Blazers box

THE SCORE
Kamloops 3, Tri-City 2

WHAT HAPPENED
G Jon Groenheyde, making his first WHL appearance, played like a grizzled
veteran and his teammates rose to the occasion and beat the team with the
league’s best winning percentage.

THE STANDINGS
The Blazers (19-19-1-1) moved into a tie with the Seattle Thunderbirds
(17-13-5-1) for seventh in the Western Conference. Kamloops is two points
out of fifth and 13 points ahead of the Prince George Cougars. . . . The
Americans (28-8-1-0) fell two points behind the conference-leading Spokane
Chiefs and Vancouver Giants.

THE SEASON SERIES
With one game left between these teams, the Americans are 2-1 and have
outscored the Blazers 9-5. The Blazers are in Kennewick, Wash., to conclude
the series on Friday.

THE GOALTENDER
Despite Groenheyde’s performance, G Justin Leclerc is expected to start for
the Blazers tonight against the Rockets in Kelowna. “Yes, I would say we
will go with Justin,” Kamloops head coach Greg Hawgood said.

THE FUTURE
C Brendan Ranford, who leads the Alberta Midget Hockey League with 60 points
in 25 games, played two or three shifts for the Blazers in his WHL debut.
He was the 15th overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft.

THE CENTRE
Tri-City C Taylor Procyshen (concussion) sat out his 14th straight game last
night. He underwent an MRI on Wednesday but Tri-City head coach Don Nachbaur
said the team hadn’t yet heard the results. Procyshen, who hasn’t been able
even to ride a bike, has 25 points, including 15 goals, in 24 games.

THE ANALYST
David Michaud, formerly the analyst on Kelowna Rockets’ broadcasts on
AM1150, was back in the booth alongside Kirk Fraser, the voice of the
Blazers on Radio NL. Michaud reports that he has left his job — he was in
sales — with Astral Media, which owns AM1150. . . . Michaud has spoken with
Blazers majority owner Tom Gaglardi about the possibility of working in the
club’s front office after this season.

THE SUSPENSION
Dean Chynoweth is the first WHL coach to be suspended this season. The
GM/head coach of the Swift Current Broncos drew two games and $500 for
tossing water bottles in the direction of referee Devin Klein and linesman
Kelly Balaberda during a 4-1 loss to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on
Wednesday.

THE DAILY NEWS THREE STARS

1. G Jon Groenheyde, Kamloops. A debut to remember.

2. LW Mark Hall, Kamloops. Best game of his career.

3. C Brock Nixon, Kamloops. Four key faceoff wins at the end.

UP NEXT
The Blazers are in Kelowna tonight and play the Giants in Vancouver on
Sunday.