Charron bites his tongue after shootout loss

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Given the opportunity, Guy Charron wouldn’t bite. In fact, the only thing he
bit was his tongue.
The head coach of the Kamloops Blazers obviously was disenchanted with the
circumstances that led to his WHL team dropping a 2-1 shootout decision to
the Vancouver Giants before 4,815 witnesses at Interior Savings Centre on
Friday night.
But while his body language, including the clenched jaw, spoke volumes,
Charron chose to bite his tongue and, in the process, keep the WHL office
out of his wallet.
“It’s a well-fought game,” Charron said. “You kind of question the amount of
time we cycled the puck and they never got penalties. Late in the game like
that, in a one-goal game . . . was it a questionable call?
“I’m not going to argue about whether it was a good call or a bad call . . .
with the amount of time we spent in their end and the amount of time they
spent in our end . . . and we get a penalty called against us late in the
game . . . I don’t know.
“I can’t comment on that. It is what it is.”
The Blazers had dominated the Giants by cycling the puck deep in the
Vancouver zone for most of the game’s first 50 minutes. And referees Trevor
Hansen and Steve Papp had chosen for the most part to stay out of the fray.
Then, with the Giants trailing 1-0 but coming on late in the third period,
Blazers defenceman Bronson Maschmeyer was called for holding on forward
James Wright with the play deep in Kamloops territory.
The Blazers were seven seconds from killing the penalty when Vancouver
forward Tomas Vincour, at 17:40, one-timed a 40-footer past goaltender
Kurtis Mucha.
“We were so close to killing it off,” Charron said. “It was one shot and it
hit inside the post and went in. It could easily have hit the post and gone
out. That’s the way it goes.”
The Giants won it with the only goal of the shootout when centre Craig
Cunningham, who leads the WHL points derby, beat Mucha with a deke to the
backhand.
“I don’t look at that as a loss,” Charron said. “The shootout . . . it’s a
crapshoot. I thought we played great for 65 minutes. They have nothing to be
ashamed of in that room. They played their hearts out.”
Don Hay, the Giants’ head coach, said he “didn’t think we played very well” in ending a three-game winning streak.
“I thought Kamloops played very, very hard to get the lead,” said Hay, whose team went 5-5-0-0 on a 10-game road swing. “We took advantage of our opportunities.
“We started to gain momentum in the last 10 minutes of the third and then we took advantage of that power play and that gave us a lot of life. I thought
we played well after that.”
The Blazers, who had won five straight at home, including an 8-1 thumping of
the Spokane Chiefs on Tuesday, started this one off by delivering a physical
message. Less than three minutes in, forward Jordan DePape won a fistic
decision over Connor Redmond. Seven minutes later, defenceman Josh Caron
pounded out a victory over former teammate Brett Lyon.
The Blazers, seemingly fueled by the display of aggression, caught fire and
physically dominated Vancouver.
“I think we might have caught them a little off-guard at the start,” offered
defenceman Ryan Funk, the Kamloops captain. “A lot of credit to those guys —
DePape and Caron — for stepping up and letting them know early that they
weren’t going to come into our rink and push us around.
“We played well. There’s not really much you can say negatively.”
The Blazers got their goal at 6:11 of the second period when, with the teams
playing four-on-four, centre C.J. Stretch, from near the goal line on the
left side, looked off Vancouver goaltender Mark Segal and then beat him from
a bad angle.
And for the longest time it looked like Stretch’s 21st goal would stand up
as the Blazers, with Mucha again in control, played extremely well.
“We might have outworked them at times,” said Funk, in something of an
understatement. “Unfortunately, they got a call late in the third period
that definitely helped them out.”
The Blazers could have helped themselves by taking advantage of some of the
chances with which they were presented. Centre Dalibor Bortnak, who was
excellent, shot over an open net, while Segal stoned Maschmeyer, who also
was looking at a gaping net.
“We had golden opportunities,” Charron said. “Empty nets . . . Bortnak,
Maschmeyer . . . we had so many guys who had empty nets. If we could have
sealed those, maybe (Vancouver) wouldn’t have been in the game at all.”
The next big test for the Blazers comes tonight as they play the high-flying
Silvertips in Everett. The Silvertips have won 13 straight games after a 4-3
victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks last night.
“At home we’ve pretty well done what we want to do,” said Charron. “Our
biggest challenge is to be able to play that brand of hockey on the road.
“Now we have to go on the road for three big games against strong teams.
Hopefully, we can generate some of that work ethic there.”
After tonight, the Blazers, with a two-point lead over the seventh-place
Chilliwack Bruins in the Western Conference, meet the Winterhawks in
Portland on Wednesday and the Chiefs in Spokane on Friday.
Kamloops returns home to face the Lethbridge Hurricanes one week from
tonight.
———
The Giants welcomed back centre James Wright, who was returned last week by the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
“We used him all over. We had him at defence, right wing, left wing,
centre,” Hay said.
In overtime, Wright found himself playing defence.
“He grew up with us.” Hay said. “He knows all about our traditions and our history and our identity. He’s going to fit in really well for us. As he plays more he’s going to contribute more.
“He was penciled in as the first-line centre before he made Tampa. So eventually I’m sure he’ll end up there.”
———
JUST NOTES: This was the fourth time in six games that these two teams
needed extra time to settle things. The Blazers are 1-2-1-2 in the series;
the Giants are 5-0-0-1. . . . The Giants were 1-for-3 on the PP, while the
Blazers were 0-for-4. . . . Mucha finished with 31 saves, while Segal turned
aside 32. . . . “I thought our goalie was the best player on the ice,” Hay said. “He gave us the opportunity to get at least one point and we got two points.” . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Mucha — in a zone; 2. Segal —
gave his club a chance; 3. Bortnak — big body is effective. . . . The
Giants, who are out of the Pacific Coliseum because of the Olympic Winter
Games, will play their next five games in the Langley Events Centre.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com