If you took a poll right now to find out who is favoured to win the Western Hockey League’s B.C. Division, the two-time defending division-champion Kamloops Blazers would be at the top of the list.
The Blazers have been potential championship contenders the past two seasons but didn’t get the chance to prove it, and they can lay the blame squarely on that nasty virus that wiped out the playoffs in each of the last two years and still refuses to loosen its deadly grip on society.
COVID or not, the show is going on in a modified WHL preseason that got underway Friday night in Kamloops, where the Blazers faced the Prince George Cougars. The Blazers have owned the Cougars in head-to-head play and Friday’s result followed that pattern, a 5-3 Blazers’ triumph in which they outshot the Cats 45-25.
Dylan Sydor’s unassisted goal 1:44 into the third period gave the Blazers a 4-3 lead, 18 seconds after Logan Bairos fired the go-ahead goal on a Kamloops power play. Sydor, 17, whose father Darryl had a stellar career as a Blazers defenceman before going on to win Stanley Cups for Dallas and Tampa Bay, also drew two assists.
Connor Levis added to the Blazer total on another Kamloops power play with 10 seconds left. Nick McCarry and Mats Lindgren also scored, much to the liking of a partisan crowd of 1,164 at Sandman Centre. McCarry also had a pair of assists.
Koehn Ziemmer, Hudson Thornton and Caden Brown scored for Prince George. Ziemmer, whose nine goals led the Cougars in their 22-game 2021 season, got a puck past Blazer goalie Jesse Makaj to open the scoring 5:31 in. Mitch Kohner and Ephram McNutt drew the assists. It was McNutt’s first Cougar point since he and fellow drafted forward Zackary Shantz signed with the Cats earlier in the week. Thronton’s goal came on a second-period power play.
Makaj and Dylan Ernst split the Kamloops goaltending duties. Makaj allowed one goal on 12 shots, while Ernst stopped 11 of 13 shots he faced. Rookie Ty Young started in goal for the Cougars and stopped 21 of 22 shots. Tyler Brennan replaced him at the halfway mark and blocked 18 of 22 shots he faced.
The Blazers finished 3-for7 on the power play, while the Cougars went 1-for-4.
The same teams meet again Saturday (7 p.m.) in Prince George at CN Centre. Fans will be required to show proof of at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, as per provincial health orders.
