Stretch saving best for last

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
C.J. Stretch is finishing up his fifth and final season with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
And he is about to begin a week to remember.
Barring the unexpected, Stretch will set the Blazers’ franchise record for career games played when he steps on the ice against the host Spokane Chiefs on Feb. 5.
Stretch will play in his 322nd regular-season game tonight against the Vancouver Giants. Game time at Interior Savings Centre is 7 p.m. That will put him within two games of the franchise record held by Aaron Gionet, a hard-nosed defenceman from Qualicum Beach who walked softly and carried a big stick during five seasons (1998-2003) with the Blazers.
“It means quite a bit to me,” said Stretch, a 20-year-old from Irvine, Calif., who has never met Gionet. “I’m just so thankful and happy that I’ve been able to stay with Kamloops for five years and that I’ve been healthy for that long.”
Stretch, 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, has been remarkably durable. In two of his seasons, he played in all 72 regular-season games. In his first season, there was a handful of healthy scratches; in his third season, he missed four games with a concussion. This season, he drew a four-game suspension for an unpenalized hit on then-Swift Current Broncos defenceman Eric Doyle.
There was a time this season, too, when Stretch wondered whether he would finish his WHL career here. Yes, he heard the rumours as the Jan. 10 trade deadline approached.
“I was a bit (nervous) . . . just a little bit nervous,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to go anywhere but you never know . . . it’s out of your hands.”
Still, the last thing he wanted was to leave here.
“I wanted to stay in Kamloops for my last little bit and finish off the year because I have been here for so long,” he said, before pausing and adding: “And I do call Kamloops home now, so . . .”
But having been here since August 2005, he has watched people come and people go, so he wouldn’t have been at all surprised had he been traded.
“Especially with our track record in my five years,” he said. “We’ve lost coaches, assistant coaches, general managers, owners, captains getting traded . . .”
But through it all Stretch has persevered.
Stretch, who may have the softest hands in the WHL, had his first career five-point game Tuesday.
He scored once and set up four others in an 8-1 rout of visiting Spokane. That gave him 225 career points, leaving him 25th on the Blazers’ all-time list. He is one point shy of Scottie Upshall and five in arrears of Mark Recchi, who just happens to be one of the franchise’s owners.
The Blazers selected Stretch with the 71st overall selection in the 2004 bantam draft. That spring, he had played in KIBIHT with the Jack Bowkus-coached California Wave, so knew something about Kamloops. And an older brother just happened to be pals with then-Blazers defenceman Ray Macias.
“My mom called me during school,” Stretch said, as he recalled draft day. “I was in eighth grade. I was in band class and I was playing the saxophone and I had to leave the class. I was pretty happy.”
Macias, it seems, had been singing the praises of Kamloops and the Blazers to Stretch and his teammates.
“I always wanted to come and play in this league after hearing what Ray would tell me, and after hearing how good this league was,” Stretch said. “That’s why I wanted to come here instead of college.”
Tonight will mark Stretch‘s last home appearance before the Blazers head into the U.S. Division for three games. Kamloops, which has won a season-high five straight at home, will face the Silvertips in Everett on Saturday, the Winterhawks in Portland on Wednesday and the Chiefs two nights later.
The Blazers will return home to face the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Feb. 6.
Since going pointless in four straight games in mid-November, Stretch has 35 points, including 21 assists, in 26 games. On the season, he now has 58 points, including 20 goals, and is tied for 14th in the WHL scoring race. He is two points from breaking into the top 10.
As for next season, well, Stretch isn’t yet prepared to go there. He wants to finish this regular season on a roll and then would love nothing better than to win a playoff game or two. After all, he has played in 12 playoff games and the Blazers have lost them all.
“I’m trying to finish this season . . . and then focus on playoffs and then pretty much figure it out after that,” he said.
He did get a taste of the NHL game in September when he attended the San Jose Sharks’ rookie camp.
“That went well,” he said. “It was a huge experience, especially a California team. I didn’t make it to the main camp but the rookie camp was a huge experience. I learned a lot. It was really fun.”
JUST NOTES: Prior to Tuesday, the last time the Blazers scored eight goals in a game? On Jan. 7, 2009, they beat the visiting Winterhawks, 8-6. . . . The last time the Blazers won a game by seven goals? On Feb. 2, 2008, they beat the Cougars 8-1 in Prince George. . . . The last time a Kamloops player had a five-point night? Tyler Shattock had two goals and three assists in a 7-1 victory over the visiting Cougars on Dec. 28, 2008.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com