Putting Out Fires: Game Day #8

The boys embark on a 4 games in 5 nights road trip through the BC division starting with tonight's match up.

Red Deer Rebels (5-2-0-0) 10 pts. AT Kamloops Blazers (0-6-0-0) 0 pts.

Red Deer is coming off of a fantastic game against the Calgary Hitmen in which they scored the only shoot out goal to defeat the Hitmen 5-4. This came on the heals of a 4-1 defeat the night before to the same Hitmen. Kamloops are still searching for their first win of the season. They are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Victoria Royals at home on Saturday.

The Rebels are 1-2-0-0 away from home this season scoring just 6 goals while allowing 11. Kamloops has yet to win on home ice in 3 tries, going 0-3-0-0 while scoring 7 goals. 14 have made it to the back of their net. Red Deer has won the last 3 games against Kamloops and are 7-3-0-0 in the last 10 against the Blazers.


Draft Eligible last season, Grayson Pawlenchuk has come on strong since being skipped over. He did not attend an NHL training camp and has worked hard to prove his role on this year's Memorial Cup hosting team. He has put up 4 goals in his 7 games. This includes a power play goal. Brent Sutter has had more trust in this young man this year and it shows. He has been on a line with speedsters, Ivan Nikolishin and Michael Spacek.


Brandon Hagel was brought in from the Whitecourt Wolverines of the AJHL. Since joining the team he has spent time on a line with Conner Bleackley and Wyatt Johnson. He has a goal and 3 assists in his 7 games. Expect big things from him as he is draft eligible and ranked as a 'C' prospect by NHL Central Scouting.

In Kamloops they have yet to resolve their overage (20 year olds) situation. One of Needham, Harrison, McNulty or Rehill will sit. Needham is the captain and is unlikely to be the odd man out as the deadline approaches on Oct 15th.

Connor Ingram - calgaryherald.com

Jake Kryski is ranked by NHL Central Scouting a "C" prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and he leads the Blazers in points. 2 goals and 4 points in 6 games this year. He is joined in scoring by Jesse Zacharichuk who has a goal and 5 assists, he sat out the last game with the flu and has only been in 5 contests this season.

I would expect Connor Ingram to get the start tonight, he has a 0-4-0-0 record in 5 starts this season. His GAA is 4.61 and he sports a .864 save percentage.

Tonight's game will be a late start on 106.7 the Drive. Cam Moon will have the call starting with a quick pre-game show at 7:50PM. Puck drop goes at 8PM.