Blazers thank Leclerc . . . again

From The Daily News of Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 . . .

It might be time to call the printers and order up the ‘Only Jesus Saves
More Than Justin’ bumper stickers.
Because Justin Leclerc of the Kamloops Blazers put on another goaltending
clinic Friday night at Interior Savings Centre.
Leclerc, an 18-year-old in his third WHL season, stopped 31 shots through
overtime then made three more saves in the shootout as the Blazers skated to
a 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets.
The Blazers’ defencemen pinch and cheat with regularity and impunity, the
result being that they give up an inordinate number of odd-man rushes. The
Blazers also take far more penalties than they should; last night they took
11 of 17 minors, including the first four of the game.
And still they were able to take the Rockets to the circus, with thanks to
Leclerc who, again, was the ringmaster.
Leclerc, who was acquired by former general manager and head coach Dean
Clark from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a second-round draft pick, was
especially sharp early in the game, when the Blazers were in penalty
trouble, and in the latter half of the third period, when the Rockets owned
the puck.
“Their goaltender played very well,” offered Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska.
“He was one of the bigger stories. But, you know, I really liked our second
and third periods.”
The Rockets’ only goal came from defenceman Tyson Myers, whose power-play
point shot went in off the stick of Kamloops defenceman Nick Ross at 4:51 of
the third period. That tied the game 1-1, the Blazers having gotten a
power-play goal from Juuso Puustinen just 36 seconds into the second period.
The Rockets outshot Kamloops 15-7 in the third period when Leclerc was
forced to make big-time stops off defenceman Tyson Barrie (slapshot), winger
Brandon McMillan (amazing glove save with the Rockets skating 5-on-3), and
forwards Evan Bloodoff and Cody Almond from in tight.
“He’s been pretty hot lately,” Kamloops left-winger Shayne Wiebe, who scored
the only goal of the shootout, said of Leclerc. “It’s good to have a hot
goaltender.”
When it was suggested that perhaps Leclerc shouldn’t have to pay for a meal
the rest of this season, Wiebe laughed and said: “I would say so. Everyone
should be buying for him. Yeah.”
To which a smiling Leclerc responded: “That’s good.”
Leclerc, the Blazers’ player of the month for January, went into the game
with a 6-3-0-1 record, a 2.52 GAA and a .922 save percentage in his last 11
appearances.
“I feel like I’ve been doing most of the right things lately and limiting my
mistakes,” he said. “But I’ve also been getting bounces. When you’re
rolling, you seem to get bounces.
“Still, you create your own breaks. If you’re really aggressive, a guy will
tend to shoot wide rather than pick the corner.”
Which is how Leclerc played in the shootout, coming out and challenging the
Rockets’ shooters. He made a glove save on Almond, used an especially
aggressive pokecheck to force Colin Long, the WHL’s leading scorer, to lose
the puck and stood his ground on Barrie.
In the meantime, Wiebe, the circus’s first performer, rifled a shot through
the pads of Kelowna goaltender Torrie Jung.
“I just try to get the shot off as quickly as I can and catch the goalie
offguard,” said Wiebe, a freshman from Brandon who has two winners in as
many shootout opportunities.
Kamloops had a chance to win the game at 3:58 of the five-minute overtime
period when right-winger Juuso Puustinen was awarded a penalty shot after
being hooked from behind by Barrie while on a breakaway. However, Puustinen
seemed indecisive and ended up shooting the puck high over Jung, who was
making his seventh straight start for the Rockets.
All told, Puustinen missed three breakaways in this one — one in regulation
time, one in overtime and another in the shootout.
Still, the goal he scored in the second period was his team-leading 20th of
the season.
JUST NOTES: Referees Steve Papp and Pat Smith gave the Blazers 11 of 17
minors and two of four misconducts. . . . Kelowna was 1-for-6 on the power
play; the Blazers were 1-for-5. . . . Attendance was announced at 4,665. . .
. Kamloops D Spencer Fraipont left for the dressing room at 12:08 of the
third period with what Kamloops interim head coach Greg Hawgood said was a
touch of stomach flu. . . . The Blazers scratched defencemen Darcy Huisman
and Mark Schneider, both of whom were healthy, and moved RW Sasha Golin back
to the blue line. Hawgood said Golin has been their jack of all trades and
they want him to get some experience on defence in case he is needed there
down the stretch and in the playoffs. . . . The Rockets are without LW Jamie
Benn, their top finisher with 29 goals. They are hopeful he will return from
an ankle injury next week.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca