It was nice to
see they stuck their foot on the gas for the whole game.”
No one did that better than Wiebe, the 17-year-old freshman from Brandon who
shows all the signs of being a super pest with some touch and a first-class
penalty killer.
“I’m playing better and getting more ice time, too,” said Wiebe, who was
pointless but made his presence felt with physical play. “I’m starting to
play a little better. I’m more comfortable with the puck and more settled
down.
“Learning the systems, being here a little bit longer, getting used to
everything, knowing where you’re supposed to be,” he added. “Now it just
happens on the ice instead of me having to think about it.”
It helps, too, that he, Hall and Dunstall have something going.
“We’re definitely finding some confidence together,” Hall said. “Me and
(Wiebe) work together in practice and we hang out outside the rink. We’re
working on chemistry and it’s coming together.”
In fact, the line’s play is reflective of the team’s play, or perhaps it’s
vice versa.
No matter. The Blazers are three games over .500 for the first time this
season.
JUST NOTES: Agar and Papp combined to give each team nine minors, with the
Blazers getting the lone misconduct. . . . Each team was 1-for-8 on the
power play. . . . The Blazers are at home tonight, 7 o’clock, to the
Kootenay Ice. Kootenay lost 7-6 in overtime to the Rockets in Kelowna last
night.