Blazers surge past Raiders

Blazers goalie Connor Ingram turns away the hard charging Raiders.

    PRINCE ALBERT - The Kamloops Blazers played the role of Grinch on the Prince Albert Raiders Teddy Bear Toss night.

    Right-winger Deven Sideroff had two huge goals, which included the game winner early in the third period, and an assist, while captain Matt Needham had four helpers as the Blazers downed the Raiders 5-2 in WHL action on Saturday at the Art Hauser Centre. The two clubs were tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after the second frame before the Blazers surged to victory before a fairly packed house of 2,610 spectators.

    “It wasn’t our best effort obviously,” said Raiders right-winger Reid Gardner. “We never want to lose in front of our home fans here in P.A., especially on a Saturday night.

    “It is our only game against Kamloops this year, and we wanted to give them our best. I don’t think we gave them our best, which is disappointing for our group.”

    Things started well for the Raiders, when overage rearguard Jesse Lees fired home a shot through a screen to give the hosts a 1-0 edge. That goal caused a shower of stuffed animals to be thrown on to the ice surface as part of the Raiders Teddy Bear Toss promotion.

    The Blazers tied things up just over four minutes later as Garrett Pilon netted his eighth of the season.

    The visitors controlled play in the second, but the Raiders jumped back out in front 2-1, when Gardiner sniped his 20^th of the season top corner on Blazers netminder Connor Ingram.

    Kamloops evened the score at 2-2, when Sideroff slid home a bad angle power-play goal that took an odd turn of direction past Raiders netminder Rylan Parenteau. Just 79 seconds into the third, Sideroff scored again on the power play to give the Blazers a 3-2 lead.

Raiders winger Sean Montgomery cleans up after the teddy bear goal.

    “I thought we worked hard,” said Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid. “We just missed that little edge.

    “We hit posts. We hit crossbars. It seemed like we would go right and the puck would go left. It just wasn’t our night.”

    Blazers centre Matt Revel scored during four-on-four action right before the Raiders were about to head to the power play with 5:19 left to play in the third. Collin Shirley scored into an empty net to pick up his 20^th goal of the season to round out the scoring in the contest putting Kamloops up 5-2.

    The Raiders controlled a lot of the play in the third outshooting the Blazers 14-8. The hosts also had four chances on the power play in that stanza, but couldn’t put the puck past Ingram.

Ingram made a number of huge stops in the third, especially from close in, to back the visitors to victory.

    “To have those four power plays and not generate a whole lot was disappointing,” said Gardner. “We have tried to work on our power play the last two or three weeks.

    “I think we just need to watch more video, and put a little more thought into it.”

    Ingram made 28 saves to help the Blazers improve to 14-10-3-1.

    Parenteau turned away 28 of 32 shots to take the loss in goal for the Raiders, who fell to 18-10-2-1.

The Blazers celebrate a Deven Sideroff goal.

    Prince Albert entered Saturday’s action tied for first place in the WHL’s East Division with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Optimism was running high in Prince Albert for the Raiders, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2005 when they advanced to the Eastern Conference championship series. Since that run, the Raiders have posted a winning record only twice and missed the playoffs five times not including when they participated in a standings tiebreaking game in 2009.

    “It is a good league,” said Habscheid. “I think our guys were trying.

    “It is just they didn’t have that jump in their step. We have a day off tomorrow, a good practice on Monday and be ready for Tuesday.

    “It is a long year. You get games like that. Some games, you have that jump and you are always on the right side of the puck, and tonight we weren’t.”

    The Raiders host the resurgent Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Blazers travel to Regina on Tuesday to take on the Pats.

    If you have any comments you would like to make about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Shirley sizzles in homecoming

Collin Shirley was on fire for the Blazers on Friday night.

    Collin Shirley ensured a rare and possibly last WHL visit to his hometown was a memorable one.

    The 19-year-old forward had a pair goals, which included a beauty on a breakaway, and an assist to power his Kamloops Blazers to a 6-2 romp over the host Saskatoon Blades at the SaskTel Centre on Friday night. Besides the strong offensive night, Shirley was also a plus-four in the plus-minus department.

    “Your time in the Western League goes pretty quick,” said Shirley. “It is crazy to think that this might be the last time to see all my friends and family here in the SaskTel Centre.

    “It was a special night I think. Lots of friends and family came out to support (me), which was awesome. I really appreciate what they have done for me.”

    As the Blazers play out of the WHL’s Western Conference, they only play in Saskatoon once every second season. That means Shirley won’t play again in “the Bridge City” unless he is traded out of Kamloops, which is unlikely, or the Blazers and Blades have a surprise meeting in the WHL championship series.

    Way back in 2011, Shirley was a first round WHL Bantam Draft selection of the Kootenay Ice, and he was dealt to the Blazers early in his 17-year-old season. He has really found his stride this season posting 19 goals, 17 assists and a plus-10 rating in the plus-minus department in 27 games.

    Shirley also played for the WHL team in the Canadian Hockey League Canada Russia Series in November and collected a goal and four assists in two games.

    “I had a better start this year than last,” said Shirley, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 197 pounds. “Jumping off to a big start was huge.

    “Me and Gage Quinney and Matt Revel are kind of clicking. It is something we didn’t really have before. It has been good so far, so hopefully we can keep that up.”

    Shirley set up Quinney for the Blazers first goal at the 14:59 mark of the first period, which tied the contest up at 1-1. Cameron Hebig gave the Blades a short lived 1-0 lead scoring just past the midway point of the opening frame.

    Early in the second period, Shirley scored on breakaway potting a goal short side on Blades goaltender Brock Hamm to give the visitors a 2-1 edge. That sparked the Blazers on a roll that saw them take a 5-1 edge into the second intermission.

    “I just kind of got lucky there,” said Shirley about his breakaway goal. “There was a blocked shot off a faceoff that kind of sent me on my way.

    “I play with Brock (Hamm) during the summer a lot. We are good buddies. I got him on the short side there, which was nice.”

    Blazers head coach Don Hay said Shirley put together a strong compete level in his game about this time last year. The veteran bench boss added that Shirley’s confidence also grew from having a great showing in the CHL Canada Russia Series.

Collin Shirley checks out on ice action after a shift.

    Hay was pleased with how all his Saskatchewan players performed on Friday night, and he believed the outing had a little extra significance for Shirley.

    “I think Shirley being 19 it was special,” said Hay. “It could be the last time that he plays in this building.

    “It is always special to come home and play well.”

    Saskatoon product Garrett Pilon and Nick Chyzowski added singles for the Blazers in the second, while Shirley picked up his second marker of the contest.

    Hamm was pulled after the second period ended having stopped 20 of 25 shots fired his way.

Associate player Dorrin Luding started the third period for the Blades and gave up a goal on the first shot he faced on a soft floater from Kamloops defenceman Ondrej Vala. Luding settled down turning away 10 of 11 shots sent his way.

    Mason McCarty rounded out the game’s scoring potting his sixth of the season for the Blades with 24.3 seconds to play in the third. Saskatoon lost its fifth in a row falling to 10-16-3.

    Imperial, Sask., product Connor Ingram made 33 stops to earn the win in goal for the Blazers (13-10-3-1).

    While the offensive side of Shirley’s game had hit another gear, he is even more proud of his work in the defensive zone.

    “For a long time, we talked about my play without the puck,” said Shirley. “I have always been a minus player in the league since I was 16 until last year.

    “This year I am kind of hoping to be in that plus (side of things) and be better defensively. The offence is there, but I need a full game.”

    Shirley had a large contingent of family and friends in the crowd of 3,797 on Friday night. There were two noticeable absences as his younger sisters Grace and Sophie were playing at the Mandi Schwartz Memorial Tournament being held in Wilcox, Sask., and Milestone, Sask.

    Grace is a 14-year-old rookie forward on the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team, who has 11 goals and six assists in 16 regular season games. Sophie is a 16-year-old rookie with the Notre Dame Hounds squad that plays in the Junior Women’s Hockey League, and she has piled up 10 goals and 13 assists in 16 regular season games. 

Collin Shirley's breakaway goal celebration is shown on the video screen.

    On Monday, Sophie was named as a member of Canada’s team that will play at the 2016 International Ice Hockey Federation’s under-18 women’s world championships, which run Jan. 8-15 in St. Catharines, Ont.

    Collin is proud of both of his sisters, and was pumped that Sophie will get the chance to play on the international stage.

    “We give her (Sophie) a lot of credit,” said Collin. “She is a great player.

    “I used to teach her all that stuff on the backyard rink. I am just kidding. She is doing really well, and I am happy for her.”

    The Blazers head to Prince Albert on Saturday to take on the Raiders. The Blades host the Regina Pats on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

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