Drinnan column on Blazers

Thirteen seasons have come and gone since the Kamloops Blazers completed an
amazing run by winning their third Memorial Cup in four seasons.
We don’t need to use this space to rehash the adversity this franchise has
faced since May 21, 1995, when the Blazers thrashed the Detroit Jr. Red
Wings, 8-2, to win the Memorial Cup right here in River City, inside what
was then known as Riverside Coliseum.
Two weeks later, as history shows, general manager Bob Brown was fired as
leadership (?) chose to take the organization in a different direction. The
team did reach the WHL’s championship final in 1999, after which head coach
Marc Habscheid’s contract wasn’t renewed.
Let’s just say that since then things haven’t been awfully pretty in these
parts. And last season, which ended with 18 losses in 19 games, was U-G-L-Y.
We’re talking Cruella de Vil ugly.
But that was then and this is now.
Since last season ended, the hockey side of the organization, which was torn
asunder by new ownership during the season, has been rebuilt, restructured,
re-everythinged.
Craig Bonner, a former Blazers defenceman, captain and assistant coach, is
the general manager, a first-timer to that position but coming off a
successful run as assistant GM/assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants.
Bonner has a five-year contract.
Barry Smith, who spent the last five years as an assistant coach with the
NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, under head coaches Marc Crawford and Alain
Vigneault, is the head coach. Smith has a three-year contract.
Scott Ferguson and Geoff Smith, both of them former Blazers/NHL defencemen,
are first-time WHL assistant coaches. Ferguson has a three-year contract,
Smith a one-year deal. They join a team that surrendered 253 goals last
season, the fourth-poorest defensive record in the 22-team WHL. Only the Red
Deer Rebels (255), Prince George Cougars (304) and Portland Winter Hawks
(318) were worse.
At first glance, then, it would seem that a foundation has been put in place
upon which success can be built. However, recent history suggests it’s too
early to slap on anything resembling the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
Bonner and his coaching firm of Smith, Smith and Ferguson are going to have
to exercise a great deal of patience if they are to get this ship righted
and headed in the right direction. This is a team that was 40-25-4-1 late in
2006-07 and appeared poised for a playoff run when Ray Macias, the WHL’s
best offensive defenceman, went down with a broken wrist.
Since that moment, the Blazers are 27-50-2-2 in regular-season and playoff
games. That is a less-than-medicore.358 winning percentage.
It’s no wonder, then, that Barry Smith looked like he was part of that old
Skin Bracer by Mennen ad campaign — Thanks, I Needed That! — following a 4-2
exhibition victory over visiting Vancouver on Aug. 30. It was the
organization’s second victory in 21 games.
Of course, it wasn’t so much Smith who needed a victory, it was the players,
who understandably need every ounce of confidence they can find.
As this season gets started, the Blazers are hardly a favourite for a
championship. They aren’t even a favourite to make the Western Conference
playoffs, the consensus being that one of the Chilliwack Bruins, Prince
George Cougars or the Blazers won’t make it.
The Blazers, at the moment, would appear to be OK in goal.
Their inexperienced defence needs more out of fourth-year man Nick Ross than
what it got in the latter half of last season and a whole lot more than what
he showed in training camp. But, to be fair, Ross, 19, is a first-round NHL
draft pick with a three-year contract who went through training camp here
thinking that by the time he gets to Phoenix he’ll be ready to make the
Coyotes.
When he returns, the Blazers can only hope his head is in the right place.
Up front, the Blazers, a team that ranked 16th in offence (197 goals) last
season, had players on their training camp roster who totaled 121 WHL goals
in 2007-08. It is no secret that this franchise’s future is two or three
years down the road, riding on the sticks of players like Jimmy Bubnick,
Brendan Ranford and Colin Smith.
It is going to take patience, then, to survive this season and move this
organization forward.
Failing that, perhaps Bonner, Smith, Smith and Ferguson might think about
recruiting David Copperfield when he is in town for an Oct. 29 show. Maybe
the world-renowned illusionist would be able to do what so many others have
been unable to — make the Curses of Habby and Brownie disappear.

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca