Blazers ready to play for real

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Barry Smith knows that a 5-1 record in the exhibition season in any league
is worth about as much as a piece of Lehman Brothers these days.
But, at the same time, the head coach of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers knows
there was some value in his club’s exhibition season.
“I think the kids have bought in,” Smith said after Thursday’s practice at
Interior Savings Centre, the last serious on-ice session before the Blazers
open their regular season tonight, 7 o’clock, against the visiting Everett
Silvertips. “Being successful . . . they’ve bought into the system, they see
that it’s working. When they see that it works, they’re willing to stick to
it and do it.
“That’s probably the biggest thing we got out of the exhibition season.”
(Of course, Smith is well aware that last season’s squad went 6-1 in the
exhibition season and then stumbled through a season in which it lost 18 of
its last 19 games.)
Smith said a lot of what he has brought to the Blazers comes from the NHL’s
Vancouver Canucks, with whom he worked as an assistant coach for five years
before joining the Blazers.
“There are variations of what we’ve done over the last six years (in
Vancouver),” he explained. “Some I got from (former head coach Mark
Crawford), some I took from (present head coach Alain Vigneault). A lot of
it is basically the same stuff — fundamentals that we want and what we’re
going to do.”
What has impressed Smith is the way the Blazers have picked up what he has
been teaching and preaching.
“I watch a lot of tape and I do a lot of preparing . . . I look at what we
taught in Vancouver and here and they caught on just as quick here as they
did there,” Smith said. “It’s really exciting to see.”
A laughing Smith added that things have gone so well that he sometimes asks
himself if “I taught it really well” or if “I’ve got some great minds here.”
Smith has talked a lot about systems since training camp opened a month ago.
But what does that mean?
“I call it puck pressure,” Smith said, without getting too technical. “On
offence, (we want to) pressure pucks, outnumber them on loose pucks, get
pucks to the net, battle.
“With defensive play, I want to be really aggressive, get on pucks, create
turnovers, get it out of our end.”
And, yes, the Blazers will go trapping in the neutral zone.
“Everybody basically traps in the neutral zone,” Smith said. “I want to be
an aggressive trap. I want to create turnovers. It’s not about waiting. We
aren’t a contain team . . . we don’t want to sit around and wait and wait
and wait. We want to be proactive.”
In order to do all that, a team needs a roster full of good skaters.
Smith believes these Blazers can skate.
“And,” he said, “we’re deep. Our fourth line does a lot of good energy stuff
and our top three . . . I don’t see myself as having too many matchup
problems against other teams’ top lines.”
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Smith revealed Thursday that veteran Justin Leclerc will start in goal
tonight. As for Saturday when the Blazers meet the Bruins in Chilliwack . .
.
“I’m going to see what happens (tonight) and then I’ll go from there,” Smith
stated. “If one guy is the guy, running with it, then I’ll look at when I
need to rest him. I’ll see how it goes.”
Ideally, Smith would like to get 45 starts from one goaltender and 25 from
another.
“That’s ideal,” he said. “Then you’re developing your backup . . . that’s
the ideal situation for this league.”
The Blazers open the season with three goaltenders, sophomore James
Priestner and freshman Jon Groehnheyde joining Leclerc on the roster.
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The Silvertips have had a few defections since last season ended.
Russian C Vitaly Karamnov and Slovakian LW Lukas Vartovnik chose to remain
at home rather than return to Everett. Vartovnik played two seasons with
Everett, while Karamnov played one.
Believing both players would return, the Silvertips chose not to make any
selections in the 2008 CHL import draft. GM Doug Soetaert has since acquired
LW Daniel Bartek from the Brandon Wheat Kings, surrendering a 2009
fourth-round bantam draft pick. Bartek, 20, uses up one of Everett’s three
20-year-old spots and one of its two import slots.
The immigration process prevented Bartek from joining the Silvertips
immediately. However, he was expected to arrive in Kamloops last night and
was to skate with his teammates for the first time this morning.
He had 36 points, including 22 goals, last season.
The Silvertips also lost D Jonathan Harty, their captain last season, who
chose to go to the U of New Brunswick rather than return for his 20-year-old
season, and sophomore C Tyler Skauge, who decided last week that he had lost
the passion for hockey. He since has joined the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits.
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JUST NOTES: The Blazers’ coaching staff has named C Scott Wasden as the
team’s captain, a role he filled at the end of last season. Alternates won’t
be named until D Nick Ross (Phoenix Coyotes) and RW Tyler Shattock (San Jose
Sharks) return from pro camps. It is expected, however, that veteran C C.J.
Stretch and Shattock will be the alternates. . . . F Ryan Hanes, a
16-year-old from Kamloops, was reassigned by the Blazers on Thursday. He is
expected to join the junior B Kamloops Storm. . . . As of last night, the
Blazers had 25 healthy players in camp, meaning they will scratch Groehneyde
and two skaters tonight.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca