Wednesday 22 January 2014

Blazers Beat Hurricanes 7-1 in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS, BC - A first period let down by the visitors powered the Kamloops Blazers to a 7-1 victory over the struggling Lethbridge Hurricanes Wednesday night.

A disaster of a first period for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Kamloops Blazers opened the scoring in this game with a pair of goals in a span of just 14 seconds. Tyson Ness got things going when his shot beat Canes goaltender Jarrod Schamerhorn. That made it 1-0 Kamloops. Right off the face-off at centre ice the Blazers came down the ice and scored on their next shot when Cole Ully found the back of the net. That made it 2-0 Blazers. Just over three minutes later, Kamloops got another. This time Chase Souto was left alone in front of the net and buried it by Schamerhorn to give Kamloops a big 3-0 lead. That was it for Schamerhorn. He was pulled in favour Jonny Hogue. Not too long after that, the Blazers were given a power play and they made good when Sam Grist's point shot was tipped by Matt Revel. That goal put the home team ahead 4-0 after 20 minutes of play. Schamerhorn surrendered 3 goals on just 7 shots. Lethbridge out shot Kamloops 12-11.

In the second, things settled down, at least on the offence side of things. There were three fights in the period. As for scoring, there was nothing in this period. The Hurricanes best chance came when Jamal Watson was sprung free on a shorthanded breakaway, but he rung the shot off the post and out. Kamloops managed to keep the Canes off the shore sheet in the second period. Lethbridge held a slight edge in shots at 23-22.

In the third, the Hurricanes finally got on the board when Giorgio Estephan tipped home his 9th goal of the season on a Lethbridge power play. That cut the Kamloops lead to 4-1. That didn't last long. Just 11 seconds later, Kamloops forward Tyson Ness moved in off the face-off at centre ice and scored his second of the game to make 5-1 Blazers. Kamloops wasn't done there. They'd keep the offence coming. Collin Shirley lit the red light, beating Jonny Hogue to make it 6-1 Kamloops and before it was said and done Chase Souto scored his second of the game and that would be the end as the Blazers would skate away with a lop-sided 7-1 victory. The Hurricanes went 1/3 on the power play and Kamloops finished the game 1/3. The Blazers out shot the Canes 38-31. The loss drops the Hurricanes overall record to 9-36-2-3 in 50 games this season.

Next Up

The Hurricanes will get a much needed day off Thursday before two very tough games to conclude this BC road trip. The Canes will play a very improved Vancouver Giants team on Friday (Jan. 24) at Pacific Coliseum. The Giants, after finishing the season last year with the worst overall record and then scoring the first overall pick in the WHL Bantam draft in May, are back in the playoff picture in the West less than pne year later. The Giants have 6 wins in their last 10 games and are a well over .500 hockey club. This is the first of two meetings this season between Lethbridge and Vancouver. The Giants will make the return trip to southern Alberta February 17th. Game time Friday in 8:30 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 8:00.

Thanks,
Pat

10 comments:

  1. 7-1 against the second worst team in the league. Good thing we had all Drake`s systems in place to save us from another humiliating loss.

    With any luck, all the Canes coaches will all get the flu and one of the player`s mom`s will be bench boss for the next few games. How could she possibly do any worse?

    Tell the players to do the exact OPPOSITE of what the "coaches systems" have been telling them to do all year, and MAYBE they will have a chance to succeed.

    What is going to change next year? We will lose Swenson (absolutely useless), Ramsay (coaches killed all his interest and creativity by the end of October), and Derko (luckiest of the twenties to be out for the remainder of the year).

    The level of failure this organization has achieved this year with all its `changes` must rival the WHL`s previous worst. What a complete organizational disaster. From President of the board, to the GM, and the coaches he has hired. What have any of them done to improve this team. What a brillant ``Culture`` change. Great ``Accountability.``

    Two more years with these incomps leading this team. The ONLY way you are going to change the culture is to get rid of the losing culture that these guys have now put in place.

    Sell the team to people who will hire qualified people to run a WHL hockey team. Its the only chance the franchise has. Replace the board with other incomps and you just get more of the same incompetence.

    Sick and Tired of Sick and Tired excuses.

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  2. There is always a team in last place... just be happy it's the first time in franchise history...

    There are 12 players (avg is 6 or 7) in their draft year, a.k.a. it's a young team!!

    Support them or find another team to post about.

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  3. Anonymous 4:44 Virtually every person I know supports the players and even feels bad for them. What we do not support is a BD, GM and coaching staff that seem perfectly okay with running this team into the ground, refuse to accept that what they are doing isn't working and make no attempt whatsoever to instill changes that will allow these players to build even the teensiest bit of self confidence.

    -cc

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  4. It is true there is always a team in last place. It's supposed to be a team that loaded up for a big run the year before and traded it's future away for a chance at the championship, not a team that finished out of the playoffs 4 or 5 years running and has received high draft choices up the ying yang. Sick and Tired is not being unsupportive of the team (well except maybe for his remark about Ramsay - his creativity has certainly been stifled by bad coaching, but credit the kid for staying interested and giving lots of effort in a hopeless cause), he's lamenting the people who created this mess. It wasn't the team that caused this failure, it was the people who are responsible to build and guide the team. And they have not done their jobs and need to be held accountable. Just because there is always a last place team doesn't mean it's a desirable or necessary place to be. If you stifle criticism of this failure how does that support the team going forward?

    Red Line

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  5. How many times have the Hurricanes given up a goal within seconds of a centre ice face off this year? It seems to happen all the time. It happened last game after the Canes had scored and sapped any momentum they might have gained. In this game it happens directly after the Blazers score killing any sort of will to fight the boys may have had (at least that is how it appears). This season has been frustrating at best. Hopefully, the Canes can get on some kind of a roll to set up for next year.

    NN

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  6. Do stats tell a false tale, in some cases yes, but in this case I think not.
    Canes worst year 87-88 W-18 L-52 T-4 Pts 44.
    Canes current year W-9 L-36 Other-5 Pts 23. If you average 23 points over 50 games that works out to .46 points per game and therefore over 72 games it would work out to 33 pts. That would mean the Canes would have to win 5 out of their last 22 games.
    Canes are averaging 2.15 GF and 4.58 GA . Most penalized team with 933 PIM. Where are the Canes in the standings? Dead last with no signs of improving on their position. Negative comment? No, just the facts as shown by the numbers.

    As a fan, very frustrated. But still will attend the last 10 home games.

    Dump'n Chase

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  7. I have been trying to think of something positive about the Canes play for the last while and I am stumped.

    I too will attend the last 10 home games as a fan. Frustrated most definitely but hopeful to see some improvement.

    A View From Above

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  8. Based on what we know today and what has transpired since the 10Jan trade deadline and if there is not some type of significant shakeup? This will be the worst team to ever display the Lethbridge name! And that is a negative comment no matter how you slice it, sorry! After last night in Kloops, it is entirely possible that they may not win another game this season! Berehowski looks lost and the players look like they have had all but given up...4 games max!

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. Watching the highlights, pathetic lethargic performance, zero effort from a large number.

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  9. Nice to see on of our fan favourites Folk is back in action!!
    Amson too, he played hard every single shift before he went under the knife!!

    Alright guys, lets beat the Giants tonight, I'm jealous in that the guys are lucky to get a free trip to Vancouver in the winter... enjoy it and earn the 2 points!!

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