Blazers double up on Cougars

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Brady Calla was on his way to Buffalo to attend the Monday night NFL game
when he found out he would be returning to Kamloops.
His touch down here Wednesday afternoon was just in time for the WHL’s
Kamloops Blazers.
With Calla drawing assists on his club’s first two goals, the Blazers erased
a 2-0 first-period deficit with four second-period goals as they dumped the
Prince George Cougars 4-2 last night to end a four-game WHL skid.
Calla, a 20-year-old right winger from Kelowna, was acquired last season
from the Moose Jaw Warriors. A third-round selection by the Florida Panthers
in the NHL’s 2006 draft, he began this season with the AHL’s Rochester
Americans.
“When I got the call . . . it wasn’t great news,” Calla said. “But at the
same time I have to deal with it. It’s part of being a professional . . .
I’m back here now and I have to get better.”
If last night was any indication, Calla is dealing with it just fine.
“I think he was excited about coming here and the guys were excited about
having him back,” Kamloops head coach Barry Smith said. “It allowed us to go
with four lines again. That’s what we want to get back to. That’s where we
want to be as a team. That’s where we had our success.
“Once we get everybody healthy we’re going to have a good four-line lineup
and that’s where you beat teams — you wear them out and you don’t have to
worry about matchups as muich.”
The Blazers surrendered two early first-period power-play goals — to Parker
Stanfield and Justin Maylan — before using their own power play to seize
momentum.
The Cougars took two late first-period penalties and the Blazers, while they
didn’t score, buzzed around goaltender Kevin Armstrong.
“Sometimes people look at power plays,” Smith said, “and you can have five
of them but if you don’t get any momentum off them . . . we got momentum off
them. You don’t necessarily have to score, you have to swing momentum and we
did.”
Defenceman Nick Ross got the Blazers started, scoring from the high slot, at
4:58 of the second.
Moments later, Ross put the hook on left-winger Dana Tyrell, who had split
the defence while killing a penalty, and the Cougars’ captain was awarded a
penalty shot. On the attempt, goaltender Justin Leclerc stayed with a
slow-moving Tyrell, who ran out of room and put the puck wide left.
“That was huge,” Smith said.
“That would have made it 3-1,” Kamloops right-winger Tyler Shattock said,
adding that the stop came at a key time.
Just over two minutes later, Kamloops freshman Cole Grbavac corralled a
loose puck near the crease and backhanded it high behind Armstrong for his
first goal of the season.
The Blazers now were in control and it only was a matter of time until they
put a bow on it.
Defenceman Jordan Rowley got the game-winner, one-timing a shot through
forward Brian Matte and under Armstrong on the third of five straight power
plays.
The Blazers would end up with just one goal to show for six PP
opportunities but, on this night, the unit did its job.
Shattock, who had a strong game, closed out the scoring, beating Armstrong
after the Blazers had won a series of battles for the puck deep in enemy
territory.
“We got up in the second by two goals and being a young team kind of came
into play.” Calla said. “We made a couple of mistakes in the end and talked
about that in the second intermission. We went out and had a better third
and got the win.”
And Calla was on the ice when it ended.
“I hadn’t skated since Sunday,” he said. “I was pretty gassed.”
He actually had flown from Rochester to Toronto on Tuesday.
“Of course,” he said, “there had to be something wrong with our plane so we
didn’t get into Vancouver until 2:40 in the morning.”
He spent the night there and flew into Kamloops yesterday afternoon.
As for the football game . . .
“It was crazy,” Calla said. “It was about 70,000 people partying at once. It
was unbelieveable . . . the time of my life.”
JUST NOTES: Referees Steve Papp and Pat Smith gave the Cougars eight of 15
minors in what was a tame affair. . . . The Cougars were 2-for-5 on the PP.
. . . Leclerc finished with 21 saves, five fewer than Armstrong.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca