By Adam Donnelly

Stankoven sets BCMML record with 45th goal of the season

Feb 25, 2019 | 3:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s been a season to remember for Logan Stankoven, including his first WHL game back in October, and notching his first WHL point in that contest.

As a 15-year-old, Stankoven has terrorized goalies in the BC Major Midget League, amassing 86 points — including 44 goals — heading into Sunday’s contest with the South Island Royals.

“He’s exceeded our expectations, he’s exceeded his own,” Thompson Blazers head coach Carter Cochrane said after the game. “He set a goal for himself, wanting to be a point-per-game player this year, and he definitely went above and beyond that.”

44 goals also happened to be the league record, set back in the 2013/14 season by current NHL’er and former Okanagan Rocket Tyson Jost. On Sunday, Stankoven was all set to break Jost’s record, and etch his name into the BCMML’s record book — but for the first 57 minutes of the contest, it wasn’t a sure thing.

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“I think it’s carried over from [Canada Winter Games in] Red Deer,” Stankoven explained. “I didn’t have the best success in Red Deer, individually or team-wise. You’ve gotta push through that and, you know, it’ll come.”

It’s not like Stankoven was kept off the scoresheet in Sunday’s game. He had three assists as the clock ticked down, giving him 45 helpers on the year and pushing his point total to 89; with time winding down in the 3rd period, it seemed he and his teammates might have to wait until next weekend to celebrate.

But Logan had other ideas. With 3:24 remaining in the third period, on a three-on-three rush, he took a pass from Jarrod Semchuk in the slot and slid it past South Island netminder Brendan Forman to score the record-breaking goal.

The relief was evident in Stankoven’s celly.

“I know in [Saturday’s] game I had lots of chances to score, as well. Same with today. It was nice to get that on, for sure,” Stankoven said. “Give credit to my teammates, it was a nice play off the rush there, and it found the back of the net.”

The Thompson Blazers have four regular season games remaining. Next weekend they host the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds, before finishing off the season against the North East Chiefs in Vancouver March 9 and 10. With the record out of the way, Stankoven and his teammates can focus on the details in their game, and the possibility of a playoff push.

“We’ve gotta play playoff-like hockey,” Stankoven told CFJC Today. “The next two weekends we have coming up are against two tough teams… and we’ve had tough times beating them, so hopefully the next two weekends we can do that and then bring that into playoffs.”