Smith says next two games are 'huge'

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The WHL's 10-team Western Conference is close to splitting into the haves
and the have-nots.
At this point in time, it comprises the Big Three with an asterisk, and then
there are all the rest.
If the Kamloops Blazers want to compete with the big boys, one would think
they must have success tonight and Wednesday at Interior Savings Centre.
To begin with, the Kelowna Rockets, a team the Blazers haven’t beaten in
five attempts, visit The ATM tonight. Game time is 7 o'clock. The Everett
Silvertips, with one victory in their last nine games, will be here
Wednesday at 7 p.m.
After which the Blazers will play their next six games on the road.
“They’re huge,” head coach Barry Smith said of his club’s next two games.
“Not just being at home, but against Kelowna and Everett, people who are
right in our wheelhouse. And you want to leave on the road with a good
feeling.
“These two games are huge . . . we’re rested, we’re ready, we’re at home and
we have to take advantage of that.”
At this point, the Vancouver Giants (44-4-0-3), Tri-City Americans
(36-14-0-3) and Spokane Chiefs (33-14-0-3) are in a class by themselves. In
fact, this week’s monster game comes Friday when the Giants, who have won
eight in a row, travel to Spokane to meet the Chiefs, who are on an 11-game
winning streak and have allowed only one goal in their last three games.
The Americans, still the conference’s second seed, have won four straight.
The Rockets, who last visited Kamloops on Jan. 24 when they won 5-2, are
29-19-1-2 and knocking on the door. They are the asterisk as they try to
turn the west’s Big Three into the Fab Four. Kelowna came into that Jan. 24
game having lost four straight but now is 3-0-1-1 in its last five and all
signs point to the Rockets being a threat come playoff time.
The Blazers, meanwhile, are 4-12-0-1 against the four teams ahead of them in
the standings.
Kamloops (25-24-1-4) has had reasonable success against Vancouver, going
2-3-0-0 against the Giants but is 1-3-0-0 against Tri-City, 1-2-0-0 against
Spokane and — ughhh! — 0-4-0-1 against the Rockets.
And if the playoffs were to open tonight, the Blazers would be in Kelowna.
Still, the Blazers have played their best hockey of late. They have won
their last two games and are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10.
That, combined with Everett’s struggles of late, has put the Blazers into
fifth place, six points behind the Rockets and four in front of the
Silvertips.
The Blazers know that if they hope to have success tonight they are going to
have to stay out of the penalty box. The Rockets have scored 24
regulation-time goals in the four games and 12 of them have come via the
power play.
“Their power play beats you and we can’t let (that happen),” Smith said.
Smith said it isn’t that the Blazers are undisciplined; they just have to
play smarter.
“Keep your feet moving, keep your stick down, stick to puck . . . those
things,” Smith said. “Discipline is guys taking stupid penalties,
retaliatory penalties. We haven’t done that. Our penalties are more lazy
penalties than they are undisciplined.
“We just have to be smarter with our sticks and keep our feet moving.”
JUST NOTES: The Blazers will play in Kelowna on Saturday night before
heading into Alberta for four games next week. . . . Kamloops D Michal Siska
(ankle) practised Monday for the first time since being injured Jan. 21. He
won’t play tonight. . . . LW Shayne Wiebe, who left Saturday’s 6-4 victory
over the Medicine Hat Tigers after blocking a shot in the latter half of the
third period, practised yesterday and Smith said he is “fine.” . . . D
Brandon Underwood (broken thumb) has missed 11 games. The target date for
his return is Feb.20 when the Blazers meet the Bruins in Chilliwack.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews