Torbohm enjoying role with Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
A year ago, Kurt Torbohm had trouble getting into the Kamloops Blazers’
lineup.
Today, the WHL team employs him as one of its shut-down defencemen and one
of the key defenders on its penalty-killing unit.
“I’m getting an opportunity,” Torbohm, an 18-year-old sophomore, said after
practice at Interior Savings Centre on Thursday. “That’s a role I thought I
could have played last season, maybe not as well . . . but there were a lot
of other guys on the team and I just had to wait my turn, I guess. Now that
I’m in there, it feels good.”
Last season, Torbohm got into just 35 games as he more frequently than not
suffered the ignominy of being a healthy scratch.
“You kind of expect that going in,” he said, “but it wasn’t easy sitting out
that many games. It’s good that it’s behind me now.”
This season, you are far more likely to find Torbohm playing against the
opposing team’s top forward unit than renewing acquaintances in the press
box. And he is loving every minute of it.
“I love it,” he said. “I love nothing more than shutting those kinds of guys
down. It’s good to be leaned on a little bit.”
Tonight, Torbohm and his partner, Nick Ross, will have their hands full with
the defending Eastern Conference-champion Lethbridge Hurricanes, who come to
town fresh off a 7-2 thrashing of the Bruins in Chilliwack on Wednesday.
Colton Sceviour had a goal and three assists in that one, while Zach
Boychuk, a recent returnee from the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, had two of
each. Game time at Interior Savings Centre is 7 p.m. (See the Scouting
Report on A12.)
Torbohm goes into the game with his confidence level as high as it ever has
been.
“I’m just getting more opportunities this season to show what I can do,” the
6-foot-3, 200-pound Torbohm said. “Confidence is a huge thing and I had a
really good offseason . . . coming in this season and expecting to play and
then getting the opportunity to play, things got rolling for me.”
And now that things are rolling, the coaching staff has confidence in him.
“He’s buying into what we’re doing,” head coach Barry Smith said after a
recent game. “He’s a good solid guy with a good stick and he’ll battle and
he’s a competitor. When you compete you can do a lot of things and he
competes hard.
“When he competes he becomes a real valuable player to us back there to play
against top players.”
It helps, too, that Scott Ferguson and Geoff Smith, the Blazers’ two
first-year assistant coaches, both have NHL experience.
“It’s really helping, especially having two of them,” Torbohm said. “When
those guys speak you really listen because they are proven players and they
have played in the NHL so you know what they are talking about is going to
help you.”
At the end of the day, though, Torbohm knows his role. He also knows that
he’s going to play every game and you can’t put a value on the peace of mind
that provides.
“I don’t think I knew once last season if I was playing before 4 (p.m.) on
game days,” he said. “It’s a lot easier this way . . . being prepared. I
still prepare the same but it’s a lot easier to prepare knowing I’m playing
and knowing what my role is going to be and what I need to do out there.”
When you don’t know if you’re going to be playing, he said, “a lot of mental
energy gets expended. It’s definitely easier knowing I’m going to be in the
lineup.”
It’s easier on his folks, Jane and Harry, too. They live in Chase and are
able to get in for most of the Blazers’ games.
“It’s awesome,” Torbohm said of playing in such close proximity to home. “My
parents are here just about every single game. My uncles love it. They come
here a lot. It’s great having that kind of support. It’s fun, a lot of fun.”
And, no, he doesn’t feel the heat of being under the watchful eyes of
friends and family.
“There’s no pressure at all,” he said, before adding, with a laugh: “They’re
easy on me.”
Of course, Torbohm isn’t under any pressure to help out on offence. He
finished last season with one assist in 35 games, a total he equaled in his
15th game this time around.
“I think I’ve got more in the bank,” he said with a chuckle and a flash of
that 1,000-watt smile. “I got this one early and we’ve still got 50-odd
games left for me to get a couple more and maybe a goal or two. We’ll see
how it goes.”
Never mind that he can’t remember when he scored his last goal.
“Not counting rec hockey? Sometime in junior B when I was 16,” he said. “I
know my role on this team and if they come that’s fine, but I’m just trying
to keep the puck out of our net.”
JUST NOTES: Blazers general manager Craig Bonner has been on the road. He
took in the host Everett Silvertips’ 7-6 shootout victory over the Tri-City
Americans on Tuesday and then watched the Vancouver Giants edge the visiting
Americans 4-3 on Wednesday. . . . No Blazers were selected to the WHL team
that will play a touring Russian side in the ADT Challenge games in Swift
Current and Prince Albert on Nov. 26 and 27. A WHL roster is in Scoreboard.
. . . The NHL’s New York Rangers have returned D Tysen Dowzak, 20, to the
Kelowna Rockets. Dowzak, who is heading into his fourth season with the
Rockets, signed with the Rangers during training camp. He played one game
with the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack and four with the ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers
before heading for Kelowna. He is expected to play Saturday against visiting
Lethbridge.

gdrinnan@telus.net
gdrinnan.blogspot.com