Blazers' roster has openings

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers, with new ownership firmly ensconced, along with a new general manager, new head coach and two new assistant coaches, open training camp this morning at Interior Savings Centre.
The $6.1-million question, however, is how many new players will be on the roster when the WHL team opens the season at home to the Everett Silvertips on Sept. 19?
The Blazers are coming off an abysmal season. First, there was the major change, as the franchise went from public to private ownership. Then, players watched as first the general manager/head coach and then two assistant coaches lost their jobs. And, finally, the team lost 18 of its last 19 games, the last four of those in a four-game first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the Tri-City Americans.
And now the Blazers are preparing for a new season. But just how “new” will they be?
As Matt Recchi, the Blazers’ director of player personnel, put it: “There’s a lot of openings and there’s going to be a big push.”
The Blazers are deep in goal with Justin Leclerc, who was their best player last season, sophomore James Priestner and Jon Groenheyde the top three on the depth chart.
At the same time, the roster includes only four veteran defencemen, with two of those – Mark Schneider and Kurt Torbohm – having played in 69 games combined. One defenceman who could earn a spot is Linden Saip, a 17-year-old from Delta who got a taste of the WHL with the Vancouver Giants last season.
Up front, once centre Mark Hall returns from a knee sprain, the Blazers will have 10 veterans on their roster, but those 10 players combined for only 100 WHL goals last season. And 21 of those came from winger Kenton Dulle, now 20. That doesn’t include a dozen off the stick of winger Brady Calla, who has signed with the NHL’s Florida Panthers and is expected to play in their organization, likely with the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
Yes, there definitely are openings on this hockey club.
So . . . who might end up filling some of those holes and which players might fans want to keep an eye on for the next few days?
The first player Recchi pointed to was centre Brendan Ranford, the Blazers’ first-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft.
”He is a highly skilled, highly competitive young man,” Recchi said. “He goes to the net all the time – that’s a big part of his game, to go straight to the net.”
Ranford, 16, went to the net enough last season that he won the Alberta Midget Hockey League’s scoring title as a 15-year-old. Playing for the Edmonton CAC Canadians, the 5-foot-9, 160-pounder had 79 points, including 33 goals, in 35 games. He added 15 points in 12 playoff games.
”He’s got lots of skill and lots of character and we’re looking for big things out of him,” Recchi said.
Despite all of that, Recchi added, Ranford, a nephew to former NHL goaltender Bill Ranford, is only an “average” skater.
”That’s one thing he’s going to have to continue to work on,” Recchi said. “But his skills and grit and determination . . . that’s what will set him apart from most players.”
Then there’s centre Grayson Downing, a fourth-round selection in the 2007 bantam draft.
”He has a real good two-way game with some skill,” Recchi said of Downing, who is from Abbotsford. “Lots of heart . . . real good determination. He looks to be a promising young player.”
Downing had 40 points in 32 games last season with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins.
Defenceman Daniel Medland-Marchen, 16, had six points and 101 penalty minutes with the major midget Okanagan Rockets last season. A second-round pick in the 2007 draft, the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder suffered a broken collarbone in the first period of the Blazers’ intrasquad game a year ago.
”He looks really good,” Recchi said. “He’s a big strong defenceman who can really skate and really shoots the puck hard. He’s in great shape. He’s somebody to watch.
”He will play more of a defensive-type game; he’s a hard-hitting, stay-at-home defensive-type guy.”
Recchi also is looking forward to seeing Stefan Gonzales, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound defenceman from the Lower Mainland. Gonzales, 16, had 11 points and 62 penalty minutes with the major midget Valley West Hawks.
”He’s a big kid who is a good skater,” Recchi said of the 2007 sixth-round pick. “He tried out for the B.C. under-17 team, but didn’t make it. He’s a big, competitive guy who skates well . . . a puck mover.”
Among the Blazers¹ California contingent will be defenceman Brandon Underwood, who goes 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.
”He’s kind of an unknown to me,” Recchi said, “and I’m really wanting to see him. He comes in with some notoriety as a big kid who has good skill but plays real physical.
”I look for him to push guys (on defence).”
Underwood, 16, is a list player who spent last season with the midget AAA Los Angeles Jr. Kings.
And then there’s Colin Smith, the Blazers’ first-round pick, seventh overall, in the 2008 bantam draft who because of his age is only eligible to play five games this season as long as his minor hockey team is still playing.
”He’s only 15 but he’s going to be a lot of fun to watch,” Recchi said of the Edmonton native who had 106 points, including 36 goals, in 33 games with the Edmonton CAC bantam AAA team last season. “He’s got talent, grit and determination, and he goes to the net.”
Of course, Smith is 5-foot-8 and 135 pounds.
”He’s a little bugger,” Recchi said with a chuckle, “but, man, he can play.”
JUST NOTES: The younger hopefuls have been split into three teams and will
practice this morning at 9:30, 10:45 and noon. . . . A one-hour goaltending
session is set for 1 p.m. . . . The two veteran teams will practise at 2:15
and 4 p.m. . . . The three freshman teams scrimmage at 6, 7:15 and 8:30 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca