T-Birds/Blazers

[scamperdog]

OUCH! 5-0
Not much to say about this one.
The Blazers SUCKED big time tonight,
Maybe a week of practice will get them back on track.
7 periods without a goal. nhl
Maybe they have been watching the canucks :eek:

Scoring

1. SEA Boyer, (1) (Scott), 12:33
1. SEA Scott, (7) (Stamler, Gagnon), 15:22 (PP)
1. SEA Gagnon, (18) (Scott, DeSerres), 15:40 (PP)
2. SEA Gagnon, (19) (Hickey), 0:18
3. SEA McKenzie, (6) (Meidl), 5:27 (PP)
Penalties
1 - KAM Stretch, 0:30 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
1 - SEA Durand, 3:16 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
1 - SEA Stamler, 6:46 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
1 - SEA Olson, 8:45 - Major-Fighting , 5 min
1 - KAM Kassian, 8:45 - Major-Fighting , 5 min
1 - KAM Kassian, 13:45 - 10-Minute Misconduct , 10 min
1 - KAM Rohac, 15:11 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
1 - KAM Rohac, 15:11 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
1 - KAM Rowley, 16:39 - Interference , 2 min (PP)
1 - KAM Jorgensen, 17:25 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
2 - SEA Stamler, 1:05 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
2 - SEA Bakken, 6:56 - Hooking , 2 min (PP)
2 - SEA Jackson, 9:47 - Tripping , 2 min (PP)
2 - SEA Meidl, 13:33 - Unsportsmanlike Cnd. , 2 min
2 - SEA Olson, 13:33 - Interference , 2 min (PP)
2 - KAM Kraus, 13:33 - Cross Checking , 2 min
2 - KAM Bender, 19:06 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
2 - SEA Schappert, 20:00 - Roughing , 2 min (PP)
3 - KAM Dunstall, 3:30 - Interference , 2 min (PP)
3 - SEA Durand, 6:32 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
3 - SEA Stamler, 11:11 - Holding , 2 min (PP)
3 - KAM Macias, 15:48 - High Sticking , 2 min (PP)
3 - SEA Scott, 18:20 - Tripping , 2 min (PP)
Three Stars
1. SEA - 7 Aaron Gagnon
2. SEA - 29 Jacob DeSerres
3. SEA - 4 Thomas Hickey

[scamperdog]

T-Birds trounce Blazers
by Gregg Drinnan

Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope never worked this well.

The Seattle Thunderbirds, outshot 10-0 through the WHL game’s first 12 minutes 32 seconds, climbed off the canvas and blistered the Kamloops Blazers 5-0 Sunday night before 4,821 fans at the Interior Savings Centre.

The loss came 24 hours after the Blazers, the highest-scoring team in the Western Conference, were beaten 3-0 by the Chilliwack Bruins, who posted the first home-ice shutout in their 33-game history.

And just like that the team that went to bed Friday night having won eight in a row woke up this morning on a two-game losing streak.

“I think we got a little full of ourselves after the two periods against Chilliwack where we got up 5-0,” said Dean Clark, the Blazers’ general manager and head coach, referring to a Friday victory over the Bruins. “Since then, we haven’t paid a dear enough price to score.

“The other goaltenders that we played against have been very solid. The teams that we played against, in Chilliwack and tonight, played very, very good games.”

The Blazers held a wide edge in play early on but weren’t able to beat Seattle goaltender Jacob De Serres, a 16-year-old from Calgary who was making his ninth appearance of the season. He finished with 26 saves for his second shutout.

“Jake was excellent early on,” offered Seattle head coach Rob Sumner. “He let us get our legs under us.”

Even when Seattle’s Jeremy Boyer scored his first WHL goal at 12:33 on the Thunderbirds’ first shot on goal, the Blazers seemed to be in pretty good shape.

But, at 14:11, Kamloops winger Ivan Rohac clipped Seattle’s Bud Holloway in the face with his stick and received a double minor for high-sticking.

Seattle struck at 15:22 (Greg Scott) and 15:40 (Aaron Gagnon) and, just like that, it was 3-0, with the Blazers holding a 10-6 edge in shots on goal.

When Gagnon scored again, just 18 seconds into the second period, this one was over. Ian McKenzie wrapped up the scoring in the third period.

“Down 3-0, you want to chip away,” Clark said. “But we gave them another one in the first minute of the second period. That’s kind of the way it was for us.”

The Blazers still had chances — they received four straight power-play opportunities in the second period — but it wasn’t going to happen for them on this night. It was their seventh game in 10 nights — Seattle was playing its sixth in 10 — and they looked every bit of it.

“Yeah, we’ve had a busy schedule,” Kamloops captain Reid Jorgensen said, “but they played three in three nights, too. We have no excuses. We got outworked.”

Gagnon, who is from Armstrong, led the Seattle work crew. He finished with two goals and an assist, giving him 100 goals and 201 points in 251 regular-season games.

“I had heard a couple of days ago that I was close,” Gagnon, 20, said of goal No. 100. “(My teammates) were yelling to get the puck and I told them just to drop the puck, that I didn’t know what they were talking about.”

Like Sumner, Gagnon was quick to credit De Serres for giving his club a chance.

“They outshot us 10-0 at the start,” Gagnon said, “but we had a couple of penalties and put ourselves in a bad situation. But I don’t think we ever got worried and our goalie played well. That was the difference.”

The Blazers’ Dustin Butler, who was beaten five times on 16 shots, lost for the first time in 13 home starts.

“Unfortunately, (Butler) doesn’t have his regular night,” Clark said, “and we didn’t have anyone step up to help him out.”

On Saturday, the Blazers were blanked for the second time this season.

Chilliwack goaltender Alex Archibald stopped 38 shots for his — and the expansion team’s — second shutout. Stephane Lenoski, at 2:29 of the second period on a power play, gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead — it was a Teddy Bear goal — and the home team put it away with third-period goals from Josh Aspenlind and Cody Smuk, the latter into an empty net.

Kamloops goaltender Dalyn Flette turned aside 24 shots.

JUST NOTES: Referees Matt Kirk and Steve Papp gave Seattle 11 of 20 minors and one of two majors. The Blazers took the lone misconduct. . . . The Kamloops power play, 17-for-75 in nine games prior to Saturday, was 0-for-8 in Chilliwack and 0-for-10 last night. . . . The victory lifted Seattle (13-9-1-8) to within one point of the second-place Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs in the U.S. Division. . . . Former Kamloops RW Moises Gutierrez (knee) didn’t play in Everett’s 4-3 shootout victory over visiting Seattle on Saturday. . . . G Dustin Slade, who walked away from Vancouver on Nov. 20 has spoken with Giants owner Ron Toigo and head coach Don Hay about a possible return
www.kamloopsnews.ca