Blazers vs. Americans: The Edge

From The Daily News of Friday, March 21, 2008 . . .

TALE OF THE TAPE
Kam TC
Record 27-41-2-2 52-16-2-2
Finish 8 1
Last 10 1-9-0-0 8-2-0-0
Streak 0-4-0-0 5-0-0-0
Home 16-18-1-1 29-6-0-1
Away 11-23-1-1 23-10-2-1
Goals for 197 (16) 262 (1)
Goals against 253 (19) 176 (5)
PP% 66/355, 18.6 (10) 80/376, 21.3 (2)
PK% 95/435, 78.2 (19) 42/362, 884 (1)
Lead after 1 13-3-0-0 30-1-0-1
Lead after 2 19-1-0-0 37-1-1-1
Tied after 1 6-13-1-1 14-2-2-0
Tied after 2 5-5-0-2 8-2-0-0
Trail after 1 8-25-1-1 8-13-0-1
Trail after 2 3-35-2-0 7-13-1-1
1-goal games 12-11-2-2 19-4-2-2
2-goal games 7-11-0-0 11-5-0-0
3-goal games 4-9-0-0 10-5-0-0

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
KENNEWICK, Wash. — Unless you have been living in a cable- and satellite-less cave, in which
case you likely don’t get home delivery of this family journal so all of
this won’t matter to you, you are aware that we’re into March Madness.
You also know how March Madness works.
What you may not know is that never, not once, in the history of the NCAA
men’s basketball tournament has a team that entered the event as a 16th seed
upset a No. 1 seed.
The Kamloops Blazers aren’t playing in the NCAA tournament, but as the WHL
playoffs open tonight, they are the No. 16 seed. And as luck, or their
abysmal finish, would have it, the Blazers open against the No. 1-seeded
Tri-City Americans.
To say the Blazers face long odds is something of an understatement.
The Americans finished with the WHL’s best record — 52-16-2-2 — and set
franchise records for victories and points (108). They are 8-2-0-0 in their
last 10 outings and go into the playoffs having won five straight games.
“Where do you start?” Greg Hawgood, the Blazers’ interim head coach, says of
the Americans. “Their goalie is exceptional. They have a lot of forwards who
have offensive talent. Systematically, they’re good.”
The Blazers (27-41-2-2) lost 40 games for only the second time in franchise
history; the first time was in 1981-82, the organization’s first season,
when it was the Jr. Oilers. The Blazers have lost 14 of their last 15 games.
They are 1-9-0-0 in their last 10 games. They have lost their last four
games. They are 8-22-1-1 since Jan. 4, which was the night they bade
farewell to stalwarts Victor Bartley and Ryan Bender, who were dealt to the
Regina Pats, and Brock Nixon, who went to the Calgary Hitmen.
Did we mention that the Americans scored more goals (262) than any other WHL
team, while the Blazers’ 197 goals were 16th? Or that the Americans boast
the WHL’s fifth-best defence (176 goals against), while the Blazers (253)
were 19th?
Still, they have to play the games and the Blazers know going in what
they’re up against.
“If we play the way we can,” Hawgood says, “we’re going to give them a good
shot. We just have to be intense, we have to play with emotion. We have to
back each other up and each guy in the lineup has to (understand) that if
he’s not (giving) 100 per cent that night he’s letting his teammates down.”
Hawgood’s hope is that his players will recognize Tri-City for what it is —
the best team in the league through 72 games — and rise to the occasion and
play with the emotion it showed in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Vancouver
Giants, another elite team, on Saturday.
“We look at who we’re playing and we know that, geez, if we play like this
against Vancouver, it’s going to get ugly, so we crank it way up,” Hawgood
says. “And then we drop it down far enough to think that we can get away
with not playing as hard.
“You would expect the guys to know they’re going into a building where their
team finished first in the whole league. If they don’t bring the game they
brought (Saturday) night, it’s going to get ugly.”
Here’s something of a breakdown of both teams as the second season opens:
GOAL: This promises to be a marvelous showdown between two 18-year-old
goaltenders who have been terrific. Tri-City’s Chet Pickard led the WHL in
victories (46), games played (64) and minutes played (3,779). Pickard, who
was 46-12-2-2, was eighth in GAA (2.32) and fourth in save percentage
(.918). Backup Kyle Birch, 17, was 6-4-0-0, 2.51, .904. . . . While the
Blazers have lost 14 of their last 15 games, they can’t point fingers at
their goaltending. No goaltender has played better than Justin Leclerc over
the last two months. Yes, he is 0-9-1-0 in his last 10 games, but his save
percentage during that stretch is .910. That number was .899 for January,
.907 for February and .923 for March. Backup James Priestner has
rediscovered his game and hasn’t disappointed in recent appearances. . . .
EDGE: Even.
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DEFENCE: The Americans are led by captain T.J. Fast, a 20-year-old from
Calgary. Fast, who had 54 points and was a team-high plus-29, also
quarterbacks the power play. Tyler Schmidt and Mitch McColm provide the
muscle on the back end. Jarrett Toll, who is from Maple Ridge, is the lone
B.C. native on the Tri-City roster. . . . The Kamloops defenders offer up
far too many turnovers. Nick Ross, the Phoenix Coyotes’ first-round pick in
the 2007 NHL draft, has been erratic and was a healthy scratch for one
late-season game. Sasha Golin, a winger through most of the season, has been
moved to defence. Mike Gauthier, brought in for muscle, has found himself on
the top pairing. . . . EDGE: Tri-City.
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FORWARDS: The Americans have eight players with at least 39 points; the
Blazers have five. The Americans have four players with at least 73 points;
the Blazers don’t have any. . . . LW Colton Yellow Horn led the WHL with 48
goals and was third with 97 points. . . . RW Juuso Puustinen led the Blazers
with 27 and 53. . . . Tri-City scored more goals than any other team; the
Blazers’ offence ranked 16th. . . . Tri-City RW Taylor Procyshen, who may be
the WHL’s most under-rated player, had 52 points, including 32 goals, in 51
games. He missed a chunk of the season with a concussion. . . . Kamloops LW
Ivan Rohac finished with eight points in his last seven games, while
Puustinen had 10 points, seven of them goals, over his last 11 games. . . .
Kamloops F Jimmy Bubnick, 16, had 27 points in 64 games. He is one player
who really improved over the season and needs to play a larger role. . . .
EDGE: Tri-City.
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SPECIAL TEAMS: Tri-City’s power play scored 80 goals in 376 opportunities,
its 21.3 per cent success rate ranking it second. The Kamloops power play
(66-for-355, 18.6) ranked 10th. . . . On the penalty kill, Tri-City was the
best in the league, surrendering 42 goals on 362 chances (88.4 per cent).
The Blazers allowed an incomprehensible 95 PP goals on 435 opportunities —
no one faced more opposition power plays and only the Prince George Cougars
surrendered more PP goals. Kamloops’ 78.2 success rate ranked 19th. . . .
The Americans were plus-38 on special teams (PPG minus PPGA); the Blazers
were minus-29. . . . Tri-City also scored a WHL-high 22 shorthanded goals;
the Blazers had six. Each team surrendered seven shorthanded goals. . . .
EDGE: Tri-City.
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COACHING: Tri-City’s Don Nachbaur is in his 11th season as a head coach, his
fifth with the Americans. Nachbaur’s teams — he spent six seasons with the
Seattle Thunderbirds — have won 388 regular-season games. . . . Greg
Hawgood, the Blazers’ interim head coach, replaced the fired Dean Clark on
Nov. 7. The Blazers are 21-32-1-1 under Hawgood. . . . EDGE: Tri-City.
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INTANGIBLES: The Americans are 29-6-0-1 at home, 23-10-2-1 on the road. . .
. The Blazers are 16-18-1-1 at home and 11-23-1-1 on the road. . . . The
Blazers allowed more than 30 shots in 32 of 37 games after the Christmas
break. In nine of those games, they gave up 40 or more shots. . . . Kamloops
has bowed out in the first round in its last seven playoff appearances. . .
. Commissioner Ron Robison will present the Americans with the Scotty Munro
Memorial Trophy as regular-season champions prior to Game 1. This is the
Ams’ 20th season in the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Richland and Pasco, and,
prior to Saturday night, they hadn’t won even one banner. The trophy
presentation is certain to fire up the fans and the Americans to start Game
1.
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THE CALL: Tri-City, in four.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca