BLAZERS IN RED DEER TONIGHT

The Blazers spent Tuesday on the bus to Red Deer. The team practiced in Kamloops and departed for Red Deer at about 10:00am. The hockey club stopped in Golden for a quick bite to eat and arrived in Red Deer at about 8:30pm local time.

Time spent on the bus is always memorable and a great way for guys to become closer. The Blazers have spent most of the early part of the season at home. This is a great time for the team to get on the road and get a chance for team bonding and team building.

The drive from Kamloops to Banff must be one of the most scenic drives in Canada. With it being October, the fall colours are out and luckily there was nothing but blue sky!

There are a lot of positive vibes coming from this team right now. Any time you’re sitting in first place and have given yourself a chance to win every night, it’s hard not to be positive. There is no doubt the Blazers have earned every win to this point in the season.

Lots of players are excited about this trip to Alberta. The Blazers roster includes six players from Alberta including Cole Ully (Calgary), Chase Schaber (Red Deer), Bronson Maschmeyer (Bruderheim), Cam Lanigan (Calgary) and Cole Cheveldave (Calgary). This will be the only time they have the opportunity this season to play close to home.

It is not odd for a WHL team to cross paths with another WHL team throughout the season. The Blazers are sharing their hotel with the Moose Jaw Warriors for the next couple of nights. The Warriors are playing in Edmonton tonight and in Red Deer on Friday.

Cam Lanigan will get the start tonight in Red Deer. Lanigan is coming off a 5-4 win in Portland in a game that he stopped two penalty shots against the Warriors. The 19-year-old goaltender has been solid for the Blazers this season after a dreadful year last season.

The Blazers were terrific in Alberta last season with an impressive 7-1-1-0 record. This included a 1-0 victory and a 4-3 overtime loss to a talented Red Deer Rebels team. The Blazers hope to carry over their success in Alberta this season.

Game time is 6:00PM PT, to read tonight’s game notes follow THIS LINK.   

BLAZERS DOWN WINTERHAWKS 5-4 IN OVERTIME

The dressing room set up in Portland before the Blazers 5-4 overtime win over the Winterhawks.

Brendan Ranford and Chase Schaber were back to their old ways on Friday night, despite the loss of their line mate Jordan DePape. Ranford paced the Blazers with 4 goals and an assist and Schaber will finish with a goal and four assists in a 5-4 overtime victory.

Ranford is a natural goal scorer. The puck seems to find his stick, and he sure knows how to finish. It was great to see him play competitive and pick up his team with a goal when it was needed.

Veteran goaltender Cam Lanigan, who stopped not one, but two penalty shots in the game, deserves some credit. Lanigan played well we he needed to which helped the Blazers earn the two points. Both penalty shots were at key times of the game. As the Blazers trailed 3-2 late in the second period, Lanigan stoned Brad Ross. The Blazers went on to tie the game before the period was out. Lanigan also stopped Taylor Peters, who was awarded a penalty shot with only 1:32 left in the game. Good for the goaltender to step up when his team needed him most.

The Blazers departed Portland immediately following the game in order to get some rest to prepare for tonight’s game with the Prince George Cougars. Thanks to our new bus driver “Mike” who did a great job filling in for our regular bus driver “CC”. “CC” underwent a minor procedure this week so won’t be behind the wheel for a few weeks. The entire Blazers organization wishes him well in his recovery.

Tonight, Prince George is playing their 7^th game of a 7-game road trip that started on October 4^th in Prince Albert. The Blazers are only 1-7-0-1 against the Cougars in their last 9 meetings. The Cougars were also the team that spoiled the Blazers home opener with a 1-0 win and knocked the Blazers out of playoff contention in the 71^st game last season. The hockey club will be out for redemption tonight!

RECAP / GAME HIGHLIGHTS AT PORTLAND, OCTOBER 14,2011