Blazers Double Royals 4-2

Not a bad game tonight at the Sportcenter... The Blazers drew 11 powerplay opportunities and stayed fairly discipline in the process taking just five penalties.

The Blazers used the PP to score three goals - including two back-to-back 65 seconds apart in the first period to take the lead.

A few players that caught my eye on the Blazers included D Josh Connolly, D Marek Hrbas, and F Tim Bozon. Captain Chase Schaber was physical and scored the Blazers only even strength goal on the night.

The Royals have some good young talent coming up. I was impressed with some of their new younger faces.

All-in-all the game had good pace. The Sportscenter is a pretty good pre-season venue with the building nearly full..

Here's the write-up from the Blazers website http://www.blazerhockey.com :


The Kamloops Blazers kicked off the preseason with a 4-2 win at the McArthur Island Sports Centre over the Victoria Royals Friday night. It was a game dominated by special teams as the Blazers opened the scoring on a 5-on-3 powerplay with JT Barnett ripping a shot past goaltender Jared Rathjen for a 1-0 lead. A minute and five seconds later, the Blazers made it 2-0 on the powerplay, as Colin Smith snuck a shot through Rathjen and 15-year-old Jordan Thomson picked up an assist on the goal.

The Blazers took a 2-0 into the second period, but the Royals cut into the lead only 37 seconds into the period. Robin Soudek snapped a shot over Cam Lanigan’s shoulder, and the Royals made it 2-1. Halfway through the frame both teams switched goaltenders with the Blazers putting in Cole Cheveldave and the Royals turning to Braden Gamble.

In the third period, Chase Schaber scored an even strength marker at 11:29 and it looked like the Blazers were destined to victory. The Royals fought back though as Kade Pilton blasted a shot past Cheveldave on the powerplay cutting the score to 3-2. Chase Souto sealed the game with a powerplay goal just over a minute later and the Blazers went on to win 4-2.

Cam Lanigan stopped 16 shots while Cole Cheveldave turned 11 shots aside in the victory. There were tons of powerplays in this affair as the Blazers finished 3-for-11 and the Royals were 1-for-5.

The Blazers next preseason action goes tomorrow night as they visit the Vancouver Giants in Ladner.