Blazers box

THE SCORE
Kamloops 5, Portland 4

WHAT HAPPENED
The Blazers got ahead 5-2 and then went flat, unable to play with the
emotion they had showed 48 hours earlier in beating the Calgary Hitmen. In
the end, the clock ran out on Portland.

THE STANDINGS
The Blazers (32-30-2-4) are fifth in the Western Conference, three points
ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds (31-31-1-4), who lost 5-4 to the visiting
Tri-City Americans.

THE SEASON SERIES
The Blazers finished 3-1-0-0 against the Winter Hawks, outscoring them 23-18
in the process.

THE LEGENDS
In a 22-minute pregame ceremony, former winger Zac Boyer, Andy Clovechok,
who is Mr. Hockey in these parts, and former scout/GM Stu MacGregor were
honoured as Blazer Legends.

THE GOAL
As part of the induction ceremony, Boyer’s 1992 Memorial Cup-winning goal
was shown on the scoreclock and then recreated on the ice with Kelly Moore
calling the play. (We’ll forget the fact that Boyer missed the lead pass
from the Scott Niedermayer lookalike and had to retrieve the puck before
beating the Kevin Hodson impersonator who was in goal.)

THE RESPECT
In a classy move, Portland GM/head coach Mike Johnston had his team sit at
its bench and take in the entire Legends ceremony.

THE 15-YEAR-OLDS
The Blazers had C Colin Smith, the seventh overall pick in the 2008 bantam
draft, in their lineup. The Winter Hawks have added RW Ty Rattie, the second
overall pick. Smith, the highest-scoring 15-year-old in the Alberta midget
AAA league, had 55 points with the Edmonton CAC Canadians. Rattie had 54
points with the Strathmore UFA Bisons.

THE SCHEDULE
The Blazers have four games remaining in the regular schedule, two each with
the Vancouver Giants and Kelowna Rockets. Kamloops will open the playoffs on
the road, likely on March 21 and 22. The Blazers will play their first two
home playoff games on March 24 and 25.

THE CAMERAS
The WHL will be using video review in all playoff games. Cameras and replay
machines will be installed in the ISC early this week and will be used in
one or both of the Blazers’ last two regular-season games.

THE DAILY NEWS THREE STARS

1. RW Tyler Shattock, Kamloops. Two goals.

2. LW Shayne Wiebe, Kamloops. Grittiest of his guys.

3. C Chris Francis, Portland. Three points.

NEXT UP
The Blazers face the Giants in Vancouver on Sunday night, with the teams
then scheduled to play here Wednesday. Game time is 7 o’clock.