Image Credit: Prince George Cougars

By Adam Donnelly

THE HUNDREDS CLUB

Milestones abound for Kamloops Blazers this season

Nov 29, 2022 | 5:24 PM

KAMLOOPS — On Saturday night, Fraser Minten scored his 7th goal of the season to make the score 3-1 for the Blazers against the Cougars in Prince George. That game was the 100th of Minten’s career with the Blazers.

“It’s been lots of hours at the rink, on the bus, and maturing as a person over the course of that span, growing into more of a leader on this team,” Minten says. “It’s really cool to hit that milestone.”

It was a weekend of milestones for the Blazers. On Friday, Daylan Keufler picked up the 100th point of his career on Logan Stankoven’s goal early in the third period against Moose Jaw.

“Yeah, it’s obviously pretty cool,” Keufler says. “It’s something you think about growing up — am I going to play in the Western [Hockey League]? To be able to put up 100 points is pretty surreal.”

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Two more Blazers have also reached century milestones in recent weeks. Matthew Seminoff record his 100th point against the Rockets on November 12, while Logan Bairos reached the 100-game plateau in the same game. But the big milestone came back in October when Head Coach Shaun Clouston got his 500th win behind a WHL bench.

“The cool thing about it was the texts and the social media messages,” Clouston says. “It was from players, from people I’d coached with, former coaches. Just friends, and then the hockey world. It made me reflect on some things and just appreciate the time that I’ve had.”

While 100 games or 100 points in the WHL isn’t a record, the disruption as a result of the pandemic has certainly affected how these young athletes have developed.

“The hundreds have been harder to hit because we had a hub season, right?” Clouston says. “I think the hundreds are exciting for the players. 100 points, you’ve gotta be in the league for a bit, and have some success. In order to reach those, you have to have some perseverance, you’ve got to have some luck. You’ve got to play on some good teams. It’s an exciting time for lots of guys.“

For Minten and Keufler, who share a billet family, it’s been fun to share in each other’s success.

“Really cool to see a guy come up and started as an in-and-out guy at 17, at 18 scores four goals, then 40 last year and gets drafted,” Minten says about Keufler. “Great to see him get 100 points.”

“He’s going to be a special player. You can tell,” Keufler says about Minten. “Just the way he carries himself as a person, the way he is on the ice — he’s determined, he’s one of the smartest guys I know. I know he’ll be successful at this level and at the next level.”