Tuesday 22 November 2011

Thoughts from the Weekend, Three Games this Week


The Blazers played two tough road games this weekend and took 3 of a possible 4 points. On Friday night, the Blazers played in Spokane and walked away with a 2-1 victory. It was a terrific road game as the Blazers stuck to their game plan. Spokane is a tough building to win in as the Chiefs carried a 9-1-0-0 home record before the Blazers victory.

On Saturday night, the Blazers were up against the Western Conference’s top team in the Tri-City Americans. The building was electric as the building was near a sell out and the fans were treated with a great game. The Ams are known for coming out hard and they did taking a 2-0 lead after the first period.

Being down in games may have fazed the Blazers in the past, but not this year. The Blazers continued to get stronger as the game went on and scored two goals in the third period to tie the game. They failed to capitalize on a couple of breakaways, but the Blazers still pushed the Americans to overtime. The Americans had the first chance and capitalized for a 3-2 overtime win.

It was another hurdle the 2011-12 Blazers overcame. They played well and earned points on the road, where they may have stumbled in the past. The Blazers maintain one of the best road records in the WHL with a 7-2-1-0 mark.

The penalty kill has been almost perfect over the past six games, going 24-for-26 allowing one goal at 5-on-4 and one goal at 5-on-3. The strong penalty kill has pushed the Blazers into 2nd in the WHL at %. What a difference a new year makes.

Brock Balson didn’t look out of place in his Blazers debut this weekend. The 18-year-old forward may have been a bit tentative but made good plays at both ends of the ice. He will fit in with the team and the system well.

Goaltender Cole Cheveldave played two great games this weekend. Lanigan and Cheveldave have really solidified the Blazers goaltending which was a big question mark entering this season. Both goaltenders are ranked among the top 5 in the WHL. The Blazers are the only team with two goaltenders ranked in the top 10 in the WHL statistically. 

The Blazers have three home games this week and play six of their next eight games at home prior to an Eastern Conference Road Swing to finish off the first half of the season. The Kootenay Ice are in town tomorrow night for the first and only time this year. The Blazers also host the Victoria Royals on Friday and the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday night.

Can you believe the 2010-11 WHL Champion Ice have not played a game in Kamloops since November 27, 2009? This was actually the coaching debut of current Head Coach, Guy Charron. The Blazers had a healthy 4-0 lead going into the third period, but were trailing 5-4 late in the third period and actually tied the game up with only 12 seconds left. The Ice went on to win the game in a shootout 6-5.

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