Image Credit: Texas Stars/CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

TEXAS STARS

Former Blazers Stankoven and Seminoff finding their way in the Lone Star State

Nov 15, 2023 | 12:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Matthew Seminoff and Logan Stankoven were huge pieces for the Kamloops Blazers over the past few seasons, especially in the lead-up to the 2023 Memorial Cup. Both are now playing professional hockey in Austin, Texas for the Dallas Stars’ AHL affiliate.

CFJC Today caught up with the former Blazers over Zoom this week to find out how the transition to the pro game is going.

“Looking back now — you don’t realize it in the moment, but you truly do miss it,” Texas Stars forward Logan Stankoven says. “Hopefully, I’ll create a new chapter down here in Texas, but looking back, I sure do miss it.”

Stankoven knows how lucky he was to live and play at home for the entirety of his WHL career. It’s a fact he’s become keenly aware of now that he’s out on his own for the first time.

1000 Ways to Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: Moons

Dec 10, 2024

Question of the Week

Should Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson apologize or resign after it was found he breached a section of council's code of conduct for allowing false or misleading information to be communicated?

Dec 09, 2024

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Donald has it wrong - again

Dec 08, 2024

“Yeah, I lived at home in Kamloops,” Stankoven recalls. “I’m not going to lie, I had a lot of meals made for me and ready to go, so I didn’t have to do much cooking.”

Hockey seems to be the easy part. Through 12 AHL games with Texas, Stankoven has scored eight goals and added seven assists.

“Obviously, when those chances do come, you’ve got to bear down,” Stankoven says. “Compared to junior, you don’t get as many chances and the guys are bigger and faster out there, so you’ve got to make heads-up plays.”

It’s been more of an adjustment for Matthew Seminoff, who’s also made the Texas Stars roster to start the season. Seminoff had 31 goals and 51 assists for the Blazers last year. This season with Texas, he has played in 11 games and registered a pair of assists.

“My role in Austin is a lot different from Kamloops where you’re playing every power play and late in games. If you need a goal, you’re out there,” Seminoff says. “It’s a bit of a change. For me, I’ve just been trying to embrace my role as, you know, bring some energy and kill penalties as hard as I can. As for right now, I’m just focusing on trying to play my game, play my role well, and the rest will come later.”

Austin is a long way from Kamloops. The transition for both players has been a little easier, having each other around.

“It helps a lot, to have a familiar face. I think for him, too, just having someone you grew up playing with,” Seminoff says. “We played the last four years together so that really helps a lot.”

For both players, the ultimate goal remains to get that call-up to the big club in Dallas. Stankoven knows that if he continues to work hard and pays attention to detail, that chance will come.

“The main goal is to get a taste and to stay, right? If you do get called up and sent back down it’s not the end of the world,” Stankoven says. “But [I’m] just working on my game down here. Little pieces like winning battles on the wall, since I’m a winger now, it’s a little bit different than playing centre. Just trying to learn little pieces to my game and working on those things, so that when I do get called up I can fit right in.”