Eye.Of.The.Tiger
09-13-2007, 08:03 PM
The Kamloops Blazers’ coaching staff gets its last preseason look at its team tonight.
It also will be its first long look at goaltender Justin Leclerc as he is scheduled to play the entire game as the Blazers meet the Kelowna Rockets, 7 p.m., at Interior Savings Centre.
Leclerc, 18, was acquired prior to training camp from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 2008 second-round bantam draft pick. Leclerc, from Saskatoon, had a terrific 16-year-old season, but his play tailed off last season and then he was taken out by mononucleosis.
Healthy now, his presence in Kamloops provided the Blazers with more options, especially in terms of 20-year-old players.
The Blazers’ roster features four 20-year-olds — goaltender Dustin Butler, who put up 33 victories after being acquired from the Portland Winter Hawks early last season, defencemen Ryan Bender and Ryan White, and centre Brock Nixon. The Blazers would love to keep all four, but WHL rules dictate that they must declare three by Oct. 11.
Dean Clark, the Blazers’ general manager and head coach, would prefer to get that out of the way long before then, however.
It also will be its first long look at goaltender Justin Leclerc as he is scheduled to play the entire game as the Blazers meet the Kelowna Rockets, 7 p.m., at Interior Savings Centre.
Leclerc, 18, was acquired prior to training camp from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 2008 second-round bantam draft pick. Leclerc, from Saskatoon, had a terrific 16-year-old season, but his play tailed off last season and then he was taken out by mononucleosis.
Healthy now, his presence in Kamloops provided the Blazers with more options, especially in terms of 20-year-old players.
The Blazers’ roster features four 20-year-olds — goaltender Dustin Butler, who put up 33 victories after being acquired from the Portland Winter Hawks early last season, defencemen Ryan Bender and Ryan White, and centre Brock Nixon. The Blazers would love to keep all four, but WHL rules dictate that they must declare three by Oct. 11.
Dean Clark, the Blazers’ general manager and head coach, would prefer to get that out of the way long before then, however.