Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Earl Seitz

Blazers roster

Blazers 2020-21 roster is younger

Mar 4, 2021 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — With the B.C. Division set to begin play March 26, players will begin self-quarantining this weekend before reporting to their teams March 13.

With a 24 game season, about a third of the normal, some rosters will look different than the usual 68 game season.

The Blazers current roster stands at 22, and that’s what they’ll go into the season with.

Fourteen were on the roster when last season was cut short after the last game March 10, 2020 – eight were not.

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“Whenever we were going to start, we had a pretty good feel of what our roster was going to look like.”

In most seasons they would carry two or three sixteen year olds —- the current 22 player lineup has six 16’s.

Another big number difference is in 19 year olds —- from seven last season to three now.

It will be a younger team, from an average age of 18.09 at the end of last season to 17.68 with the current lineup.

With a short season, and maybe no playoffs, it could be perceived as a development year, building for next season.

“We always want to develope. That’s a goal here — but we also want to win.” says Blazers General Manager Matt Bardsley. “Regardless of whether there is a playoff or not we still want to win the B.C. Division. It’s important to remember that whether you are 16 or 19 or 20 you are still developing — we have a responsibility to all of our players.”

That’s the reason the league felt it was so important to get in a season, even a short one.

With a younger team, Bardsley says the addition of Brodi Stuart as an assistant coach is big.

Stuart would have been an overage, but any season was wiped out by a knee injury.

“I think he’s going to be able to help in all aspects. From a coaching side, to be a mentor for the players — having the amount of young guys we’re going to have, to have someone like Brodi that young, transitioning from a player into a coach he’s going to be able to help them as well — to manage their time. It’s going to be an adjustment as always, for 16 year olds when they come in.”

The most devastating off season loss is Kyrell Sopotyk, who Bardsley says was everything they want in the identity of the Blazers.

Sopotyk, who would have been going into his 19 year old season, was left paralyzed from the waist down in a January snowboarding mishap.

“It’s absolutely devastating. It’s hard for everybody, hard for him.” says Bardsley. “We’re still supportive of Kyrell. We stay in touch, he’s going to continue to be a Blazer — we want to try to find a way to keep him involved if we can. The first thing is for him to work on his recovery. We want to make sure we’re giving him the time to do that. It’s hard to replace a person and a player like Tyrell. He was important to our players in all aspects.”