Blazers' post-game meal

For regular readers, this replaces what was called the Post-Game Box and had been a feature of The Daily News' Blazers coverage. Doing it this way allows me to pack in a lot more info . . . gregg

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor 
The Kamloops Blazers opened the home portion of their WHL regular-season on Saturday night with a 4-2 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. The Blazers now are 23-5-2, with the two being ties — remember them? — in home-openers. . . . The Bruins, who are into their fourth season, were 3-0-0-0 in home-openers before losing 4-3 to the Blazers on Friday. . . . The Blazers are 2-0 to open a season for the first time since 2002-03 when they began with four straight victories. . . . The Blazers hadn’t opened on the road since 2001-02 when they beat the Giants 5-2 in Vancouver. That was the first regular-season game in the Giants’ history. . . . The Blazers have opened at home against the Bruins on one other occasion (2007-08), with Chilliwack winning, 2-1.
 Saturday’s attendance was 4,583, the smallest crowd to attend any of the 17 openers held at Interior Savings Centre. . . . Chilliwack GM/head coach Marc Habscheid took in some of the pregame warmup from the bench area; Kamloops head coach Barry Smith doesn’t watch warmups. . . . Kamloops assistant coach Geoff Smith watched the first period from upstairs but was back behind the bench for the second.
The Bruins return Oct. 10, while the Blazers next visit Chilliwack on Nov. 21. The teams will meet eight times this season. . . . Kamloops D Giffen Nyren played in his 200th regular-season game Friday. Of those, 70 were with the Blazers, the other 130 with the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Kamloops F Mark Hall, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, played in his 100th regular-season game Friday.
Kamloops C C.J. Stretch has played in 275 regular-season games, all with the Blazers. D Aaron Gionet (1998-2003) holds the franchise record of 324. . . . Habscheid and assistant coaches Bob Rouse and Dave Archibald were teammates with the Minnesota North Stars (1987-89). . . . Chilliwack D Zach Habscheid, a 17-year-old freshman, is the son of the Bruins’ GM/head coach. Father made son a healthy scratch Saturday. . . . While the Blazers play eight of their first 11 games at home, the Bruins open with 10 of 15 on the road. . . . The Blazers go home-and-home with the Kelowna Rockets this weekend, playing here Friday and in the Little Apple on Saturday.
 One of the NHL scouts in the building was Ted Hampson, who now is working for the Vancouver Canucks. Hampson, 73, played for the Canucks in 1958-59 when they were in the Western league. How tough was he? At 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, he played 676 games in the NHL and another 305 in the WHA. . . . Former Blazers captain Jared Aulin, who was attempting a comeback after shoulder problems took him out of the game, was released Sunday by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.
GEM OF THE NIGHT: From Tim O’Donovan’s Blazers’ game notes – “Did you know . . . that the Blazers have not had the same head coach for two consecutive full seasons since Dean Evason was the head coach for three seasons from 1999 to 2002.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com