Blazers go out swinging

The tale of the timer
The Kamloops Blazers held the lead for 32.3 per cent of the four games of their playoff series with the Vancouver Giants. The teams were tied for 56.7 per cent of the time, with the Giants leading 11.0 per cent of the time. And yet the Giants won the series, 4-0. Go figure!
Here’s a look how many minutes each team held a lead in each game:
Tied Blazers lead Giants lead
Game 1 9:17 50:44 0:32
Game 2 37:18 2:10 20:32
Game 3 49:48 12:40 0:00
Game 4 41:29 12:56 5:35
TOTALS 137:52 78:30 26:39


By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
In the end, the Kamloops Blazers could only tip their caps to the Vancouver Giants.
“What I gained from it is how good a team Vancouver is,” Blazers head coach Guy Charron said Wednesday night after the Giants had scored a 5-4 victory to sweep the Blazers from the first-round best-of-seven WHL playoff series in four games before 4,140 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
It was the 10th time in the past 11 seasons that the Blazers have been first-round casualties; they didn’t make the playoffs in 2005-06.
Since appearing in the WHL’s championship final in 1999, Kamloops has won just five of 45 playoff games and, in fact, has lost 19 games in a row since beating the visiting Kootenay Ice 3-2 on March 29, 2005.
Against Vancouver, the Blazers actually played with the lead far more than did the Giants — 78 minutes 30 seconds to 26:39 — but lost all four games, two of them in overtime.
“The players battled very hard,” Charron continued, “and we gave ourselves a chance to win. We battled through some adversity . . . we had a few opportunities and would have liked to have a two-goal lead against this team. A one-goal lead wasn’t enough. They always found a way to come back.”
One night earlier, the Blazers had led on four different occasions, only to lose 5-4 in overtime.
“You have to give Vancouver credit,” offered Kamloops defenceman Ryan Funk, the team captain who was acquired from Vancouver on Nov. 23. “We knew what they were going to do. We knew they are a different team in playoffs, that they work that much harder.
“But I think we can keep our heads up. I thought we were there. We were the second-youngest team in the league and we were right there, toe-to-toe, with them.
“That’s the disappointing part. We took them to two overtimes and tonight we were only one goal away. That’s the tough part.”
Last night, Kamloops held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3. The Blazers led for 12:56, while Vancouver was out front for only 5:35.
The Blazers, however, couldn’t find a match for the Giants’ pair of Craig Cunningham and Brendan Gallagher.
The 5-foot-8 Gallagher, after whom they surely fashioned the Energizer Bunny, scored two goals, giving him four in the series. He broke a 4-4 tie at 15:41 of the third period, splitting the defence just inside the Kamloops zone as James Wright hit him with a pass that sent him in alone to beat goaltender Jon Groenheyde.
Gallagher also drew an assist on Cunningham’s fifth goal of the series, the one that tied this game 4-4. And the goal was typical of the Giants’ grit and effort. Cunningham was allowed to come out of a corner in the Kamloops zone, so he drove to the net, fell in the crease and somehow go the puck behind Groenheyde.
After video review, the goal — which came 1:22 after Colin Smith had given the home side a 4-3 lead with his second goal of the game — was allowed to stand.
Cunningham and Gallagher each finished the four games with 10 points.
“It’s a credit to them,” Charron said. “They’ve earned my respect as players, I’ll tell you that. Anybody who works as hard as they do and as often as they were used . . . they never cheated on their effort. They did what needed to be done. I give them a lot of credit.”
Milan Kytnar and James Henry also scored for the visitors, who now await a second-round opponent.
Along with Smith’s two goals, the Blazers got singles from Jake Trask and Austin Madaisky. Smith, 16, only got better as this series advanced, while Madaisky, who turned 18 on Jan. 30, was the Blazers’ best player over the four games.
“It’s a good learning curve for these young guys,” Funk said, “and there are a lot of good, young leaders in here. This was an opportunity for them to witness what the playoffs are and how much harder you have to work in playoffs.”
Charron went so far as to say that he and his Blazers couldn’t go far wrong by trying to imitate Vancouver.
“You look up to teams that are good and for us to win in this league we have to use some images and they’re certainly one,” Charron said. “They’re a championship team from the past and have a lot of experience and a lot of hard work.
“They proved what hard work does. For us, it’s a little bit of a blueprint.”
JUST NOTES: Kamloops F C.J. Stretch and G Kurtis Mucha, like Funk, completed their 20-year-old seasons and their eligibility. Stretch, who played in more regular-season games than any player in Blazers history, finished his career without winning a game in 16 playoff outings. . . . Senior officials Pat Smith and Chris Savage were last night’s referees. It was only the second time this season that Savage has worked a game involving the Blazers. He also was here on March 5 as the Blazers beat the Giants 6-1. . . . Groenheyde, making his first start since March 2, stopped 26 shots, while Vancouver’s Mark Segal, who went the distance in all four games, turned aside 25. . . . The Blazers were 3-for-3 on the power play; the Giants went 1-for-2.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com