Blazers sign first pick

From The Daily News of Friday, May 16, 2008 . . .

The Kamloops Blazers announced a signing late Thursday afternoon.
No . . . it wasn’t a head coach.
Rather, the Blazers signed centre Colin Smith, the seventh overall selection
in the WHL’s 2008 bantam draft.
Kamloops is the second of the WHL’s 22 teams to sign its first pick from the
May 1 draft. The Edmonton Oil Kings signed forward Michael St. Croix, the
fourth pick, earlier this week.
“I went in (to Edmonton) last week and met with the Smith family,” Craig
Bonner, the Blazers’ general manager, said. “It’s a really good family . . .
committed and excited. It was good.
“There was no hesitation. They’re committed to playing in Kamloops and they
want to be part of the whole thing.”
Smith, 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds, had 106 points, including 70 assists, in 33
games with the bantam AAA Edmonton CAC Canadians this season.
Smith is good friends with centre Brendan Ranford, whom the Blazers took
with the 15th pick in the 2007 bantam draft; in fact, the two were linemates
on the bantam team in 2006-07. Ranford, a first-year midget, won the Alberta
league’s scoring championship this season and, barring the unexpected, will
be on the Blazers’ roster in the fall.
Smith hopes to slide into Ranford’s spot with the midget AAA Canadians in
2008-09 and join his pal in Kamloops the following season.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Smith said, adding that he has followed the Blazers’
fortunes “since Brendan got drafted.”
Smith will attend the Blazers’ rookie camp in August. Before then, he said,
he’ll focus on “working out and golfing.”
Bonner, who was in Vancouver yesterday, can hardly wait to get Smith on the
ice here.
“I saw Smith play in the Alberta Cup,” Bonner said, referring to a high-end
bantam tournament in Lloydminster last month. “I knew what we were getting.
I don’t know what his final stats were but he’s a helluva player. I really
liked the way he played because he played hard at both ends.
“All the research I did on him as far as off the ice . . . he’s a really
good kid . . . a good student . . . a leader . . . and all that was
important to me. We need some good people.
“And he can play. He plays the same way Kyle Turris did at that age. Smith
is right shot, a good skater, with good skill. He’s not a big guy . . . but
he can play at the size he is the way he plays.”
Turris, who starred with the BCHL’s Burnaby Express before spending one
season at the U of Wisconsin, was the Phoenix Coyotes’ first-round pick in
the 2007 NHL draft. He left school and signed with the Coyotes late this
season.
Now that he has Smith signed, Bonner will move on to the next think on his
list.
“I’ll be back in Kamoops this week and I’ll start narrowing down the list of
coaches,” said Bonner, who added that he has received “quite a few” resumes.
The Blazers’ ownership group fired general manager and head coach Dean Clark
on Nov. 7, with Greg Hawgood stepping in as the interim head coach. Hawgood,
who has a year left on his contract, is among the applicants for the
position; if he doesn’t get it, he is likely to be kept on as an assistant
coach.
At present, the Blazers are the only WHL team in the market for a head
coach, and Bonner doesn’t mind being the lone shopper.
“That’s the beauty of it right now because there’s no one else who is likely
to scoop a coach on me,” he said.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers opening training camp with rookies skating Aug. 22
and 23 at Interior Savings Centre. Veterans also will practise both days,
with main camp hitting high gear Aug. 24. . . . While he looks for a coach,
Bonner said he also is continuing to evaluate the scouting situation. Gord
Loiselle, who was hired last summer by Clark as director of player
personnel, has a year left on his contract.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca