Blazers box

THE SCORE
Kamloops 4, Chilliwack 3 (SO)

WHAT HAPPENED
After a shaky start, the Blazers got stellar goaltending from Justin Leclerc
and were able to erase a 3-1 deficit against a team whose offence dried up
after 20 minutes.

THE STANDINGS
The Blazers (19-21-1-4) remain tied for fifth place in the Western
Conference with the Everett Silvertips (19-16-5-0), who scored a 3-2
shootout victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars. Everett does have
five games in hand on Kamloops.

THE NEW GUYS
C Seth Compton, 20, and D Curtis Kulchar, 18, were in the Blazers’ lineup.
Compton was acquired Wednesday from the Spokane Chiefs, while Kulchar came
over from the Vancouver Giants. Gone were D Nick Ross, F Alex Rodgers and F
Brady Calla. . . . Compton won the faceoff that led to the Blazers’ third
goal.

THE DEBUT
F Ryan Hanes, a Kamloops native who was a fifth-round pick by the Blazers in
the 2007 bantam draft, made his WHL debut. Hanes, 16, began the season with
the junior B Kamloops Storm, but underwent ankle surgery and hasn’t played
for them since Nov. 29. He had 20 points and 83 penalty minutes in 19 games
with the Storm.

THE OSCAR
Swedish C Oscar Moller, who played the last two seasons with Chilliwack,
returned to the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings from the World Junior Championship
with a broken clavicle. That rules out any chance of Moller, 19, being
returned to the Bruins. At one time it was thought that the Kings would
re-assign Moller to the Bruins with the understanding that he would then be
traded to a contender.

THE SIGNING
D Tyler Hansen, a 6-foot-3, 185-pounder from the midget AAA team in
Lethbridge, has signed with the Blazers, who selected him in the third round
of the 2008 bantam draft. He has 13 poitns and eight penalty minutes in 23
games with Lethbridge.

THE EXECUTIVE
Shane Zulyniak, the former Blazers assistant coach who has been working for
the team as its director of sales and corporate sponsorships, has resigned.
Zulyniak, whose contract with the Blazers would have expired after this
season, begins work for a local financial firm on Feb. 1.

THE DAILY NEWS THREE STARS

1. G Justin Leclerc, Kamloops. Big saves late made up for shaky first
period.

2. G Mark Friesen, Chilliwack. Gave his side a chance.

3. D Jesse Craige, Chillwack. Was in the middle of everything.

NEXT UP
The Blazers and Bruins meet tonight in Chilliwack. The Blazers are at home
to the Tri-City Americans on Friday night.