Blazers blast Bruins at MSA

Chilliwack Bruins forward Jadon Potter looks for room to operate against Kamloops Blazers defender Ryan White (6) as teammate Colby Kulhanek (left) looks on during Tuesday night’s WHL exhibition game at MSA Arena. Potter and Kulhanek combined on a third period power play goal, but that was one of the rare highlights on the night for the local club as Kamloops posted an impressive 7-1 victory...  JOHN MORROW The Abbotsford News

By DAN KINVIG
Abbotsford News

Sep 13 2007

In 2006, Al Gore’s hit documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” sounded the alarm about climate change.

On Tuesday night, another Gore – Chilliwack Bruins goalie Lucas – had an inconvenient truth of his own to contend with: that his teammates were offering little in the way of resistance in the face of a withering Kamloops Blazers forecheck. The netminder was frequently left to fend for himself as the Bruins surrendered bushels of defensive zone turnovers and odd-man rushes, and the end result was a 7-1 Blazers victory.

“It was a bit rough,” Gore admitted after the exhibition tilt, which was held at Abbotsford’s MSA Arena. “The whole team wasn’t playing as good as we usually do, and I wasn’t playing my best.”

All told, Gore faced 44 Blazer shots, while his teammates could only generate 16 shots at Kamloops keepers Jon Grouenheyde and James Priestner. The Blazers’ forecheck was dominant all night long, particularly in the first period, when they out-shot the Bruins 13-1.

“They forechecked us very hard, and we didn’t handle it very well at all,” Bruins coach Jim Hiller said. “And when we were able to get turnovers, we often panicked and gave it right back to them.”

Blazers forward Kenton Dulle opened the scoring, lifting the stick of Bruins centre Matt Meropoulis as he carried the puck out from behind his own net and sweeping a shot past a startled Gore. C.J. Stretch made it 2-0, taking a cross-ice feed from Tyler Shattock and ripping a one-timer past the Chilliwack keeper.

Dulle got his second of the game on a two-man advantage early in the second period, and Brock Nixon, Ivan Rohac and Darcy Huisman tallied before the frame was over to give Kamloops a 6-0 lead.

Jadon Potter got the Bruins on the board early in the third, tapping home a pretty cross-ice feed from Colby Kulhanek on the power play, and Shattock rounded out the scoring with 54 seconds left.

ICE CHIPS:

When you lose 7-1, it’s not easy to find bright spots. But Hiller said he was impressed with the play of 17-year-old left winger David Robinson.

“Robinson is a player who really looks like a Chilliwack Bruin, even though he’s a young guy who’s still getting his feet wet here,” Hiller said. “He plays the game hard and he plays the game right. He’s someone we didn’t know much about (going into camp), but he’ll have a good future with us.”

Forward Ryan Howse, the Bruins’ first-ever bantam draft choice (third overall in 2006), watched from the sidelines on Tuesday. The star prospect is recovering from a charley horse injury, and hasn’t played in over a week.

Hiller said that Howse should be ready to play soon – if not for Friday night’s exhibition contest against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner (7:30 p.m.), then certainly in time for the regular season opener in Kamloops on Sept. 21.

“We’re just taking it slow with him,” Hiller said.

Gore, a Kamloops native, was facing his hometown squad on Tuesday night. The 16-year-old, who spent last season with the major midget Thompson Blazers, is battling Mark Friesen for the backup job behind starter Matt Esposito.

“You’re nervous when you get out there, because you know you’re battling for a job and they’ve got to make their decision sooner or later,” Gore said.

The Bruins iced a youthful lineup on Tuesday night. Leading scorers Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller are currently at NHL training camps, with the Nashville Predators and L.A. Kings respectively, while forward Ken Petkau and top defencemen Nick Holden and Matt McCue were also out of the lineup.