Image credit: CFJC Today/Kent Simmonds

By Marty Hastings

IN THE WHL

Blazers hold meeting to discuss dismal weekend, aim for better against Brandon

Jan 21, 2025 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Lengthy ferry and bus rides home from Vancouver Island this past weekend offered ample time for the Kamloops Blazers to ponder back-to-back 7-1 defeats to the Victoria Royals.

They had more time to think about what went wrong during a lengthy meeting on Monday (Jan. 20) at Sandman Centre.

“We showed us not playing right — like nowhere near right,” said Blazers’ head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston, noting he also screened glowing samples of play for comparison. “Without going into the fine details, we were really, really off with our structure and our intensity on the track, on getting back into our zone. We took a real step forward two weekends ago and we gave that up last weekend. Unfortunately, it was a fail.”

The Blazers are aiming to bounce back on Wednesday (Jan. 22) against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings in a tilt featuring clubs fighting to get into post-season position in their respective conferences.

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Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Sandman Centre.

“Obviously, it sucks, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to take the message and learn from it and put it behind us and look forward to the next game,” Blazers’ defenceman Ryan Michael said of the weekend setbacks.

“Honestly, I thought we got away from quite a few things in terms of our basic structure and energy and the effort level wasn’t quite there.”

Veteran forward John Szabo said team zeal was another meeting topic.

“We need more energy,” Szabo said. “Coach really got that through to us and tried amping up the energy in the meeting and on the ice.

“It’s not so much demoralizing, but it’s about learning from our mistakes, and it should get us excited to go back out and play our game and play it to the best of our ability, which we didn’t do last weekend.”

INJURY UPDATE

Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospect Harrison Brunicke’s absence continues to plague the Blazers’ back end and his return from a broken wrist is not likely to happen prior to Jan. 31, according to Clouston.

“He’s been skating. He looks great. He’s been ripping slap shots,” Clouston said, noting the Penguins must approve Brunicke’s return to the lineup. “When he does get the okay, I think he’ll be ready to go. Everybody just needs to make sure the bone is healed well enough for intense contact.”