Blazers lose game; Hall gone for 5-6 months

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Barry Smith got his introduction to life on the road in the WHL on Friday night.
“I’ll tell you one thing, don’t go by shots on goal,” Smith, the first-year head coach of the Kamloops Blazers, said by phone after a 4-1 exhibition loss to the Vancouver Giants in Ladner. “In the third period they said it was 19-3 for them, and they never came out of their end.
“Oh my gawd, it was a joke. They didn’t even come out of their end.”
Yes, Smith liked what he saw of his club over the last 20 minutes.
“We played well in the third period,” he said. “Guys were forechecking hard. I didn’t think we threw enough pucks to the net or went to the hard areas to get some scoring opportunities. We pressured, we pressured, we pressured . . . but we didn’t get enough pucks to the net.
“Still, that’s how we have to go for three periods (tonight).”
The Blazers play host to the Giants tonight, 7 o’clock, at Interior Savings Centre in the second of six exhibition games.
Last night, the Giants got out to a 1-0 lead when veteran Chris Cloud skated out from behind the Blazers’ net and beat goaltender James Priestner at 1:42 of the first period.
Forward Alex Rodgers pulled the Blazers even at 1:02 of the second, tipping in a shot by defenceman Nick Ross.
However, centre James Wright restored Vancouver’s lead on a power play at 3:10. And the Giants took a 3-1 lead at 19:07 when Wright corraled a Priestner clearance attempt and found Lane Scheidl in front for an easy tip in.
Scheidl, a third-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, is one of eight 16-year-olds still with the Giants. Head coach Don Hay has said he may keep as many as five of them.
Vancouver defenceman Craig Schira closed out the scoring with 4:21 to play.
“In the first period,” Smith said, “I thought we were watching a bit. . . . We came out strong but then we got running around a bit and they scored a goal and kind of took it to us at the end.
“In the second, we settled down and got into more of a rhythm. We got the goal by going to the net, getting traffic, doing the hard things.
“In the third period I thought we were excellent. I was happy with our play. That’s where we needed to be. When I heard him announce (the shots as) 19-3, I was, like, WHAT?!”
Smith, who spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, said he saw improvement as the game went on and that was important to him.
“I did see improvement and that’s what you’re looking for in these games,” he said. “We made three mistakes — three unforced errors — and they ended up in the back of our net.”
According to the shot clock, the Giants held a 43-12 edge and Smith said Priestner, a sophomore, was “just OK . . . just OK.”
Veteran Tyson Sexsmith went the distance in goal for Vancouver. He made two superb saves — coming across to stone Shayne Wiebe and hugging a post on Kenton Dulle — with Vancouver up 3-1 late in the third period.
Like Smith, the Blazers’ two Slovakians — defenceman Michal Siska and centre Dalibor Bortnak — made their WHL debuts.
“Siska was good,” Smith said. “I liked him. He made a couple of mistakes but stepped up and made some big hits.
“Bortnak hung on to the puck and didn’t create much. I think for him it’s a little tougher trying to figure out where eveyone’s going and where they’re moving.”
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The Blazers learned Friday that veteran centre Mark Hall, 18, has a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. Hall, who is from Kamloops, will have surgery — likely next week — and will miss most of the season.
“It’s not good,” Kamloops general manager Craig Bonner said. “He’s out five to six months. I had that twice and that’s what it took me.”
JUST NOTES: There was one fight in the game with Blazers LW Matt Wray taking on Cloud. . . . G Jon Groenheyde is scheduled to start for the Blazers tonight. . . . Without Hall, the Blazers’ roster stands at 31, including D Nick Beveridge and C Colin Smith, both of whom are 15 years of age and too young to stay. . . . Vancouver went into last night’s game with 36 players in camp. . . . G Lucas Gore of Kamloops went the distance for Chilliwack as the Bruins dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-2 at the Everett tournament. Gore stopped 27 shots. The Bruins got three goals from F Kevin Sundher, the seventh overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca