The Kamloops Blazers arrived in Portland on Thursday evening in preparation for Friday’s game. It was a fairly uneventful day of travel on a beautiful October day. The movie selections were 'Horrible Bosses', ‘Just Go With It’, and ‘Sanctum’. All the movies seemed to go over well.
The Blazers received the bad news that Jordan DePape’s injury will keep him out of the Blazers line-up for longer then first expected. DePape will require surgery and will be out of the Blazers line-up for an undetermined time. If all goes well with the surgery and rehab, DePape has the potential to return towards the end of the season. Good luck to Jordan and his recovery. On the positive side, DePape’s injury offers up an opportunity to some of the Blazers’ young forwards to gain more experience and ice time.
Portland is truly a beautiful city. The population is close to about 600,000 people. Tomorrow's game will be played in the Memorial Coliseum which has a 1970s flavour to the rink. The NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers played in the Coliseum before moving to the spacious Rose Garden for the 1995-96 season. The Winterhawks split time between the Coliseum and Rose Garden for their home games. With the NBA lockout in full effect, the Winterhawks have moved one of their games from the Coliseum to the Rose Garden. Don’t be surprised to see more of their upcoming games moved to the Rose Garden due to the lockout.
Cam Lanigan will get the start in goal for the Blazers tonight. It looks like Cole Cheveldave will get the start in Kamloops when the Blazers host the Cougars on Saturday night. The goaltending position is still up for grabs with Lanigan, Cheveldave and 17-year-old Taran Kozun fighting for playing time.
The Blazers were winless against Portland last season, but the games were definitely entertaining. Last November, the Blazers and Winterhawks had an on-ice incident at the end of the second period which led to fines and suspensions for both teams. The Blazers mounted a third period comeback but fell short in a 6-4 loss to the Winterhawks. In December, the Blazers lost a close game 5-4 in Portland with only 15 skaters. Injuries and international tournaments depleted the Blazers roster.
The ‘Hawks and the Blazers have a storied rivalry that dates back to the 1980s. The Blazers and ‘Winter Hawks’, as they have been known for much of their existence, met 9 times in 14 seasons from 1981-95 in the WHL playoffs. The Blazers won 5 of 9 memorable playoffs series. Portland, Seattle and Kamloops are the oldest WHL teams in the Western Conference.
Go to blazerhockey.com to read the game notes in anticipation of tonight’s game.
'On the positive side, DePape’s injury offers up an opportunity to some of the Blazers’ young forwards to gain more experience and ice time'.
ReplyDeleteI do not see ANY POSITIVE aspects in regards to the injury suffered by Jordan DePape. What is positive by losing one of your veterans and key components of your team to injury? Allowing the young forwards to gain experience at the expense of one of your best players is truly asinine. You are replacing leadership with youth. A team NEVER comes out ahead in that situation.