Blazers brew up victory over Bruins

From The Daily News of Monday, Jan. 14, 2008 . . .

The Kamloops Blazers welcomed back their two European tourists Saturday
night.
It couldn’t have come soon enough for the locals.
With right-winger Juuso Puustinen and left-winger Ivan Rohac in the lineup
for the first time since Dec. 9, the Blazers skated to a 2-1 WHL victory
over the Chilliwack Bruins before 4,726 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
The victory, in a game that more resembled the organized chaos of shinny on
a lake rather than the systemic game taught by WHL coaching staffs, halted a
four-game losing skid in which the Blazers had been outshot 159-93 and
outscored 24-6.
While Puustinen (Finland) and Rohac (Slovakia) were playing in the World
Junior Championship, the Blazers went 4-8-0-0 and management traded away the
team’s three most-experienced players, sending defencemen Ryan Bender and
Victor Bartley to the Regina Pats and centre Brock Nixon to the Calgary
Hitmen.
It was, Rohac said, something of a different dressing room to which he
returned.
“Ohhh, I feel like I need somebody because Brock, Benny . . . big names in
the dressing room,” Rohac said. “Last year when I came here (they welcomed
me). Big change. Now is nobody. Old guys from last year . . . nobody.”
Rohac, in his second season here, said he will try and help out in a
leadership role as best he can. And he did that Saturday by combining with
Puustinen to score the game’s first goal just 60 seconds after the first
puck had been dropped.
Rohac beat his check behind the Chilliwack net and was able to shovel the
puck out front from where Puustinen rapped it under goaltender Mark Friesen
and into the net.
“I was excited before the game,” Rohac said. “It was my first game in the
new year. I come back and I will help the team. We need points. I am so
happy now that we win. It was a good game.”
That goal stood into the second period when, at 2:17, Kamloops defenceman
Mike Gauthier, perched at one point on the power play, shot the puck towards
the Chilliwack net and had it glance off right-winger Kenton Dulle’s
shinpads and past Friesen.
That 2-0 lead lasted almost seven minutes until, right after the Blazers had
killed off a lengthy 5-on-3 disadvantage, Chilliwack right-winger Brandon
Campos banged a centring pass behind Kamloops goaltender Justin Leclerc.
Leclerc, who finished with 29 saves, made two scintillating stops during
that penalty kill, coming across his crease to stone Campos and getting a
blocker on a shot by centre Mark Santorelli.
As good as Leclerc was then, he was even better down the stretch as the
Bruins, who definitely were out of sync early, started to take over the
proceedings.
“He made big saves at the end when he needed to,” Chilliwack head coach Jim
Hiller said of Leclerc. “There were a couple laying in the crease there . .
. I had my hands up. Campos . . . I thought it was in.”
At one point in the third period, the puck ended up in the crease just off
Leclerc’s right toe and Campos tried to pound the disc into the net.
Somehow, Leclerc was able to keep it out and allow his side to maintain its
2-1 lead.
“They were really solid,” Leclerc said of his teammates. “Our overall game
was better. It wasn’t just our (defensive) zone that was lacking for the
past few nights; it was a little bit of everything.”
Leclerc also was his side’s best penalty killer as the Blazers shut down the
Bruins’ power play, which ranks third in the WHL, on six attempts. Forwards
Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller, who key that power play, weren’t given
much time or space.
“When our power play struggles it tells you we are out of sync,” Hiller
said. “I thought we certainly had enough opportunities as far as power-play
time. But . . . it was a little disjointed, no question.
“And that’s been our bread and butter. That’s our five best players and . .
. obviously they can move it around. But tonight it didn’t go.”
Santorelli and Moller didn’t do much at even strength either as they saw a
lot of the Kamloops line of, left to right, Shayne Wiebe, Scott Wasden and
Dulle.
“I thought Wasden’s line did a good job,” Kamloops head coach Greg Hawgood
said. “It’s not an easy task shutting that line down. They’re pretty
skilled.”
So are Rohac and Puustinen and they are going to have to play the best
hockey of their lives if the Blazers are to move up in the standings. Still,
having them in the lineup means the Blazers will play more in the offensive
zone, which means their shots allowed should drop at least a bit.
“They bring energy to the room as well,” Leclerc said. “They’re pretty
positive guys. That’s really something we needed. We were pretty down after
losing those games on the road trip.”
Having them back, Hawgood said, “fills a void in our lineup. They are two
world-class players. We’re very proud that they were able to represent their
countries but I’m certainly glad that the world junior tournament is over.”
The two trades also hit this team hard, Leclerc said, especially coming the
way they did — moments after a 3-2 victory over the visiting Tri-City
Americans and less than 24 hours before the team left on a four-game road
swing.
“A couple of trades really changes the dynamic in the room,” Leclerc said.
“We do have the leaders to do it but it always takes some adjusting. On top
of that, we were playing some of the best teams in the league.”
They opened that swing with a 6-1 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna. Those same
Rockets visit here Tuesday and they come in having won seven in a row. That
seventh victory, a 5-2 conquest of the Cougars in Prince George on Saturday,
lifted the Rockets to within six points of having the WHL’s best record.
JUST NOTES: Referees Steve Papp and Saad Al-Jadir gave the Bruins eight of
14 minors, including six of the first seven. . . . Papp handed out seven of
the game‚s first eight penalties; Al-Jadir dished out the final four. . . .
The Blazers‚ penalty-killing unit now is ranked 21st in the WHL. . . . The
game started a stretch in which the Blazers will play seven of nine games at
home. When that run is over, they will have 19 games remaining in the
regular season, 11 of them on the road. That includes a six-game East
Division swing in late February.