Shattock leads exodus as five Blazers head to NHL camps

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers’ roster will shrink by five names this week without the WHL team making even one roster move.
Five veterans, led by team captain Tyler Shattock, are heading to NHL training camps, although all are expected back in Kamloops, perhaps in time for the regular-season opener on Sept. 18.
None of the five dressed Wednesday night as the Blazers (1-1-0-1) dropped a 6-3 decision to the Chilliwack Bruins (3-0-0-0) in an exhibition game played in Hope. The teams meet again Friday, 7 p.m., at Interior Savings Centre.
Shattock, a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in the NHL’s 2009 draft, leaves Friday for Traverse City, Mich., where he will play in what has become an annual rookie tournament.
Joining him in Traverse City will be RW Jimmy Bubnick, a sixth-round pick by the Atlanta Thrashers in June; D Giffen Nyren, 20, who accepted a free-agent tryout with the Minnesota Wild; and D Zac Stebner, 19, who will be with the Dallas Stars’ team on a tryout basis.
The Traverse City tournament, which runs Sunday through Sept. 10, features prospects from the Blues, Wild, Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets in one division, with the Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers in the other division.
Meanwhile, C C.J. Stretch, 20, will go to camp as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks, who will play three games against visiting Anaheim Ducks prospects next week. (Stretch is listed on the Sharks’ roster as Charles Stretch.)
The Sharks took Shattock to camp a year ago after he wasn’t taken in the 2008 NHL draft, something he is thankful for these days.
“Last year with San Jose really helped me,” the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Shattock said. “I know what I’m getting into and what I have to do.
“I have to go in there and show them basically what I can do and what I did well last season. I have to compete . . . I can’t lose any battles. I’m a big strong guy and they don’t want a big, strong guy who won’t compete in the corners. I have to go there and show them my compete level is up there.”
Shattock, who had 69 points in 68 games last season, admits that being this close to the NHL is “a bit surreal.”
“You dream of it when you’re a kid,” he said. “You’re playing road hockey and dreaming about playing in the NHL. And here I am being drafted and going to camp.
“All of that is great but there’s still a long way to go.”
Brendan Ranford, Dylan Willick and Jake Trask had the Blazers’ goals last night, all of them coming on first-period power plays as the teams played to a 3-3 draw.
Justin Leclerc started in goal for the Blazers and left midway through the second period with the Bruins leading 4-3. Jon Groenheyde gave up two goals in playing the second half.
There were three fights, with Kamloops defenceman Brandon Underwood dancing with rookie Tim Traber, Ranford going with defenceman Carter Berg, and Kamloops defenceman Josh Caron scrapping with Isak Quakenbush, who is in the Bruins’ camp after playing two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers have reassigned 16-year-old defencemen Jordan Beveridge and Kiefer McNaughton. Beveridge, a second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, will play for the major midget Vancouver-Northwest Chiefs, while McNaughton, a fourth-round pick in 2008, is to join the junior B Squamish Wolf Pack of the Pacific International league. . . . The Blazers’ roster now is at 30, including two goaltenders and 10 defencemen. That also includes injured F Dalibor Bortnak (spleen) and F Colin Smith (broken arm), along with the five players leaving for pro camps. . . . D Darryl Sydor, one of the Blazers’ five owners, was back skating with the club earlier this week. Sydor, who finished last season with the NHL’s Dallas Stars, is a free agent.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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