Kamloops vs. Vancouver: Who has THE EDGE?

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Vancouver Giants are one of only two teams in WHL history to win five straight division titles.
The other?
The Kamloops Blazers.
The Giants made it five straight B.C. Division titles this season, when they went 41-25-3-3. Kamloops won five consecutive West Division titles, starting in 1983-84, the franchise’s last season as the Junior Oilers.
And now the two franchises are to clash in a best-of-seven first-round playoff series that opens with games tonight and Saturday in Vancouver. Games 3 and 4 will be played at Interior Savings Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
At first glance, it would appear that the Giants dominated the season series with the Blazers. And, in a way, they did.
Vancouver finished 6-1-0-1, meaning it won seven of the eight games. It also held a wide edge in shots on goal — 344-247 — and on special teams.
But the Blazers held a 33-31 edge in goals scored.
However, such numbers are badly skewed because four of the games went into overtime or to a shootout. With the WHL handing out loser points like candy at Christmas, the Blazers actually went 2-2-1-3 against the Giants, meaning Kamloops, despite losing six of eight games, pocketed eight points from the series.
In looking at the Blazers, though, perhaps only the last three games of that series should be taken into consideration.
Those games followed the Jan. 10 trade deadline at which time Kamloops general manager Craig Bonner completed his refurbishing of the roster, moving out more veterans and replacing them with younger players of promise.
Prior to Jan. 10, the Giants were 4-1-0-0 — the Blazers were 1-2-1-1 — and held a 22-16 edge in goals.
In the three games after the deadline, the Blazers gave the Giants everything they could handle and then some, losing 2-1 in a shootout, winning 6-1 and losing 6-5 in a shootout.
Still, the Giants have a veteran-laden club, while the Blazers are perhaps the youngest of the 16 teams in the playoffs.
Will that make a difference over the next few days, or will the innocence of youth carry the Blazers to the organization’s first series victory since the spring of 1999?
Here’s a look at both teams going into tonight’s opening game:
THE GOALTENDERS
Vancouver: The Giants are expected to open with Mark Segal, who started four times against the Blazers but twice needed relief help. His save percentage against Kamloops is .872. Segal, 18, is backed up by Derek Tendler, who turned 18 on Jan. 1. . . . It has been said that goaltending is the Giants’ weakest area. It isn’t weak so much as it is inexperienced — Segal and Tendler both began the season in the junior A ranks.
Kamloops: The Blazers are hoping that Kurtis Mucha, a November acquisition from the Portland Winterhawks, will shoulder the load. The 20-year-old has provided tremendous leadership and was, in fact, named co-MVP despite having been here for less than four months. He has a .928 save percentage in four complete games against the Giants. . . . Mucha is backed up by sophomore Jon Groenheyde.
THE EDGE: Kamloops.
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THE DEFENCEMEN
Vancouver: Kevin Connauton, a third-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2009 NHL draft, left Western Michigan to join the Giants. He finished with 72 points, including 24 goals, in 69 games. He has a deadly shot from the point, witness 16 PP goals. He had 13 points in eight games against the Blazers. He also was minus-7. . . . Connauton, 19, and freshman David Musil, 16, will play against the Blazers’ top line, including C C.J. Stretch and LW Brendan Ranford, when possible. Musil had 32 points in 71 games and was a team-high plus-33. . . . Both have played far more hockey to this stage than at any other point in their career and they will be targeted by forecheckers. . . . Neil Manning scored 16 times, with 13 of them coming on the PP.
Kamloops: Motivation won’t be a problem. Linden Saip, Bronson Maschmeyer and Ryan Funk, the captain, are former Giants. . . . Maschmeyer played in all 72 games and his offensive production slowed late, but he has improved defensively. . . . Austin Madaisky, acquired from the Calgary Hitmen on Jan. 10, and the much-improved Josh Caron will play against Vancouver ace Craig Cunningham when possible.
THE EDGE: Vancouver, but not by as much as you might think.
———
THE FORWARDS
Vancouver: Lance Bouma, the Giants’ captain who is a full-contact player, has missed 14 games with a knee injury (torn MCL). His status for tonight isn't known. . . . Vancouver F Tomas Vincour, a sniper, didn’t play Saturday or Sunday. He was wearing a yellow no-contact jersey at practice on Thursday. The Blazers think he may be concussed or have a shoulder injury after taking a hard hit from F Lucas Bloodoff of the Kelowna Rockets on Friday. . . . Cunningham had a tremendous regular season, with 97 points, 48 of them on the PP. He had 12 points against Kamloops. . . . There are eight skaters with at least 40 points, and six of them scored at least 20 goals. . . . F James Wright had 19 points in 21 games after returning from the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kamloops: The Blazers had five players record 40 or more points and two of them — Tyler Shattock and Jimmy Bubnick — now are with the Calgary Hitmen. Stretch led the Blazers in goals (30), assists (51) and points (81), and he knows he is going to be abused in this series. Will he be able to contain his frustrations and stay out of the penalty box? . . . Ranford has been perhaps the most consistent skater since Christmas and, with 29 goals, is one of only two 20-goal men on the roster. . . . The Blazers are going to need scoring from the likes of Colin Smith, Dalibor Bortnak and the notoriously streaky Jake Trask.
THE EDGE: Vancouver.
———
SPECIAL TEAMS
Vancouver: The Giants scored at least one PP goal in each of the eight games between the teams — they went 15-45, which is an amazing 33 per cent. . . . The Giants scored 28 goals in regulation or OT against Kamloops and 15 of them came via the PP. . . . On the season, the Giants’ PP is ranked third in the WHL, at 26.4 per cent, and their PK was second, at 84.7. . . . They scored 94 PPG and allowed 58, making them plus-36 on special teams.
Kamloops: The Blazers scored two PP goals in each of three games and were blanked in five. They finished 6-for-36 (16.7 per cent). . . . On the season, the PP was ranked seventh, at 23.2 per cent, but the PK was 20th, at 75.3. . . . They scored 82 PPG, but gave up 96, meaning they were minus-14.
THE EDGE: Vancouver, and it’s huge.
———
THE COACHING
Vancouver: Don Hay, perhaps the most respected active coach in the major junior game today, runs the Giants. They finished atop the B.C. Division, but the competition was weak and there were signs of unrest in the Vancouver camp — G Jamie Tucker asked for a trade, the acquisition of veteran F Cass Mappin didn’t work out and he quickly was shuffled off to Regina. The assistants are former Tri-City Americans F Yogi Svejkovsky and former Giants D Chad Scharff.
Kamloops: Guy Charron, with an impressive professional resume, is the Blazers’ head coach. His first four months have been just as impressive as he guides one of the WHL’s youngest teams. The assistants are former Blazers defencemen Scott Ferguson and Geoff Smith.
THE EDGE: Even.
———
THE INTANGIBLES
The Giants have a 344-247 edge in shots — including 25-6 in five OT periods — and that’s huge, even allowing for what most WHL observers acknowledge is erratic shot-keeping at Vancouver home games. . . . If you are into computers, the Massey Ratings — which take into account, among other things, offence, defence, strength of schedule and estimated home-ice advantage — have the Giants ranked 11th of 22 teams. The Blazers are 17th, ahead of only five non-playoff teams. . . . Hay works the referees as well as anyone who has coached in the WHL since Dave King and Terry Simpson. Charron has added that to his repertoire and is especially active in the third periods. . . . These are the WHL’s second and third most-penalized teams — the Blazers at 1,548 minutes, the Giants at 1,533. . . . Vancouver scored 267 goals, the fifth-highest total in the WHL, and surrendered 211, which ranked sixth. . . . The Blazers scored 237, which ranked them 12th, and gave up 284 — only two teams allowed more.
———
THE CALL
It’s Vancouver, in five games. The Blazers are headed in the right direction; in fact, they may even take this to six. But the disparity in experience and on special teams simply is too great. One year from now, the Blazers will be favoured. Two years from now, they should contend.
gdrinnan@telus.net
gdrinnan.blogspot.comBy GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Vancouver Giants are one of only two teams in WHL history to win five straight division titles.
The other?
The Kamloops Blazers.
The Giants made it five straight B.C. Division titles this season, when they went 41-25-3-3. Kamloops won five consecutive West Division titles, starting in 1983-84, the franchise’s last season as the Junior Oilers.
And now the two franchises are to clash in a best-of-seven first-round playoff series that opens with games tonight and Saturday in Vancouver. Games 3 and 4 will be played at Interior Savings Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
At first glance, it would appear that the Giants dominated the season series with the Blazers. And, in a way, they did.
Vancouver finished 6-1-0-1, meaning it won seven of the eight games. It also held a wide edge in shots on goal — 344-247 — and on special teams.
But the Blazers held a 33-31 edge in goals scored.
However, such numbers are badly skewed because four of the games went into overtime or to a shootout. With the WHL handing out loser points like candy at Christmas, the Blazers actually went 2-2-1-3 against the Giants, meaning Kamloops, despite losing six of eight games, pocketed eight points from the series.
In looking at the Blazers, though, perhaps only the last three games of that series should be taken into consideration.
Those games followed the Jan. 10 trade deadline at which time Kamloops general manager Craig Bonner completed his refurbishing of the roster, moving out more veterans and replacing them with younger players of promise.
Prior to Jan. 10, the Giants were 4-1-0-0 — the Blazers were 1-2-1-1 — and held a 22-16 edge in goals.
In the three games after the deadline, the Blazers gave the Giants everything they could handle and then some, losing 2-1 in a shootout, winning 6-1 and losing 6-5 in a shootout.
Still, the Giants have a veteran-laden club, while the Blazers are perhaps the youngest of the 16 teams in the playoffs.
Will that make a difference over the next few days, or will the innocence of youth carry the Blazers to the organization’s first series victory since the spring of 1999?
Here’s a look at both teams going into tonight’s opening ame:
THE GOALTENDERS
Vancouver: The Giants are expected to open with Mark Segal, who started four times against the Blazers but twice needed relief help. His save percentage against Kamloops is .872. Segal, 18, is backed up by Derek Tendler, who turned 18 on Jan. 1. . . . It has been said that goaltending is the Giants’ weakest area. It isn’t weak so much as it is inexperienced — Segal and Tendler both began the season in the junior A ranks.
Kamloops: The Blazers are hoping that Kurtis Mucha, a November acquisition from the Portland Winterhawks, will shoulder the load. The 20-year-old has provided tremendous leadership and was, in fact, named co-MVP despite having been here for less than four months. He has a .928 save percentage in four complete games against the Giants. . . . Mucha is backed up by sophomore Jon Groenheyde.
THE EDGE: Kamloops.
———
THE DEFENCEMEN
Vancouver: Kevin Connauton, a third-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2009 NHL draft, left Western Michigan to join the Giants. He finished with 72 points, including 24 goals, in 69 games. He has a deadly shot from the point, witness 16 PP goals. He had 13 points in eight games against the Blazers. He also was minus-7. . . . Connauton, 19, and freshman David Musil, 16, will play against the Blazers’ top line, including C C.J. Stretch and LW Brendan Ranford, when possible. Musil had 32 points in 71 games and was a team-high plus-33. . . . Both have played far more hockey to this stage than at any other point in their career and they will be targeted by forecheckers. . . . Neil Manning scored 16 times, with 13 of them coming on the PP.
Kamloops: Motivation won’t be a problem. Linden Saip, Bronson Maschmeyer and Ryan Funk, the captain, are former Giants. . . . Maschmeyer played in all 72 games and his offensive production slowed late, but he has improved defensively. . . . Austin Madaisky, acquired from the Calgary Hitmen on Jan. 10, and the much-improved Josh Caron will play against Vancouver ace Craig Cunningham when possible.
THE EDGE: Vancouver, but not by as much as you might think.
———
THE FORWARDS
Vancouver: Lance Bouma, the Giants’ captain who is a full-contact player, has missed 14 games with a knee injury (torn MCL). He isn’t expected to play tonight or Saturday. . . . Vancouver F Tomas Vincour, a sniper, didn’t play Saturday or Sunday and has missed some practice time, too. The Giants have said he was “ill.” The Blazers think he may be concussed. . . . Cunningham had a tremendous regular season, with 97 points, 48 of them on the PP. He had 12 points against Kamloops. . . . There are eight skaters with at least 40 points, and six of them scored at least 20 goals. . . . F James Wright had 19 points in 21 games after returning from the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kamloops: The Blazers had five players record 40 or more points and two of them — Tyler Shattock and Jimmy Bubnick — now are with the Calgary Hitmen. Stretch led the Blazers in goals (30), assists (51) and points (81), and he knows he is going to be abused in this series. Will he be able to contain his frustrations and stay out of the penalty box? . . . Ranford has been perhaps the most consistent skater since Christmas and, with 29 goals, is one of only two 20-goal men on the roster. . . . The Blazers are going to need scoring from the likes of Colin Smith, Dalibor Bortnak and the notoriously streaky Jake Trask.
THE EDGE: Vancouver.
———
SPECIAL TEAMS
Vancouver: The Giants scored at least one PP goal in each of the eight games between the teams — they went 15-45, which is an amazing 33 per cent. . . . The Giants scored 28 goals in regulation or OT against Kamloops and 15 of them came via the PP. . . . On the season, the Giants’ PP is ranked third in the WHL, at 26.4 per cent, and their PK was second, at 84.7. . . . They scored 94 PPG and allowed 58, making them plus-36 on special teams.
Kamloops: The Blazers scored two PP goals in each of three games and were blanked in five. They finished 6-for-36 (16.7 per cent). . . . On the season, the PP was ranked seventh, at 23.2 per cent, but the PK was 20th, at 75.3. . . . They scored 82 PPG, but gave up 96, meaning they were minus-14.
THE EDGE: Vancouver, and it’s huge.
———
THE COACHING
Vancouver: Don Hay, perhaps the most respected active coach in the major junior game today, runs the Giants. They finished atop the B.C. Division, but the competition was weak and there were signs of unrest in the Vancouver camp — G Jamie Tucker asked for a trade, the acquisition of veteran F Cass Mappin didn’t work out and he quickly was shuffled off to Regina. The assistants are former Tri-City Americans F Yogi Svejkovsky and former Giants D Chad Scharff.
Kamloops: Guy Charron, with an impressive professional resume, is the Blazers’ head coach. His first four months have been just as impressive as he guides one of the WHL’s youngest teams. The assistants are former Blazers defencemen Scott Ferguson and Geoff Smith.
THE EDGE: Even.
———
THE INTANGIBLES
The Giants have a 344-247 edge in shots — including 25-6 in five OT periods — and that’s huge, even allowing for what most WHL observers acknowledge is erratic shot-keeping at Vancouver home games. . . . If you are into computers, the Massey Ratings — which take into account, among other things, offence, defence, strength of schedule and estimated home-ice advantage — have the Giants ranked 11th of 22 teams. The Blazers are 17th, ahead of only five non-playoff teams. . . . Hay works the referees as well as anyone who has coached in the WHL since Dave King and Terry Simpson. Charron has added that to his repertoire and is especially active in the third periods. . . . These are the WHL’s second and third most-penalized teams — the Blazers at 1,548 minutes, the Giants at 1,533. . . . Vancouver scored 267 goals, the fifth-highest total in the WHL, and surrendered 211, which ranked sixth. . . . The Blazers scored 237, which ranked them 12th, and gave up 284 — only two teams allowed more.
———
THE CALL
It’s Vancouver, in five games. The Blazers are headed in the right direction; in fact, they may even take this to six. But the disparity in experience and on special teams simply is too great. One year from now, the Blazers will be favoured. Two years from now, they should contend.

gdrinnan@telus.net
gdrinnan.blogspot.com