Bubnick knows he has lots yet to prove

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Jimmy Bubnick is able to surf over to whl.ca and see his name on top of the
heap.
Yes, the Kamloops Blazers’ sophomore right winger has scored more goals than
any other player in the WHL.
However, Bubnick, a 17-year-old from Saskatoon who was the fifth overall
pick in the 2006 bantam draft, is fully aware that the new season is only in
its infancy.
And, sheesh, he doesn’t even have bragging rights in his own family.
“Not yet,” Bubnick said after Thursday’s practice at Memorial Arena. “I
haven’t proved much yet as far as that goes. I still have a lot of games to
play.”
His oldest brother, Michael, totaled 55 goals in 321 games split between
the Calgary Hitmen and Saskatoon Blades. Another brother, Jon, finished his
WHL career with 82 goals in 322 games. He started with the Blazers and also
played for the Regina Pats and Portland Winter Hawks.
Jimmy, who scored nine goals last season, has seven to date, with the
Blazers heading into a weekend during which they will play three home games,
starting with a visit tonight by the Prince George Cougars. Game time at
Interior Savings Centre is 7 o’clock.
“Obviously, it feels good,” Bubnick said of being No. 1 in goals scored.
“The goals are going in right now and that’s great. But I have to bring a
hard-working effort every game.”
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Bubnick no longer is a wide-eyed rookie and his play
is starting to show it. He is using his size on offence, to protect the
puck, and on defence, to go and get it.
“It goes with confidence,” Bubnick said. “You can hold on to the puck
longer, protect the puck longer, make the right play in the corner.”
Blazers head coach Barry Smith, who spent the previous six years on the
coaching staff of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, likes what he is seeing.
“He has started to play a north-south game,” Smith explained. “The way he is
going to be a good player and get to the next level is to play a north-south
power game.
“He has some skill around the net; he has some hands. But he is not
dipsy-doodle finesse. He can make those moves once in a while but he has to
put his shoulder down and drive to the net, come off the wall in the cycle,
come off the goal line on the cycle. That’s what he’s been doing.”
Bubnick’s linemates, Slovakian centre Dalibor Bortnak and Edmontonian
left-winger Brendan Ranford, are doing fine, too.
“We’re getting deep and working the other team down low,” Bubnick said.
“That’s where our focus is — work their D down low and get chances from
there.
“We’re playing a simple game, getting pucks deep, winning battles . . .”
Bortnak, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound centre, has five points in eight games, while
Ranford’s numbers — three points in eight games — don’t tell the story. The
5-foot-9, 160-pound buzzsaw perhaps has been the team’s most-consistent
forward.
Bubnick actually played against Bortnak in a game on Aug. 14 at the Ivan
Hlinka Memorial tournament. Canada beat Slovakia 9-1 in Piestany, Slovakia.
“He had a really good game against us,” said Bubnick, who had introduced
himself to Bortnak earlier in a hotel. “Obviously, they were heavily
over-matched against us but I thought he stood out and played really well.”
This also is the only unit that Smith has left alone as the season has begun
to evolve.
“I like the chemistry,” the coach said. “Bortnak will get them the puck.
Those other two guys are willing to go to the hard areas and do the work. .
. . So far they’ve been good and they’ve kept production up.”
As for Ranford, who was the 15th pick in the 2007 bantam draft, the
16-year-old has brought his A game every night.
Smith said he told general manager Craig Bonner a while back that “we’ll be
a good team if we can get (Ranford) in our top six or seven guys . . .
“After watching us play, I said he is not going to be inconsistent because he
goes to the hard areas, he drives the net, he’ll play in traffic. If he’s a
perimeter guy . . . when those guys start to struggle, then they’’re way out
on the outside.
“He has learned those things and he does them and he consistently does
them, so every night he’s going to be involved.”
———
The Blazers will open tonight with Justin Leclerc in goal. It will be the
veteran’s seventh start in nine games and comes after he wasn’t especially
sharp in Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Hitmen in Calgary.
“I’m going back to him,” Smith said. “But it’s a short leash, is basically
what I told him. He’s more or less our No. 1 guy but it’s up to him. He has
to pick it up and show us.
“He knows it. I don’t have to say it a million times. We’ve talked about it
all week. And I think he will . . . he will.”
JUST NOTES: The Blazers will have three healthy scratches tonight — D
Brandon Underwood, D Mark Schneider and F Uriah Machuga. Smith won’t decide
on Saturday’s scratches until he sees how things unfold tonight. . . . The
Chilliwack Bruins visit Saturday (7 p.m.), with the Prince Albert Raiders
here Monday (2 p.m.).