Winterhawks ruin Mucha's return

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Kurtis Mucha will be a long time forgetting Wednesday night.
The only thing that would have made it more memorable was a victory. But that didn’t happen.
Mucha, who played in 213 WHL regular-season games over four-plus seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, returned to Oregon’s Rose City yesterday, stopping 35 shots, 15 of them in the third period, as his Kamloops Blazers dropped a 5-2 decision before 1,807 fans at Memorial Coliseum.
The Blazers acquired Mucha from Portland on Nov. 22, giving up a 2010 fourth-round bantam draft pick in exchange.
There were a number of fans wearing Mucha jerseys and t-shirts in the crowd, and some brought signs. One read: “Got Mucha? Wish we did!”
“It was pretty special,” Mucha said. “I was here for a while, it feels like I left a mark here, even though we never won much. It was special to see even though I’m not here anymore.”
Mucha, a 20-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., went the distance, setting a WHL career record for minutes played. He has played 12,775 minutes, one more than Kyle Moir (Swift Current Broncos, 2002-07).
Mucha has played in 228 games, five shy of Moir’s WHL record, and also is second in career saves, his 6,448 stops trailing only the 6,958 made by Danny Lorenz (Seattle Thunderbirds, 1986-90).
“I was kind of playing it by ear tonight, just one minute at a time just because I was so nervous,” Mucha told Portland freelance writer Scott Sepich. “It was weird doing everything the opposite of what I used to do here.”
He said he settled down after the first period.
“I was pretty nervous before that . . . emotions running high,” he said. “After that I settled down a little bit and started playing better.”
The Blazers lost this one when a Portland broke a 2-2 tie when a centring pass by right-winger Luke Walker bounced past Mucha at 12:03 of the third period.
“Luke Walker was just trying to throw one out in front and it hit Ty Rattie and went in,” Mucha said. “I was in the middle sliding, and it just got past me. It was an unlucky break, but they threw a ton of shots at me in the third period.”
Portland held a 20-5 edge in shots in the third period and got insurance at 17:52 when centre Stefan Schneider, who is from Vernon, scored. Centre Taylor Peters later added an empty-net goal.
Peters, a recent addition from the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, had a goal and two assists as he picked up his first WHL points this season.
Kamloops led this one 2-1 early in the second period on goals from centre Chase Schaber, at 17:53 of the first period, and defenceman Josh Caron at 3:53 of the second. The goal was Caron’s first in 59 career games.
However, in between those goals, the Blazers spent two minutes with a 5-on-3 advantage and weren’t able to score.
The Blazers are back in Portland on Feb. 3 and Mucha said “next time will be easier.”
“There were a lot of distractions today, with the media and just bumping into people before the game,” he said. “Next time I’ll come back and be able to relax and do my rituals and everything.”
JUST NOTES: At one point, the Blazers held a 19-12 edge in shots. They were outshot 28-8 after that. . . . Kamloops F Rhyse Dieno picked up his first WHL point with an assist on Caron’s goal. . . . The Blazers scratched D Austin Madaisky, who was at the Top Prospects Game in Windsor, and F JC Lipon. . . . The Winterhawks were without F Ryan Johansen, F Nino Niederreiter, F Brad Ross and D Troy Rutkowski, all of whom were at the Top Prospects Game, and D Luca Sbisa (abdominal). . . . The Winterhawks have scored 179 goals in 48 games. Last season, they scored 176 goals in total. . . . The Blazers go home-and-home with the Chilliwack Bruins this weekend. They play here Friday, 7 p.m., and in Chilliwack on Saturday.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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