Blazers liking Hansen's pitch

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Tyler Hansen has been kind of like the last gift left unopened under the Christmas tree . . . you know, the one from your favourite aunt.
You aren’t sure what’s in there. You know it will be something good; you just aren’t sure how good. And, in the end, it turns out that you saved the best for last.
There can be little doubt that Hansen, 16, has been the biggest surprise of the Kamloops Blazers’ young WHL season.
In fact, Hansen’s performance has pretty much forced the Blazers to keep eight defencemen and, furthermore, has led to an intense competition for playing time.
In each of their first two games, the Blazers dressed six defencemen, including Hansen, which means two veterans were scratched. The Blazers won both games and likely will be sitting two veterans again Friday when the Kelowna Rockets visit Interior Savings Centre.
“It’s hard sometimes because it’s hard to get guys into the lineup but, at the same time, it gives us some competition among the back end,” assistant coach Scott Ferguson said Wednesday of carrying eight defencemen. “And we want to do that with the forwards as well, where we’re pushing each other for ice time. Last season, sometimes guys got to play because they had to. We want to get the guys pushing each other for ice time.
“When they had success here back in the day, guys pushed each other for that ice time. You knew if you had a so-so game, that there was someone champing at the bit ready to step in and try to take that spot from you. That’s where we’re trying to get to this season and so far it’s been working.
“It’s healthy. These guys have to realize that when they push each other they make themselves better and they make the team better and as a result everybody succeeds.”
It’s working among the defencemen because Hansen, a second-round selection in the 2008 bantam draft, has been everything the Blazers had hoped for and then some.
“I knew they had a lot of returning defencemen but I also knew they had a spot open for me,” said Hansen, who is from Magrath, Alta., which is 32 kilometres south of Lethbridge. “So I just came with the mindset that I was going to play as hard as I could and work to that one open spot. So far it’s worked out pretty good in my favour and hopefully it keeps going.”
Hansen got off to a slow start in training camp, something Ferguson, a former NHL and Blazers defenceman, attributes to baseball.
“He started camp slow but I think that was partly because he was playing baseball most of the summer, while a lot of guys were on the ice all summer,” Ferguson explained.
A pitcher, Hansen is quite proficient at baseball, something Ferguson said translates to hockey.
“He’s a very composed young player,” Ferguson said. “He’s a guy who is an all-star in baseball in Lethbridge. He’s played in big games; I believe he was on a provincial champion. As a pitcher he has been in pressure situations.
“He’s very composed. He’s good with the puck, sees the ice very well. Obviously, he’s got some growing pains because he’s only 16, but he’s a good all-around athlete and it shows on the ice.”
To date, Hansen’s composure has been such that the coaching staff has been using him in all situations.
“They’ve been giving me power-play time,” he said, “which has been good and, hopefully, they can keep showing confidence in me because I feel like I can develop if I get the chance.”
It is ice time, Ferguson said, that Hansen has earned.
“He’s soaking it up but he’s contributing right away, too. It’s nice to seen in a guy that young,” the coach explained. “He does make mistakes but then he’ll turn around and make a really good play that is beyond his years. That’s an attribute to his being good in baseball and being good in other sports and playing in pressure situations that he’s able to apply to hockey.
“He’s got that quick mind to be able to read plays.”
Just don’t start thinking that the transition from midget AAA — he played in Lethbridge last season — has been that easy.
“It’s a lot different,” the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder said. “Everything is a lot faster. You have to have your head up and know where the play is before you even make it.”
It also is important, he said, to “make sure you are always checking over your shoulder and you know where the guys around you are. If you’re not aware, they’ll definitely finish you in the corners.”
JUST NOTES: Former Blazers captain Jared Aulin is continuing his comeback attempt with the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Aulin, who is attempting a comeback after being away from the pro game since early in 2006-07, was released by the Blue Jackets on Sunday. As an unsigned player, he is free to go elsewhere; instead, he reported to the Crunch. . . . C Scott Wasden, who captained the Blazers last season, scored three times and added an assist Sunday to lead the host UBC Thunderbirds to a 7-2 victory over the NAIT Ooks in an exhibition game.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com