Almond drives Blazers nuts

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
So that’s what it’s like to set your picnic blanket on a hill that belongs
to red ants.
Goaltender Justin Leclerc of the Kamloops Blazers must have had that feeling
Tuesday night as the red-bedecked Kelowna Rockets came at him in waves . . .
in waves . . . in waves.
In the end, time ran out on Leclerc and the Blazers as Kelowna Rockets
centre Cody Almond found himself in the right place — not once, but twice —
and pulled his club’s butt out of the campfire with two key goals that
provided the visitors with a 3-2 overtime victory before 4,677 fans at
Interior Savings Centre.
The Rockets, who now have beaten the Blazers 12 straight times this WHL
season, lead the best-of-seven first-round series, 3-0. Kelowna gets its
first opportunity to end Kamloops’ season tonight at The ATM. Game time is 7
o’clock.
The Rockets outshot the Blazers 39-18 in this one — it was 33-11 through
three periods — and likely had that many attempts blocked or deflected into
the mesh. This was hockey rope-a-dope at its best, except that the Blazers
fell 2.9 seconds short of a knockout.
That’s how much time was left in the third period when Almond, who is the
hardest-working of the Rockets just about every night, got the puck over the
Kamloops goal line during a frantic scramble.
The relief the heavily favoured Rockets felt at having tied the game could
be felt throughout the building.
The Blazers were mere seconds from winning this one when Kelowna defenceman
Tyler Myers made a determined rush, lugging the puck from his zone into the
Kamloops zone. Kelowna winger Lucas Bloodoff, who played like a junkyard
dog, dug it out. Linemate Ian Duval centred it to Almond and, just like
that, it was 2-2.
“That’s what Myers does. He’s got great speed . . . he’s great at breaking
the puck out,” said Almond, a 33-goal man in the regular season. “And give
credit to Lucas Bloodoff. He backchecked, stole the puck from a guy, fired
it down low, Duval poked it to me in the slot and I had an empty net.”
The Blazers, who had more shots (7) in overtime than they had in the first
two periods combined (6), had their chances in overtime, the best coming
seven minutes in when forward Jake Trask cut across in front of goaltender
Mark Guggenberger but wasn’t able to beat him.
And then, at 12:41, Kelowna winger Mikael Backlund slipped a pass back
against the flow from behind the Kamloops net and Almond again was Johnny on
the spot.
“It was a great pass by Backlund,” Almond said. “I was yelling at him. He
came around the boards and put it through his legs to me and I just banked
it off the goalie and in . . . kind of caught people out of position.”
And just like that the team that had trailed 2-0 with six minutes left to
play in the third period had a stranglehold on the series.
It was through no fault of Leclerc, the 19-year-old who is finishing up his
second season with the Blazers.
“He played a a great game,” Almond said of Leclerc, who has yet to record
his first shutout with the Blazers. “You have to give him credit. He’s an
outstanding goaltender but it just wasn’t quite enough tonight.”
Centre Seth Compton gave Kamloops a 1-0 lead at 9:30 of the first period,
beating Guggenberger to finish a 2-on-1 break with winger Kenton Dulle.
Defenceman Giffen Nyren upped the lead to 2-0 at 11:16 of the third period
and some fans likely were making plans for Game 5 in Kelowna on Friday
night.
But Kelowna sniper Jamie Benn, a 46-goal man in the regular season, got his
guys on the board, beating Leclerc from the slot at 14:05.
Cue the comeback.
“We were prepared to play,” Kamloops head coach Barry Smith said. “I don’t
think we’re ever not prepared to play. It’s not like guys are saying, ‘Let’s
not come out and play.’ We came out and we played.”
The Blazers started OK but then ran into penalties — they took five in a row
in the last 11 minutes of the first period. The Rockets didn’t score — in
fact, they had trouble mustering shots — but they did get some momentum.
“We had to kill a lot of penalties but we did a great job of that,” Smith
said. “We battled hard and did what we had to do.”
On this night, they just needed to do it for three more seconds.
JUST NOTES: The Daily News three stars were: 1. Leclerc; 2. Almond; 3.
Myers. . . . Referees Trevor Hanson and Graham Skilliter put their whistles
away late, but still managed to dole out 13 power plays, eight to Kelowna. .
. . The Rockets, who were 0-for-8, now are 2-for-25 in the series. The
Blazers were 1-for-5 and are 2-for-15. . . . NHL scouts representing the
Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks,
Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers and Phoenix Coyotes were in the house
last night. . . . The Blazers are asking fans to bring nonperishable food
items or cash donations to tonight’s game to benefit the Kamloops Food Bank.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.comBy GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
So that’s what it’s like to set your picnic blanket on a hill that belongs
to red ants.
Goaltender Justin Leclerc of the Kamloops Blazers must have had that feeling
Tuesday night as the red-bedecked Kelowna Rockets came at him in waves . . .
in waves . . . in waves.
In the end, time ran out on Leclerc and the Blazers as Kelowna Rockets
centre Cody Almond found himself in the right place — not once, but twice —
and pulled his club’s butt out of the campfire with two key goals that
provided the visitors with a 3-2 overtime victory before 4,677 fans at
Interior Savings Centre.
The Rockets, who now have beaten the Blazers 12 straight times this WHL
season, lead the best-of-seven first-round series, 3-0. Kelowna gets its
first opportunity to end Kamloops’ season tonight at The ATM. Game time is 7
o’clock.
The Rockets outshot the Blazers 39-18 in this one — it was 33-11 through
three periods — and likely had that many attempts blocked or deflected into
the mesh. This was hockey rope-a-dope at its best, except that the Blazers
fell 2.9 seconds short of a knockout.
That’s how much time was left in the third period when Almond, who is the
hardest-working of the Rockets just about every night, got the puck over the
Kamloops goal line during a frantic scramble.
The relief the heavily favoured Rockets felt at having tied the game could
be felt throughout the building.
The Blazers were mere seconds from winning this one when Kelowna defenceman
Tyler Myers made a determined rush, lugging the puck from his zone into the
Kamloops zone. Kelowna winger Lucas Bloodoff, who played like a junkyard
dog, dug it out. Linemate Ian Duval centred it to Almond and, just like
that, it was 2-2.
“That’s what Myers does. He’s got great speed . . . he’s great at breaking
the puck out,” said Almond, a 33-goal man in the regular season. “And give
credit to Lucas Bloodoff. He backchecked, stole the puck from a guy, fired
it down low, Duval poked it to me in the slot and I had an empty net.”
The Blazers, who had more shots (7) in overtime than they had in the first
two periods combined (6), had their chances in overtime, the best coming
seven minutes in when forward Jake Trask cut across in front of goaltender
Mark Guggenberger but wasn’t able to beat him.
And then, at 12:41, Kelowna winger Mikael Backlund slipped a pass back
against the flow from behind the Kamloops net and Almond again was Johnny on
the spot.
“It was a great pass by Backlund,” Almond said. “I was yelling at him. He
came around the boards and put it through his legs to me and I just banked
it off the goalie and in . . . kind of caught people out of position.”
And just like that the team that had trailed 2-0 with six minutes left to
play in the third period had a stranglehold on the series.
It was through no fault of Leclerc, the 19-year-old who is finishing up his
second season with the Blazers.
“He played a a great game,” Almond said of Leclerc, who has yet to record
his first shutout with the Blazers. “You have to give him credit. He’s an
outstanding goaltender but it just wasn’t quite enough tonight.”
Centre Seth Compton gave Kamloops a 1-0 lead at 9:30 of the first period,
beating Guggenberger to finish a 2-on-1 break with winger Kenton Dulle.
Defenceman Giffen Nyren upped the lead to 2-0 at 11:16 of the third period
and some fans likely were making plans for Game 5 in Kelowna on Friday
night.
But Kelowna sniper Jamie Benn, a 46-goal man in the regular season, got his
guys on the board, beating Leclerc from the slot at 14:05.
Cue the comeback.
“We were prepared to play,” Kamloops head coach Barry Smith said. “I don’t
think we’re ever not prepared to play. It’s not like guys are saying, ‘Let’s
not come out and play.’ We came out and we played.”
The Blazers started OK but then ran into penalties — they took five in a row
in the last 11 minutes of the first period. The Rockets didn’t score — in
fact, they had trouble mustering shots — but they did get some momentum.
“We had to kill a lot of penalties but we did a great job of that,” Smith
said. “We battled hard and did what we had to do.”
On this night, they just needed to do it for three more seconds.
JUST NOTES: The Daily News three stars were: 1. Leclerc; 2. Almond; 3.
Myers. . . . Referees Trevor Hanson and Graham Skilliter put their whistles
away late, but still managed to dole out 13 power plays, eight to Kelowna. .
. . The Rockets, who were 0-for-8, now are 2-for-25 in the series. The
Blazers were 1-for-5 and are 2-for-15. . . . NHL scouts representing the
Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks,
Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers and Phoenix Coyotes were in the house
last night. . . . The Blazers are asking fans to bring nonperishable food
items or cash donations to tonight’s game to benefit the Kamloops Food Bank.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com