Blazers outscore Winter Hawks

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Jon Groenheyde didn’t look anything like a winning goaltender when he
stomped out of the Kamloops Blazers’ dressing room Wednesday night.
“I take full responsibility for lots of the stuff that happened tonight,”
Groenheyde said. “I felt like I didn’t do my job as well as I could have.”
Groenheyde, 17, stopped 18 shots as the Blazers outscored the Portland
Winter Hawks 8-6 in front of 4,229 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
This one was wild from the dropping of the first puck, with the Blazers
firing five shots at Portland goaltender Kurtis Mucha before it was 90
seconds old.
Kamloops escaped from the first period with a 3-2 lead but the forecast
called for a lot more offence and, this time, it was correct.
“We did some real good things,” Kamloops head coach Barry Smith said. “All
(Portland) did is . . . they went to the net and played hard there and we
decided we didn’t want to be hard in front of our own net anymore.”
On more than one occasion, the Blazers (18-21-1-4) seemed on the verge of
blowing out the Winter Hawks (12-26-1-0), who are last in the Western
Conference but had won their last three games.
The Blazers took a 5-2 lead into the third period and stretched it to 6-2,
only to be outscored 4-2 the rest of the way.
“I’m used to a lot of shots,” said Groenheyde, whose recent accomplishments
include road victories over the Vancouver Giants and Tri-City Americans, the
conference’s top two teams. “I’ve played some of the top teams in the league
now and I’ve been getting used to that, which is good.
“Portland came out and played a hard game and we did, too, but I felt like
the last 10 minutes could have been a bit better.”
Groenheyde has spent much of the season watching from the bench as veteran
Justin Leclerc started 33 of the first 41 games. However, Groenheyde now has
started three in a row and four of five.
“It’s all part of the job,” said Groenheyde, who now is 4-6-0-1. “I took on
that role at the beginning of the season. It comes with the job.”
What makes the Kamloops goaltending situation that much more intriguing is
that the apparent shift in thinking by the Blazers’ coaching staff has come
with Saturday afternoon’s trade deadline approaching.
Might the Blazers make an attempt to move Leclerc, 19, and install
Groenheyde, the 17-year-old freshman, as the starter?
Of course, no one is talking about that, least of all Smith.
“For me,” Smith said, “it’s a good situation. Jonny is playing real well
right now. If I have to go back to Justin or if I go back to Jonny, I’m
comfortable with either one. That’s a great situation for us right now. It’s
a win-win situation for us right now.”
Smith said he hadn’t decided who will start Friday when the Blazers play
host to the Chilliwack Bruins.
Giffen Nyren, Jimmy Bubnick, Tyler Shattock, Shayne Wiebe, Brendan Ranford,
Alex Rodgers, Zak Stebner and Brady Calla scored for the Blazers. For Calla,
it was his final goal with the Blazers; he was traded to the Spokane Chiefs
immediately after the game.
Luke Walker, with two, Travis Ehrhardt, Colin Reddin, Stefan Schneider and
Sawyer Mick, the younger brother of former Blazers head coach Troy Mick,
replied for Portland.
Mucha finished with 28 saves.
JUST NOTES: Referee Steve Papp worked this one solo when Brett Iverson
wasn’t able to get here from Vancouver due to closed highways. . . . Papp
gave the Blazers five of eight minors and one of two majors. . . . The
Blazers were 2-for-3 on the power play; the Winter Hawks were 1-for-5. . . .
Walker is the son of Gord Walker, who played for the Winter Hawks and
Blazers.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com