Monday, December 05, 2011

All the right stuff...


Right now... the Blazers have it.

They're finding ways to win games when sometimes they're not the better team.  It's six in a row now and the Blazers haven't played great in any of the six...yet good enough to win.  With wins over Victoria (4-1), Seattle (8-2), Victoria (4-3), Victoria (6-5OT), PG (5-4), Victoria (4-2), the Blazers have ran their record to 20-7-1 and the 2nd best win percentage in the WHL at .732. 

There's was a lot of talk this weekend the Blazers wouldn't have won the two weekend games last year.  That team was finding ways to lose. 

The Blazers wrap up the home schedule of the first half Wednesday against the Everett Silvertips.  It's the return of former Blazers JT Barnett and Josh Caron, who were both dealt to the 'Tips for future draft picks.

Here's some news and notes from the weekend:

- I ran into Prince Albert GM Bruno Campese at the mall in Kamloops a few hours before the Blazers hosted Victoria Saturday night.  He took in the game but did so under a low profile.

- What happened with Charles Inglis and the Cougars following the game at ISC Friday night?  He was involved in an altercation with Chase Schaber at the end of the game. Did something carry over from that?  Something transpired post-game which had the Cougars sending Inglis home to await a trade. 

- The Blazers four wins this weekend should be enough to get them back into the CHL Top 10...take it for what it is though.  With the completion of Sunday's games, the Blazers have a better winning percentage/record than six of the 10 teams named in the Top Ten last week.

- I thought it was a good weekend for two rookie defenseman who saw more ice-time because of the Josh Caron trade and an injury to Brady Gaudet.

- Gaudet may play Wednesday. If not he'll be ready for the start of the East division road swing beginning Saturday in Swift Current.

- F Ryan Hanes 4th goal of the season turned out to be the game-winner Saturday night against Victoria.  Of all the guys out there, he's an easy one to root for.  Linemate Chase Souto had scored in two games in a row prior to Saturday and was looking to keep it going...."two's a fluke, three is a streak," he said in our pre-game show.  Any offense from the Blazers 4th line is a welcomed bonus.

- F Tim Bozon's goal celebrations have his teammates taking notice.  Bozon admitted he has been egged on a little by the guys which led for his "calling out to the fans to throw the bears" Friday night after he scored the Teddy Bear toss goal vs the Cougars.

- Remember this blog post back in August on the Ten Things the Blazers must overcome to have a successful season?  I'll be doing a follow-up  near mid-season report card post in the coming days.

- The Blazers six game winning streak is the longest since the 06/07 season.  That year they had two eight-game winning streaks near mid-season.

- Every team goes through adversity and a tough stretch during a season. My experience is that it's inevitable.  The Blazers haven't really had any substantial problems are stretches of poor play.  It's going to happen though.  When it does, let's hope it's short and they bounce back strong.

Jon

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Kamloops should Blaze their way into the CHL Top 10.