Blazers veterans deal with deadline

From The Daily News of Friday, Jan. 4, 2008 . . .

Like Brit, they hear the whispers.
Like Lilo, they know people are talking about them.
And just like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, two of the Kamloops Blazers
veteran players are trying to ignore the nattering.
The WHL’s trade deadline arrives Thursday and centre Brock Nixon and
defenceman Ryan Bender, both in their fifth seasons here, know that their
names are being bandied about like so many plastic bags in the wind.
They just wonder whether the winds of change will blow them elsewhere.
“You expect it any time the trade deadline comes around and you are an older
guy,” Bender who, like Nixon, is 20, said after Thursday’s practice at
Interior Savings Centre. “But it’s not something you can control.”
Still, Bender added, “It’s not easy when you’re not sure what’s going to
happen. You try to put it behind you but at the end of the day it’s still
going to be there.”
There have been rumours, most of them carried on winds from the east, that
have Bender, a hard-nosed defender who also is the team captain, ticketed
for the Regina Pats, who play in his hometown.
Bender, who repeated that he hasn’t asked to be traded and that he would
prefer to stay here, did allow that, yes, if he was to be traded he supposed
it would be OK to end up in Regina.
“I guess so,” Bender said with something of a sigh. “My folks are there,
family’s there but . . . I’ve been here for so long . . . I’ve got friends
and billets and stuff here . . .”
In the meantime, Nixon, who is from Russell, Man., and leads the Blazers in
goals (14), assists (25) and points (39), admitted that, yes, “I’m hearing
it, too.”
“Obviously,” he said, “it’s just another one of those things that you can’t
control so you just try to . . . you can’t worry about it. It’s out of my
hands. I’ll do the same thing I’ve done my whole career — go out everyday
and play hard. I’ll worry about the things I can control.”
Like Bender, Nixon said he hasn’t asked to be traded and he wants to stay
here.
Nixon added that while he is terribly frustrated with the way this season
has gone he isn’t sure what happened.
“If it was one thing it would be easy to correct,” Nixon said. “It’s been a
combination of things. It’s the same old thing. We can’t put any kind of
winning streak together. When we do, it comes crashing down all too fast.”
The Blazers go into tonight’s game against the visiting Tri-City Americans
in eighth place in the Western Conference, but Nixon pointed out they are
just four points out of fifth spot.
“The top three teams have obvioiusly separated themselves pretty well,”
Nixon said, referring to the Americans, Spokane Chiefs and Vancouver Giants,
“but four to eight is going to be a dogight until the end of the season.”
Whether Nixon and Bender will be among the dogs in this particular fight
remains to be seen.
BLAZERS BUZZ: D Victor Bartley suffered a groin injury in practice Wednesday
and won’t play for up to 10 days, meaning he could miss six games. . . . RW
Brady Calla (cold) is likely to play tonight, while LW Alex Rodgers (flu) is
questionable. . . . G James Priestner (Team Pacific) and C Jimmy Bubnick
(Team West) are at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in London, Ont. They are
to fly into Vancouver on Saturday and should be available to play Sunday
against the Giants. . . . Bubnick was held off the scoresheet Thursday as
Team West lost 4-3 to Ontario in one semifinal.
Priestner was the backup again as Team Pacific fell 3-2 to Team USA in the
other semifinal. Team West and Team Pacific will meet in the third-place
game today at 10 a.m. . . . Meanwhile, in Czech Republic, RW Juuso Puustinen
didn’t score as Finland lost 5-1 to the host team in the fifth-place game.
On the relegation side, LW Ivan Rohac had a goal and an assist as Slovakia
whipped Kazakhstan 8-0 to finish atop the standings. . . . Puustinen, who
had five points, four of them goals, in six games, and Rohac, who had three
goals and two assists in six games, are expected to fly into Kamloops on
Thursday and play Jan. 12 against the visiting Chilliwack Bruins.
LW Matt Riley, the 67th pick in the 2006 bantam draft, practised Thursday
and then left to rejoin the junior B Port Moody Black Panthers who play in
Abbotsford tonight. . . . C Richard Vandenhoek, the 122nd pick in 2006, will
stay with the Blazers through Sunday and then rejoin the BCHL’s Surrey
Eagles. . . . C Brendan Ranford, 15, will make his WHL debut tonight. He was
the Blazers’ first pick, 15th overall, in the 2007 bantam draft. He will
return to Edmonton on Monday. . . . G Jon Groenheyde, who will start tonight,
returns to the KIJHL’s Columbia Valley Rockies on Monday. . . . F Ryan Hanes
of the major midget Thompson Blazers, taken 99th in the 2007 draft,
practised with the WHL team yesterday. . . . Illness prevented D Josh Caron,
the 52nd selection in 2006, from joining the Blazers at practice. He plays
for the KIJHL’s Kamloops Storm.