What's ahead for Blazers?

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The results aren’t yet in evidence on the scoreboard, but Craig Bonner, the general manager of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, is feeling comfortable with his team.
“I think we’re finally at a point now where the rebuilding, and bringing in the people we think we can be successful with, is done,” Bonner said Monday, five days after his club’s season came to an end. “The final piece of the puzzle was finding a high-end coach, which we believe we have.”
That would be Guy Charron, who replaced the fired Barry Smith on Nov. 23 and signed a contract running through 2011-12 earlier this month.
“I’m comfortable with our group,” Bonner continued. “I know you can’t win in this league by making trades all the time.
“Is there going to be some tweaking? Yeah. Is a lot going to happen over the summer? I doubt it.
“But we do have room for some 20-year-old guys and if the right guy comes available, then we’ll definitely have to look at it. But I don’t plan on a whole bunch of player movement.”
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With Kurtis Mucha, 20, having graduated, Bonner is working to improve his goaltending, which now starts with Jon Groenheyde, who will return for a third season.
Josh Thorimbert, a third-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, has yet to commit, either to the Blazers or to the college route. Thorimbert is the SJHL’s rookie of the year and has helped the Kindersley Klippers into a conference final against the Yorkton Terriers. They will play Game 7 of that series tonight in Eston, Sask.
“If Thorimbert commits to our program, him coming in at 18 with a full year of junior A under his belt — he played a lot of games— immediately you’re going to get a guy who is going to push Jon right away,” Bonner said. “Jon has shown flashes, but it was made very clear to him at the end of the season that he will have to prove himself.
“He has to come in in great shape and show us that he’s ready to be that guy. He’s going to be given that opportunity. Like we said to him at the end of the season, he has a great opportunity but he has to earn it.”
The Blazers also hold the WHL rights to goaltenders John Keeney, a 1993-born Californian who is with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers; Troy Trombley (1994), who is from Sherwood Park, Alta., and has signed a WHL contract; and, Taran Kozun (1994), a recent addition to the protected list. Kozun is from Nipawin, Sask.
The 6-foot-5 Trombley put up a 2.21 GAA and .914 save percentage as his midget AAA Sherwood Park Squires won their league’s playoff title.
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The Blazers’ roster contains more depth on defence than at any other position.
With the terrific play of Austin Madaisky in the four playoff losses to the Vancouver Giants and the continued improvement of Josh Caron, the future looks bright.
In an intriguing move, the Blazers have added Corey Fienhage, 20, to their protected list. A native of Topeka, Kan., who calls Apple Valley, Minn., home, he just completed his sophomore season with the U of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Fienhage, a third-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2008 NHL draft, started this season as UND’s seventh defenceman but moved up when senior Chay Genoway was injured in November.
Bonner has yet to speak with Fienhage, but has talked with his representative. NCAA players aren’t allowed to employ agents.
The Fighting Sioux will be adding Derek Forbot, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound potential first-round NHL pick out of the U.S. National Team Development Program, and perhaps Dillon Simpson, the son of former NHLer Craig Simpson, so it could be that Fienhage is exploring his options.
The scouting report on Fienhage is that he is big and physical, and needs to work on his skating. He won’t take up a spot on the Blazers’ list for too long, as he’ll move to their college list during the bantam draft on April 29.
“He’s a big, strong kid,” Bonner said. “He’s kind of a longshot . . . I think there is an outside shot. He may come to us wanting to play in our league. We’ll just wait and see if anything transpires.”
Fienhage had one assist and 28 penalty minutes in nine games as a freshman; this season, he had two assists and 28 penalty minutes in 30 games.
Fienhage played for Eastview High School in the Minneapolis area where he was all-conference for three seasons and a Mr. Hockey finalist for 2007-08. He finished that season with the USHL’s Indiana Ice, picking up three points and 12 penalty minutes in 12 games.
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When it comes to the forward ranks, Bonner said he would like to add at least one 20-year-old and to arrange for the return of Slovakian centre Dalibor Bortnak.
“With our 20-year-old situation, we have room to bring guys in,” Bonner explained. “I don’t think we need a high-end skill guy. I think we need a veteran leader who can play both ends of the rink and maybe play on the wing with a couple of our skilled players. We could use a little speed and probably a little bit of toughness up front.
“Ideally, it would be a grittier winger who can put up some numbers . . . kill penalties and do a lot of different things and play a lot of minutes.”
Bortnak completed his second season here, although he missed the first 27 games after suffering a spleen injury in training camp. When a European player is cleared to play here, he initially has a two-year release. That means Bortnak will need another release before he can return.
“He expressed to us that he wants to come back,” Bonner said of the 6-foot-4, 190-pounder. “He feels he needs another year of junior, especially with his injury. He wants to pursue an NHL career and the best way for him to do that is playing over here.”
Bonner feels Bortnak will be selected during the NHL draft in June. And if he isn’t taken, he almost certainly will get a free-agent tryout, something he was to have had last fall with the Edmonton Oilers before that sliced spleen got in the way.
“It shouldn’t be a big issue,” Bonner said of obtaining another release. “I would think he could be a big part of our team next year. He’s a big-body guy . . . he would be a nice guy to have back.”
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Even with losing only three players off the roster, Bonner expects some new faces to push, and push hard, when training camp opens in August.
Lyndon Martell, a 1993-born forward from Prince George, had 31 points in 44 games with the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings, while Logan McVeigh, the 32nd overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, had 54 points in 39 games with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts.
“McVeigh had a real strong season, more than what we all expected, which is great,” Bonner said.
Defenceman Brady Gaudet, the Blazers’ first pick in the 2009 bantam draft, suffered a knee injury in training camp here, but bounced back to put up 20 points in 41 games with the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans.
“If he’s ready, we’ll be excited,” Bonner said. “He’s going to get every opportunity to make our team. If he’s not (ready), we’ve got enough depth that if the right thing for him is to go back, he’ll go back.”
Aspen Sterzer, a list player who had 38 points in 31 games with the Calgary-based EDGE Maroon as it won the Rural Alberta midget league title, has signed and will be given a good look, too. He added seven points in eight playoff games.
“We expressed to the guys coming back,” Bonner said, “that it’s not a slam dunk who will be on the team next season, that it’s going to be a battle.
“With a new coach in his first training camp, we hope the guys come ready to battle.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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