The Chase Heat were the better team on Thursday night.

Maybe the Heat were bothered by surrendering a series split after Games 1 and 2 in Chase. Maybe the visitors wanted to set a precedent in their first playoff game at Memorial Arena.

Whatever the reason, Chase out-hit, out-skated and outscored the Kamloops Storm in Game 3 at Memorial Arena on Thursday night, taking the game 3-0 and establishing a 2-1 series lead in advance of Game 4 on Friday night.

Puck drop is slated for 7:35 p.m., again at Memorial Arena.

“They wanted it way more,” Storm head coach Ed Patterson said of the Heat following Game 3.

“They came out early and established shots on net and traffic and pucks in deep. Like I’ve said all along, we have a young team and on nights they don’t buy in to what they’re supposed to do, it makes for a long night — especially when you play a veteran team like that. It was a well deserved win for them [Chase].”

Kamloops looked tentative in the early moments of Thursday night’s contest and it eventually showed on the scoreboard. Cody Hodges beat Storm goaltender Jason Sandhu at the midway point of the first period to give Chase the lead and Kolten Moore scored on the power play in the second stanza to extend the lead to two.

Pat Brady beat Sandhu at the midway mark of the second and the 3-0 lead stood as the final score.

Heat goaltender Nic Bruyere, meanwhile, made 35 saves for the shutout victory.

“We just need to stick to our game,” said Storm captain Keaton Gordon.

“We’ve gotten away from it the last two games and we just need to come back to it and play together as a team.”

Neither Gordon nor Patterson expected the series against Chase to be a quick one. The same two clubs met in the first round of last year’s KIJHL playoffs, with the Heat winning the series 4-1.

Bruyere was a standout contributor in that series, too, allowing just six goals in the final four games, all of which Chase won.

But his Thursday night performance at Memorial doesn’t have the Storm worried.

“He’s human,” Patterson said. “You’ve got to get pucks and traffic and make him move — NHL goalies get beat like that and he’s not that good.

“Last time I checked, he’s a 20-year-old goalie in junior B . . . He’s great for our league and he’s a good goalie, but he is human. It’s up to us to make his life hard. We’ve made it easy for two nights in a row.”

As for Game 4, it could be Kamloops’ biggest contest of the playoffs thus far. Asked where his team’s confidence was following the Game 3 loss, Gordon said a good start in Game 4 couldn’t mean more.

“It’s low right now, but I feel if we get a good start tomorrow, it will jump right back up,” he said.

“It’s literally a series-breaker, I feel. If we come prepared, I think we’ll win the series.”

NOTES: The Storm outshot the Heat 35-33 in the loss. Sandhu made 30 saves on 33 shots. . . . Kamloops was 0-for-1 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

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It’s a post-season story that still stings for Kamloops Storm fans.

It was February of 2016. The Kamloops Storm and Chase Heat met in the playoffs, a first-round matchup that pit No. 2 Kamloops against No. 3 Chase in a best-of-seven series of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Storm were the favourite that year — the higher seed, with home-ice advantage and a franchise that had been to the league’s big dance on more than one occasion. Play that year opened in Kamloops and the Storm didn’t disappoint, taking a 1-0 series lead after the first game in the Tournament Capital.

But after that, a nightmare began. The Heat won Game 2 in Kamloops and went on to pick up another two victories in Games 3 and 4 in Chase. They captured the series with a Game 5 victory in Kamloops and, for the first time in Ed Patterson’s tenure as Storm head coach, Kamloops failed to qualify for the KIJHL championship series.

Well in 2017, the script is looking oddly familiar. Kamloops and Chase are in the midst of a second-round series that has No. 2 Chase up 3-1 over No. 3 Kamloops, having won both games in Kamloops this week. The Heat have the ability to again spoil the Storm’s post-season plans, with a chance to capture the series 4-1 with another victory in Chase on Sunday night.

The Storm, meanwhile, are hoping that, in 2017, they can write an alternate ending.

“Regardless of if we were up 3-1 [or down], we’d still have to go into Chase and win Game 5,” Patterson told KTW on Friday, shortly after the Storm dropped Game 4 of the series, 4-3.

“Like we said from the get-go, everything is one game at a time. We’re 0-0 every night and our mindset doesn’t change. We know they’re banged up. We know they’re missing a few guys now and they’re hurting. The guys that are playing are going to be a little timid of what we bring.

“We’re positive in here.”

Positive or not, Kamloops now faces the prospect of winning three straight games against Chase, the Doug Birks Division leader in 2016-2017 and a club that scored 47 more goals that its opposition in the regular season. In their head-to-head series, the Heat won five of eight contests against their division rivals from Kamloops.

Speaking with KTW after the game, Chase head coach Brad Fox said he can see the similarities between the playoff series both last year and this, but added this year’s series has been closer than one might gather from reading boxscores.

“There’s a resemblance there, there has been quite a bit of the same thing,” he said. “But, you know, every game has been a battle. Every game has been really, really close. It has been inches.

“It’s the little things, it’s the decisive things that separate wins and losses at playoff time. Our goaltender has been playing well and he needs to. He’s one of the best in the league and that’s what we count on at this time of year.

“Any time that you can come into Kamloops and get two wins in the playoffs, you have to be pretty pleased.”

The Storm and the Heat will take Saturday night off, before heading to Chase for Game 5 of the series on Sunday. Game 6 will be played in Kamloops on Monday, if necessary, and a potential Game 7 would land on March 15 in Chase.

Kamloops has done more than pencil that date into its schedule — the club is confident it will be taking the ice at Art Holding Memorial Arena that night, with a series win in mind.

The Storm are planning to write a different ending to this year’s post-season — one that begins with a victory on Sunday night in Chase.

“We’ve done it a few times this season,” Patterson said, asked if his team can win three straight to take the series.

“We’re a pretty close group right now.”

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Maxwell Hinkson scored three times to push the Outlaws to a 7-2 victory in bantam playoff action against the Kapitals on the weekend.

Lochlan Scholefield (1G, 2A), Eric Crawford (1G, 1A), Seth Ishikawa (1G, 1A), Kaleb Costigan (1G), Max Card (2A), Emmett Kulchyski (1A) and Connor Kennedy (1A) rounded out the scoring for the Outlaws, who went with the duo of Zane Rolfsen and Matthew Yon between the pipes.

Tristin Collins (1G), Tystan Bahnsen (1G) and Jacob Ker-Piva (1A) notched points for the Kapitals, who had Ben Smith in goal.

Strong weekend

The Kamloops Vibe picked up three of four points in South Coast Women’s Hockey League action on the weekend, playing host to the South Fraser TNT.

Kamloops enters the provincial championship, which will begin in Richmond on March 23, as the league’s third-ranked team.

Taking on the TNT in their final action of the regular season, the Vibe played to a 1-1 tie and a 2-1 win. Alyssa Reid (1G, 1A), Kathleen McDonald (1G, 1A), Kacey Seymour (1G) and Courtney Morice (1A) notched points in the weekend series.

With a 14-5-7 record, the Vibe finished the campaign ranked behind both the TNT and the Richmond Devils.

Playoffs wrap

The Kamloops Junior Blazers played to two wins, a loss and a tie in atom development C playoff action on the weekend in Sicamous, finishing the season third overall.

Kamloops picked up a 9-2 win against the Sicamous Eagles and a 6-1 win against the Merritt Junior Centennials, but tied the Princeton Posse 2-2 and lost to Salmon Arm 10-4.

Keaton Thibault (4G, 1A), Luca Cupello (3G, 1A), Kieran McMillan (3G), Carson Sutherland (2G, 1A), Noah Paulsen (2G, 1A), Jack Smith (2G), Grady Johnson (2G), Donnie Andriashyk (1G, 5A), Jayce Matkowski (1G, 1A), Riddick Feely (1G) and Kieran Milne (1A) hit the scoresheet throughout the weekend.

Owen Routhier and Kaiden Goddard split time in the Kamloops crease.

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Plenty of decisions lie ahead for Barry Dewar.

The Kamloops Storm general manager is looking at more questions than answers following the conclusion of his club’s 2016-2017 season, a campaign that ended in a five-game series loss to the Chase Heat in the second round of the KIJHL playoffs.

What will the team look like next year? What will happen with the coaching staff? How did the first year at Memorial Arena go?

The answer to that last question might go a long way toward answering the others.

“Not very well,” an honest Dewar said when asked about the first season at his team’s downtown home. “But we are looking at different options to improve our attendance and usage of the facility.

“Our plan is to be back at Memorial Arena next season.”

The Storm have struggled at the ticket counter in recent years, but some nights at their Victoria Street barn marked new lows for the franchise. Attendance numbers at Wednesday night games were abysmal and, despite having fewer nights where their schedule conflicted with that of the Kamloops Blazers, the junior B club seemed no further ahead over the course of the season.

As the playoffs stretched on and the Storm pleaded for more fan support, Kamloops answered with a sparse Game 4 crowd, completely overshadowed by the showing of spectators who had trekked from nearby Chase.

The empty seats at Memorial may even force a change behind the bench.

“Ed [Patterson] is such a great coach,” Dewar said of his bench boss. “We actually had 10 players that we moved on this season to either the Western Hockey League or junior A — that’s a huge statistic.

“That’s a lot to do with coaching, what Ed and Kyle [Panasuk, assistant coach] have brought to the table. But, quite honestly, it also comes down to money. If I can’t find a source of revenue to pay Ed and Kyle, then it becomes hard to keep those kinds of talents.

“What we’re suffering this year is, looking forward, if we’re averaging 75 people a game, no, I’m not going to be able to pay Ed and he won’t be back,” Dewar continued.

“My plan is for him to return. But, obviously, if there’s an opportunity for him at the next level, I’m sure he would look at it and I’m sure he would embrace it.”

Patterson is unquestionably the most successful Storm coach in franchise history. He has coached the team to four league championship series and has never missed the playoffs in his six years on the bench.

For his part, the two-time Doug Birks Division coach of the year is also taking a hard look at his future.

“I don’t know right now,” he told KTW this week.

“I’ll play it by ear.”

The Storm entered the season with a young group, a scenario that is likely to play out again in 2017-2018, with much of the team either moving on to the next level or stepping away from the game.

Despite falling short of the ultimate goal of a KIJHL championship, Patterson said he has no regrets in the way he handled his roster this season.

“As far as Kyle and I go, there’s absolutely nothing more we could have done for this group. Plenty of years, I look back and wish I would have done different things. This is one year I can honestly say that we gave these kids every single tool they needed,” he said.

“It was just because we had a younger group that some nights they didn’t quite realize what they had in front of them.”

Uncertainty is often the norm in junior B. Clubs wait to find out which players have been cut from higher levels, stars can disappear as fast as they’re born, the performance a coach gets from his group can vary on any given night.

But it’s safe to say Kamloops has a bit more uncertainty than normal moving forward. Unknown attendance figures may lead to the loss of a popular and talented coach, one whose reputation has led to the Storm punching above their weight class in previous recruitment cycles and whose teaching abilities have led to plenty of on-ice success.

The Kamloops Storm may look very different come September.

They are hoping the same can be said for the picture in the stands.

The post Uncertain future ahead for Storm appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The Kamloops Junior Blazers have suffered only two losses since capturing their first title at the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament (KIBIHT) since 2011.

The New Year’s Day victory sparked an impressive run and has seen the Junior Blazers win Abbotsford’s Dallas Saunders Memorial Bantam AAA Tournament, finish second a tournament in Prince George and capture the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association’s league and playoff titles.

Now, with the B.C. bantam tier 1 provincial championship set to get underway in the Tournament Capital on Sunday, Match 19, Kamloops is hoping it has a few more wins left in the tank.

“We’ve been pretty good,” said Junior Blazers’ head coach Kyle Allan. “We’ve been on a bit of a winning streak going in [to the tournament]. Really, since coming off our KIBIHT victory, it has been a lot of good stuff on the ice for us.”

The Junior Blazers will face some stiff competition when the action gets underway on Sunday at Memorial Arena. The defending provincial and western Canadian champions from the Burnaby Winter Club will be in town, as will the Burnaby Minor Hockey Association. Prince George will represent the north, while Nanaimo will play for the Island. Vernon rounds out the six-team field.

“It’s going to be a good tournament,” Allan said.

The Blazers swept Vernon in the OMAHA championship series and had good results against Prince George throughout the season. Both teams from Burnaby will be strong, while Nanaimo is an unknown quantity.

“Burnaby Winter Club, I’d say they’re coming in as the team to beat,” Allan said. “We’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of good kids and we’re pretty hungry to have a good showing at home.”

It has been about five years since Kamloops played host to the bantam tier 1 provincial tournament and the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association is hoping the novelty of the event will bring plenty of fan support to the stands of Memorial Arena.

The Junior Blazers will begin the tournament Sunday against Prince George, with a 10:30 a.m. puck drop.

Kamloops will then face off against Nanaimo at 7:15 p.m. on the same day. The Junior Blazers will then face Burnaby Winter Club on Monday at at 7:45 p.m., Burnaby Minor Hockey Association on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. and Vernon on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

The top two teams will meet in the final on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

“Obviously, this is a high level of hockey for these kids,” said Jon Pankuch, president of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association. “At that age group, there’s obviously some kids that are in their [WHL] draft years. It’s exciting hockey and I think, if we can get some fan support out there, they won’t be disappointed.”

Pankuch picked the Junior Blazers as the team to beat at the championship, though he admitted he might be a little biased.

Still, he said the host club has a strong team and the will to make some noise against the rest of the province.

“Any time you can hang a banner in your building, it’s good for the city, it’s good for the association, it’s good for those kids,” he said.

“Eventually, they’re all going to end up playing in a beer league somewhere. If they can walk in 20 years from now and look up to the rafters and say, ‘Hey, I was on that team,” that’s obviously what they do it for. We’d be proud to have it up there.”

Admission per game is $2. A day pass is $5. A tournament pass is $20.

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Memorial Arena was begging for Payton Kelly to shoot.

So when the Kamloops Junior Blazers’ centre fired the puck on goal, bulging the twine behind Prince George Cougars’ goaltender Dawson Frankforth, the crowd exploded. As two lone hats fell to the ice from the stands, Kelly skated to centre ice, mauled by his teammates as they left the bench in celebration.

There was still time to play in the third period, but Kelly had just scored his third goal of the game to put the Junior Blazers ahead 4-3 in the opener of the B.C. Hockey Bantam Tier 1 Championship. The clock came to a stop with 8.6 seconds remaining in the final stanza. Kelly’s third marker would eventually stand as the game-winner.

“I saw a little open slot between his arm [and his body],” Kelly told KTW after the game. “I hoped for the best and it went right through the hole.

“Honestly, I’ve never been to provincials before, so even scoring a goal felt pretty good, with all those people out there cheering for us. When I got my third goal, it was insane, all my boys jumping on top of me.”

Kelly’s heroics extended far beyond the game-winner in Sunday’s opener at the provincial championship. The 14-year-old scored three straight in Game 1 to lead his club to its first victory at the tournament.

His second goal might stand as the most important.

Earlier in the third period, with the score knotted at two, Prince George had scored to take its second lead of the game, 3-2. With six minutes left on the clock, there was a solid chance the goal would stand as the winner for the visiting Cougars.

In retrospect, it was a game-defining moment for Kamloops. As Prince George celebrated the goal, Junior Blazers’ head coach Kyle Allan could be heard throughout the arena, arguing the goal had been the result of a Cougars’ player closing his hand on the puck earlier in the sequence.

His protestations were to no avail and even resulted in the referee levying a two-minute bench minor against Kamloops for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Despite being shorthanded, Logan Stankoven and Kelly broke over the blue line on a two-on-one on the next play. A beautiful dish by Stankoven landed on Kelly’s stick and the forward deposited his second goal into a gaping net.

The game was tied.

So, did Allan’s arguing fire up his team?

“I’d like to say yes, but that wasn’t good on my part,” the coach said after the game.

“I didn’t agree with the call, obviously. I don’t know if it provided any energy for them, but not good on my part, for sure.”

Jarrod Semchuk scored Kamloops’ other goal on Sunday morning, with Bailey Monteith putting forth an exceptional game in the Junior Blazers’ crease.

The tournament hosts will be back on the ice on Sunday night, taking on the Nanaimo Clippers in their second game of the tournament. Puck drop is slated for 7:15 p.m.

The Junior Blazers planned to reset and get ready in time for a renewed effort in Game 2. Just as they did when they faced a little adversity on Sunday morning.

“Our coach, before this, said if we lose a game, we’re basically done,” Kelly said.

“If they score, we’ve got to get it right back and it’s important for the boys to know that. You’ve just got to get a goal to keep your team motivated and keep playing hard.”

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On the upside, the Kamloops Junior Blazers are 2-0 after Day 1 of the B.C. Hockey Bantam Tier 1 Championship.

On the downside, their second victory of the tournament wasn’t exactly one to write home about.

Kamloops managed to hang on for a win in an ugly contest at Memorial Arena on Sunday night, defeating the Nanaimo Clippers 7-4.

But the topic of conversation after the game wasn’t the win so much as the quality of the Junior Blazers’ play.

“We just didn’t play our game,” Junior Blazers’ head coach Kyle Allan told KTW.

“We need to be better than that if we’re going to compete in this provincial. We didn’t play our way.”

At times on Sunday night, it appeared Kamloops might run away with the victory. The Junior Blazers led 4-1 after the first period and 5-1 early in the second stanza, but they took their foot off the gas as minutes ticked by.

Nanaimo would score three times in the second period, twice just seconds after Kamloops had added to its own lead. Penalties and costly mistakes gave the Clippers the opportunity to come back in a game that appeared well in hand for the Junior Blazers early.

1 of 7

“Guys that are away from the puck, their attention to detail wasn’t there. They’re just asleep away from the puck,” Allan said.

“We came out hard. We had a good first period. We’re up 4-1 after one, 5-1 early in the second, and I think we just thought that hole was going to be OK. You can never let up. Ever.”

The first period of play also saw Logan Stankoven, the Junior Blazers’ offensive dynamo, ejected from the game after receiving a two-minute minor and a game misconduct for checking from behind.

Stankoven is expected to be in the lineup on Monday night, when Kamloops takes on the defending provincial champions from the Burnaby Winter Club.

Puck drop is slated for 7:45 p.m.

Allan was unequivocal — the Junior Blazers will have to be better if they want to be 3-0 after Day 2.

“They’re the team to beat here, so we have to go home, get a good sleep, come back and just think what we need to do better tomorrow,” he said.

Notes: Payton Kelly extended his team lead in goals at the provincial, with his fourth coming in the second period against the Clippers. Jarrod Semchuk scored singles in both the Junior Blazers’ 4-3 victory against the Prince George Cougars on Monday morning and in the win against the Clippers on Sunday evening. Stankoven, Ty Stokes, Owen Barrow, Chase Cooke and Ashton Taylor have also scored for Kamloops. . . . Goaltender Adam Niles took the crease against Nanaimo and Bailey Monteith is expected to be between the pipes on Monday night.

Standings through Day 1

1. Kamloops Junior Blazers (2-0)

2. Burnaby Bulldogs (1-0)

2. Burnaby Winter Club (1-0)

4. Prince George Cougars (0-1)

4. Vernon Vipers (0-1)

6. Nanaimo Clippers (0-2)

Other scores Sunday

Burnaby Bulldogs 10 vs. Nanaimo Clippers 4

Burnaby Winter Club 4 vs. Vernon Vipers 1

The post Junior Blazers top standings after Day 1 at bantam provincial appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The Kamloops Junior Blazers didn’t hang their heads Monday night.

There was, of course, disappointment as the host team lost its first game of the B.C. Hockey Bantam Tier 1 Championship, falling 5-4 to Burnaby Winter Club at Memorial Arena. But there was an equal amount of optimism.

They had played to the final buzzer with the defending provincial and Western Canadian champion and very nearly got the result they had been looking for.

“We played with them,” Junior Blazers’ head coach Kyle Allan told KTW.

“When you start playing at a higher level, it’s about mistakes. We made a few more mistakes than they made.”

A matchup of the tournament’s two remaining undefeated teams, Kamloops versus BWC could very well have been a preview on Wednesday night’s championship game. The two clubs battled into the final seconds of Monday night’s contest, with Kamloops’ net empty and the home team pushing for the equalizer.

It never came — but the experience itself bred confidence for what remains of the week at the provincial championship.

“We played a strong effort for a full 60,” said Junior Blazers’ forward Jarrod Semchuk, who ranks third in team scoring at the tournament with a pair of goals.

“Hopefully, we have a rematch against them in the final. We’ll be ready for that.”

Kamloops will be back on the ice Tuesday, taking on the Burnaby Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m.

Monday night’s game was a breath of fresh air after a pace-less contest between the Nanaimo Clippers and Junior Blazers on Sunday evening. Both Kamloops and BWC came out hitting hard and trading chances. Much of the first five minutes was played in Burnaby’s end and it was Kamloops that went to the power play first.

Unfortunately, the man-advantage was the Junior Blazers’ undoing, as it has been for much of the tournament. BWC’s Kalen Szeto took advantage of a Kamloops mistake at the blue line, breaking in on a 2-on-1 and beating goaltender Bailey Monteith to open the scoring.

It was the first of two shorthanded markers on the night.

“We’ve got to be stronger on our power play, we’ve got to be smarter on our pinches,” Semchuk said.

“I think that’s where they beat us tonight.”

BWC pulled ahead 2-0 early in the second period and parents could already be heard making their plans for the Western Canadian Bantam Hockey Championship, which is to be held in Warman and Martensville, Sask., from March 30 to April 2.

But the Junior Blazers didn’t relent. As the second period wore on, Luke Bateman scored his first goal of the tournament on the power play, beating BWC goaltender Logan Terness through an Owen Barrow screen.

When the third period got underway, Kamloops’ Payton Kelly picked up a rebound in front of the Burnaby goal and deposited it for his team-leading fifth goal of the tournament. The game was tied, 2-2.

Kamloops would never take the lead, however. Deepkaran Hans scored to put BWC ahead 3-2, before Trevor Wong broke in on another 2-on-1 and scored his club’s second shorthanded marker of the game.

Logan Stankoven scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the game, but a BWC power play goal stood as the game-winner.

“I thought they showed a lot of character,” BWC head coach John Batchelor said of his club. “They had the game under control a couple times and they lit it slip away. They managed to bounce back and keep the lead after Kamloops came back and tied it.

“Offensively, we’ve played very well. Defensively, we’re making some mistakes, compounding some mistakes in our own end, that we’re going to have to clean up if we’re going to be successful in the long run. [Kamloops] will be better the next time we play them.”

Batchelor’s words rang oddly true for the Junior Blazers, given their history against BWC this season. The clubs met in Kamloops’ first game of the 2016-2017, a game which BWC won handily, either 6-0 or 7-0 by Allan’s recollection.

The Junior Blazers have come a long way since then and the club is confident there is another step it can make in the second half of the 2017 provincial championship.

“You look at the growth we’ve had through this year so far, we’re fully confident that — if we do set up a matchup with these guys again in the final — we’re confident we can come out with a win,” Allan said.

Standings through Day 2

1. BWC (3-0-0)

2. Kamloops (2-1-0)

2. Burnaby (2-1-0)

4. Vernon (1-1-0)

5. Nanaimo (0-1-1)

6. Prince George (0-2-1)

Other scores from Tuesday

Vernon Vipers 6 vs. Prince George Cougars 2

Burnaby Winter Club 4 vs. Burnaby Bulldogs 3

Nanaimo Clippers 5 vs. Prince George Cougars 5

The post Junior Blazers suffer first loss, tied for second at provincial championship appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The Kamloops Predators closed out their season with a gold medal at the West Kelowna Peewee Showdown on the weekend, defeating the Surrey Thundercats 6-0 in the championship game.

Jarrett Dumais led the way with 11 goals and four assists. Connor Guenther (7G 4A), Micah Brownlee (6G 5A), Ryan Petrie (6G 5A), Logan MacLaughlin (5G), Adam Haines (2G 3A), Jaden Donchi (1G 4A), Nathan To (2A), Jake Bean (1A), James Tosoff (1A) and Damien Coates (1A) also had points throughout the five-game tournament.

Warriors win silver

The Kamloops Warriors fell in an overtime thriller at the 2017 Peewee District Championship in Chase on the weekend, losing 8-7 to Clearwater to bring home silver medals.

The district championship featured the champions from each of the six peewee recreation leagues in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association, with the Kamloops Warriors going in place of the Kamloops Predators, who instead elected to attend the West Kelowna Peewee Showdown.

Goaltender Erik Brock and forward Nathan Van Unen were among the standout players for Kamloops in Chase.

The post KMHA round-up, March 21 appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

The Kamloops Junior Blazers threw everything they had at the Burnaby Bulldogs on Tuesday night.

But when the final buzzer sounded, all the local club had to show for it was a zero on the scoreboard.

The Junior Blazers lost their second game of the B.C. Hockey Bantam Tier 1 Championship in the tournament’s third day, falling 3-0 to the Bulldogs at Memorial Arena.

Now sporting a record of 2-2, Kamloops is in a bit of trouble.

“They’re goalie played really well,” Junior Blazers’ head coach Kyle Allan said after the game. “We put a lot of pucks towards him. Some bounces go our way and it’s a different story.

“I think, for us, we got behind early and it was really hard for us to get back and get our energy back. We took too long. We just took too long to get our energy back and we ran out of time.”

Kamloops pressed the pace for much of the game, so much so that it seemed only a matter of time before the Junior Blazers would be able to break out offensively.

But the story of the game would be Bulldogs goaltender Jayden Bains. The netminder turned aside everything his opponents had to offer en route to posting the first shut out of the provincial championship in Kamloops.

The Junior Blazers, meanwhile, opened the game by giving up a shorthanded goal, in what has become a pattern throughout the tournament. Burnaby scored twice more with Kamloops unable to answer.

What the Junior Blazers need to do now is focus on winning their final round-robin game against the Vernon Vipers on Wednesday, while at the same time hoping for a little help from the opposition.

“We need to win, first off. A loss or a tie does us no good,” Allan said.

“A win for us and a Burnaby loss and we’re in. A win for us and a Burnaby win, then we get into some math. We’ll see how that turns out.”

A win against the Vipers would put Kamloops and Vernon tied with identical 3-2 records, vying to be the opponent of the Burnaby Winter Club in the championship final Wednesday night. Should the Bulldogs defeat the winless Prince George Cougars in their final game, which they presumably will, the tie for the last spot in the provincial final becomes a three-way one.

In that event, the berth will come down to goal differentials between Kamloops, Burnaby and Vernon.

So, right now, all the Junior Blazers can do is focus on beating the Vipers at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Only then can they start to wonder if they’ll be in the final at 7:30 p.m.

“They’re disappointed,” Allan said of his team. “We did play a fairly good game, we just didn’t get a lot of luck.

“We’ve got to find a way to come back hungry tomorrow. The guys, they see what we need to do and they’re going to come back ready to go tomorrow.”

Standings through Day 3

1. Burnaby Winter Club (4-0-0)
2. Vernon Vipers (3-1-0)
3. Burnaby Bulldogs (2-2-0)
4. Kamloops Junior Blazers (2-2-0)
5. Nanaimo Clippers (0-3-1)
6. Prince George Cougars (0-3-1)

Other scores on Tuesday

Vernon Vipers 7 vs. Burnaby Bulldogs 5

Burnaby Winter Club 3 vs. Prince George Cougars 1

Vernon Vipers 5 vs. Nanaimo Clippers 4

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The Kamloops hosting committee of the 2016 Women’s World Hockey Championship has won the Canadian Sport Tourism Association International Sport Event of the Year Prestige Award.

The award was handed out in Ottawa on Tuesday as the CSTA honoured various organizations across Canada with Prestige awards.

The hosting committee was led by Norm Daley and Job Pankuch, with Pat O’Donovan and Sean Pitts the co-ordinators and Riley Wiwchar of Hockey Canada serving as general manager.

The CSTA had this to say about the Kamloops event: “For the first time, Hockey Canada hosted the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship west of Manitoba, holding the 2016 event in Kamloops, B.C. It powerfully promoted and strengthened female hockey and skills development throughout B.C.’s interior and beyond. By announcing Team Canada’s roster at a local elementary school, children became immediately engaged in the championships, as did the local community. Key partnerships were formed with a mosaic of community groups reaching wide demographics and socioeconomic status from the Japanese Cultural Association to Kamloops Minor Baseball.”

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The hometown Kamloops Junior Blazers will play for a provincial title Wednesday night at Memorial Arena. Faceoff is at 7:30 p.m.

The Blazers defeated Vernon 5-1 in both teams’ final round-robin games of the 2017 B.C. Bantam Hockey Championship at Memorial Arena.

The win left Kamloops with a record of 3-2 and propelled the club into the title tilt against undefeated Burnaby Winter Club, which sported a 5-0 record through round-robin play.

Burnaby defeated Kamloops 5-4 in round-robin action.

The provincial championship tourney features six teams, each of which play each other once. The top two teams in the standings then battle for the championship.

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The Kamloops Blazers were outshot by a margin of more than three-to-one on Friday night as the Kelowna Rockets coasted to a 4-0 win in the first game of the opening round best-of-seven series between the two Western Hockey League B.C. Division foes.

The game was played before 5,512 fans at Prospera Centre in Kelowna. Game 2 is Saturday at 7 p.m. in Kelowna, Games 3 and 4 are in Kamloops on Tuesday and Wednesday, with puck drop at 7 p.m.

In Game 1, the Rockets scored two goals in a span of 28 seconds in the first period en route to a dominating victory.

Kelowna recorded 48 shots on Blazers’ netminder Connor Ingram, who turned aside 44 of them. Rockets’ goalie Michael Herringer was comparatively lonely, stopping all 15 shots he faced.

Carson Twarynski scored twice for Kelowna, the first and last goals, with Tomas Soustal and Reid Gardiner adding singles.

Kelowna was two-for-four on the power play, while Kamloops was zero-for-three.

Kelowna finished second in the B.C. Division in the regular season, five points ahead of third-place Kamloops.

AROUND THE LEAGUE — The underdog Portland Winterhawks, who grabbed one of two wildcard spots in the playoffs, made the marathon journey from Oregon to Prince George and handed the top team in the B.C. Division an opening-game loss. The Winterhawks defeated the Cougars 4-2 . . . The Victoria Royals, the other Western Conference wildcard entry, dropped a 4-2 decision in Everett. The Silvertips topped the U.S. Division in the regular season . . . Seattle beat Tri-City 4-2 . . . In the Eastern Conference, Regina defeated Calgary 5-2, Medicine Hat knocked off Brandon 7-2 and Swift Current shut out Moose Jaw 2-0.

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The Kamloops Blazers return to Sandman Centre on Tuesday night staring at a 2-0 deficit in their opening-round best-of-seven series against the Kelowna Rockets.

The B.C. Division rivals (Kelowna finished second in the regular season, while Kamloops was third) played the first two WHL playoff games in the Okanagan, with the Rockets sweeping the pair.

Kelowna dominated on Friday night, shutting out Kamloops 4-0 and outshooting the Blazers 48-15.

Kamloops responded with a much better effort on Saturday, but lost 3-2 while staying with Kelowna on the shot clock (the Blazers fired 35 pucks at Michael Herringer and the Rockets had 37 shots on Connor Ingram).

In Game 2, Kelowna’s Cal Foote opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game. The score stayed 1-0 through the second and midway through the third, when the Rockets scored two goals in a span of less than two minutes: Dillon Dube scored at 11:35 and at 13:34.

Kamloops responded 35 second with a goal from Quinn Benjafield and added a second goal at 16:30 on a marker from Ondrej Vala, but the club could not tie the game, which was broadcast on Shaw Cable and played before 5,647 fans at Prospera Place in downtown Kelowna.

Games 3 and 4 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday at Sandman Centre in Kamloops. Faceoff is at 7 p.m. both nights.

AROUND THE LEAGUE — Victoria and Everett split the first two games south of the border and will return to the provincial capital tied at 1-1 . . . Portland upset Prince George in Game 1. The two teams play again Sunday night in PG . . . Seattle has a 2-0 lead as the Thunderbirds and Tri-City prepare for Games 3 and 4 in Kennewick, Wash. . . . In the East, Regina leads Calgary 2-0 as the teams travel to Alberta for Games 3 and 4  . . . Moose Jaw and Swift Current are knotted at 1-1, with Games 3 and 4 set for Swift Current . . . Medicine Hat holds a 2-0 lead on Brandon, with Games 3 and 4 in Manitoba . . . Red Deer leads Lethbridge 1-0, with Game 2 Sunday in Lethbridge.

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The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League title has returned to Fruitvale.

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks completed their series sweep of the Chase Heat on Thursday night, winning Game 3 by a score of 5-2 at Art Holding Memorial Arena.

The Nitehawks last won the league title in 2013-2014, defeating the Kamloops Storm to win their second crown in a span of three seasons.

Beaver Valley made quick work of Chase in its best-of-five series in 2017, winning Game 1 by a score of 6-3 and Game 2 by a 5-4 margin, eventually eliminating the club on Thursday night.

Having won the KIJHL title, the Nitehawks, who are based in Fruitvale, will travel to nearby Creston for the 2017 Cyclone Taylor Cup, B.C.’s provincial junior B championship.

The four-team tournament will also include the Pacific Junior Hockey League champion Aldergrove Kodiaks, the host Creston Valley Thunder Cats and the eventual champion of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, currently being contested between the Campbell River Storm and the Victoria Cougars. Victoria leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

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The Kamloops Blazers staved off elimination in Kelowna on Friday night with a convincing 4-1 victory, setting the stage for a home Game 6 of the best-of-seven opening round WHL playoff series against the Rockets.

The Blazers travelled to the Okanagan down 3-1 in the series and needing to win the remaining three games to advance to the second round.

The first step was achieved before 5,547 fans at Prospera Place in the Lake City as Quinn Benjafield broke a 1-1 tie at 1:22 of the second period to set the club on the way to victory.

Rudolf Blazers’ wraparound goal at 5:32 of the third period, followed by Collin Shirley’s shorthanded marker at 12:22 of the final frame secured the victory. Shirley’s goal was the first shorthanded talk allowed by the Rockets all season long.

Reid Gardiner of Kelowna opened the scoring at 11:05 of the first period and Garrett Pilon tied the game six minutes later.

Kamloops and Kelowna were near dead-even in shots on goal, with Blazer netminder Connor Ingram turning aside 32 of 33 shots — including four impressive saves during Kelowna’s third-period power play, second before Shirley scored his shorthanded goal.

Kelowna’s Michael Herringer stopped 28 of 32 saves.

Kelowna now leads the series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Sandman Centre in Kamloops on Sunday at 7 p.m.

• While the Blazers celebrated the win, the club’s power play woes continued with a 0-for-8 stat on the night. That followed a 0-for-7 mark in the 1-0 loss at home in Game 5. Kelowna was 0-for-4 with the man advantage on Friday.

• The tale of this series can be seen on the shot clock. When Kelowna wins, the Rockets dominate on shots on goal; when Kamloops prevails (or keeps it close), the shot-on-goals margin is much tighter.

Consider: Kelowna won Game 1 by a score of 4-0 and outshot Kamloops 48-15; Kelowna beat Kamloops 3-2 in Game 2, while holding a 37-35 edge in shots; Kamloops won Game 3 by a score of 4-1, with both teams recording 38 shots on goal; Kelowna prevailed 1-0 n Game 4 and outshot Kamloops 49-24; Game 5 saw Kamloops win 4-1, wth Kelowna firing 33 shots and the Blazers responding with 32.

• The Blazers and Rockets met in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Kelowna led 3-2 going into Game 6 in Kamloops, which the Blazers won by a 4-0 score. Game 7 in Kelowna went into overtime, with the Rockets prevailing 2-1.

AROUND THE LEAGUE — Everett edged Victoria 3-2 at home on Friday to take a 3-2 series lead, with Game 6 in the provincial capital on Sunday . . . Seattle skated into Kennewick, Wash., on Friday and defeated Tri-City to sweep the series 4-0 . . . In Eastern Conference action, visiting Swift Current downed Moose Jaw 2-1 on Friday to take a 3-2 series lead, with Game 6 scheduled for Swift Current on Saturday . . . Elsewhere, Red Deer has swept Calgary 4-0, while Medicine Hat has accomplished the same over Brandon . . . Prince George and Portland are tied 2-2, with Game 5 Saturday in Prince George . . . Red Deer holds a 3-1 lead over Lethbridge, with Game 6 Saturday in Lethbridge . . .

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The schedule has been set for the 2017 Cyclone Taylor Cup and the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s representative will open play on April 6.

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks and the Campbell River Storm, who will be representing the Vancouver International Junior Hockey League, will get the tournament started at the Creston and District Community Complex.

Round-robin play will continue through April 8, with the provincial junior B championship game scheduled for the evening of April 9.

The Aldergrove Kodiaks of the Pacific Junior Hockey League and the host Creston Valley Thunder Cats round out the tournament slate.

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For the fourth consecutive season, the Kelowna Rockets will contend for the Western Conference title in the WHL playoffs.

But, just like in 2015-2016, the Seattle Thunderbirds are standing in their way.

The Rockets and T-Birds will open their best-of-seven series tomorrow night, a rematch of the 2016 conference final that saw Seattle win four straight to play for its first Ed Chynoweth Cup since 1997.

The Thunderbirds have never won a WHL title.

The Rockets, meanwhile, will be looking to avenge last season’s loss and book a spot in the final, where they hope to capture their fifth championship.

On the other side of the playoff bracket, the Regina Pats and Lethbridge Hurricanes will also open their Eastern Conference series tomorrow night.

The Pats clawed back from a 3-1 series deficit in their second-round matchup against the Swift Current Broncos to reach the conference final.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, won in overtime of Game 7 against the Medicine Hat Tigers to book their spot in the third round.

Lethbridge last contended for a WHL title in 2008, when the club was swept by the Spokane Chiefs.

The Pats haven’t played in the championship final since 1983-1984.

Nitehawks silver

The Beaver Valley Nitehawks came up one win short in their bid to capture the 2017 Keystone Cup on the weekend.

The annual Western Canadian Junior B Championship, the Keystone Cup was won by the Wainwright Bisons, who defeated the Nitehawks 4-3 in overtime in the championship final in Arborg, Man.

The Nitehawks advanced to the Keystone Cup by winning the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial championship earlier this season.

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The AAA Kamloops Junior Blazers captured gold at the Desert Classic in Osoyoos on the weekend, defeating the Hollyburn Ice Dogs 3-1 in the championship game.

The 2004-born hockey club finished second in its pool, defeating the Chilliwack Chiefs and the Kelowna Heat, but losing to the Kootenay Avalanche in double overtime. Kamloops won a semifinal contest against the Vancouver Island Monarchs to reach the final.

Ty Horner (7G, 3A), Kyson Hopson (5G, 3A), Jacob Hufty (3G, 3A), Derek Teare (3G), Seppe Mazzei (1G, 4A), Ryan Larsen (1G, 2A), Kyle Sandford (1G, 2A), Andrew Teare (1G, 1A), Garrett Martin (1G), Grady Egeland (6A), Owen Cupello (2A), Jake Poulsen (1A) and Reid Gartrell (1A)
hit the scoresheet.

All-Stars?

The Kamloops Junior Blazers hockey club booked back-to-back wins against the Okanagan All-Stars on the weekend, winning 7-1 and 5-3 in two games at Brock Arena.

Kamloops was led by Ryan Finney, who had two goals and two assists.

Jakob Gottfriedson (2G, 1A), Jacob Eichenberger (2G), Jake Phillips-Watts (2G), Noah Henson (2G), Myles Walker (1G, 3A), Nolan Duff (1G, 1A), Chase Besse (2A) and Nik Dimopoulos also had points for the 2006-born Blazers.

Goaltenders Luca Woehle and Noah Clark split time in goal.

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The 2006-born Kamloops Junior Blazers came up short in the Twin Rivers Tournament on the weekend, losing in the gold-medal game against the Kootenay Warriors 5-1.

Kamloops had cruised through the round-robin, winning 8-3 against the Okanagan All-Stars, 4-3 against Fort St. John’s North Eastern B.C. Chill and 2-1 against the Chilliwack Junior Chiefs. The hockey club also won a playoff rematch against the Chill, defeating the club 4-2 in a semifinal.

Jakob Gottfriedson (4G, 1A), Nik Dimopoulos (3G, 1A), Myles Walker (2G, 2A), Jake Phillips-Watts (2G, 2A), Ryan Smith (2G, 1A), Jacob Eichenberger (2G), Nolan Duff (2G), Ryan Finney (1G, 6A), Max Kinnee (1G, 1A), Chase Besse (2A), Dominic Malinsky-Triska (2A), Kade Lawlor (1A) and Noah Henson (1A) hit the scoresheet for the Junior Blazers throughout the weekend.

Luca Woehle and Noah Clark split time in goal.

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