The MAGIC NUMBER is down to 2

For Kamloops Storm to Clinch First Spot in the Division
by Barry Dewar

Any combination of 2 wins by the Storm or 2 losses by the Sicamous Eagles will ensure first place for the Storm. With our destiny in our own hands we head to Princeton this weekend for a game against the Posse.

The Storm will still likely be without Daniel Medland Marchen, Ryan Hanes, Brock Backus and Jamie Galbraith. Galbraith did skate this week and is a possibility but outside chance at best. Hanes and Medland Marchen are both expected to dress for the Kamloops Blazers this weekend, so the Storm will be looking to fill the void with some affiliate player call ups. We expect 15 year old Brett De Frias, 15 year old Josh Rasmussen, 17 year old Alex Marr and maybe 17 year old Spencer Donaldson in the lineup. All players are from the Thompson Blazers Major Midget team which has a bye this weekend.

De Frias will be playing his third game for the club, while Rasmussen will be playing his second game. Alex Marr who is the captain of the major midget team will be playing his 5th game. Donaldson if he suits up will be in his first game as a Storm Player. Donaldson is third on the major midget team for goals and tied for the lead in points with 10 goals and 12 assists. Marr has 2 goals and 10 assists with 50 pims while Rasmussen is 3-3 and 54 pims and De Frias is 5 goals 5 assists with 34 penalty minutes.

Backus has not yet decided if he wants to play since returning to Kamloops from university.

It is expected that a couple of regular players could be seeing action in the BC Hockey League over the next few weeks. Merritt made several trades at the January 10th deadline and have been going with a short bench as they complete their season. Several players have been affiliated to various Junior A teams including Anthony Manfredi, Daniel Medland Marchen, Scott Kirkham, Sean Menton, David Gore, Jose Reyes, Mick Ludvig, Mike McCance and Kyle Graham.

This weekend the Kamloops Storm visit Princeton for the 6th and final meeting until playoffs. Kamloops won the first game in September 3-2 in overtime,. The second meeting was a 9-2 Domino Pizza night with Anthony Manfredi, Mick Ludvig and Peter Soroka as the stars. The third meeting in November was a 6-2 win by the Storm. Ryan Hanes had a hat trick in that game and Josh Caron had a pair of goals. December saw the teams play twice. The first was a 4-1 win for the Storm while the second game was a 5-4 shoot out win for the Posse. Taylor Stuart had 2 goals in the first meeting and 1 in the second meeting against his old team. In the shootout they had 12 shooters each with only John Minot of Princeton and Kyle L'Arrivee beating Kyle Graham who was in the net for the Storm while only Austin Goode scored for the Storm.

The Storm needs to play close attention to Wade Masch and Jason Allessio to earn the victory this weekend. The Storm won both of their games last weekend while Chase lost 4 games last week starting with a loss to the Chase Chiefs in Princeton, followed by a grueling road trip to Fernie, Kimberley and Creston. Next home action for the Storm will be February 7th against Chase for the Juvenile Diabetes fundraiser and on February 8th when Tory Caldwell and the Kimberley Dynamiters come to town.

Kamloops Witnessing Their Own Storm

Indifferent Performances Cost 3 Points

For most teams, a win, a loss and an overtime loss producing 3 of 6 points is acceptable. I don't believe that this applies to the Kamloops Storm.

I wasn't able to see them on Friday night when they won a close game against the Sting in their barn. It was obviously the Justin Palazzo show as he contributed a hat-trick + 1 assist in his first KIJHL game.

However, the indifferent play on Saturday against the Sicamous Eagles and lackluster performance against the Summerland Sting on Sunday, both at home in the Mac Park centre, has one wondering whether they can hold their substantial lead atop the Okanagan-Shuswap Division.

The loss of key players (injury or call ups) is going to play an important part of the psyche of the remaining players and they have to know that each and every one has to step up and fill the gap.

The biggest losses for the team are Josh Caron and Scott Kirkham. Scott played this weekend but he will be lost for at least a month, if not the rest of the regular season to the Merritt Centennials. I would suspect that he will be back for the playoffs as Merritt has little chance to see post-season action.
Josh Caron has been endorsed by the Kamloops Blazers and will remain there for the rest of the season. Josh was our most poised defenseman, particularly defensively, and his presence will be missed.
Ryan Hanes has also been spending time with the Blazers however he was only listed as an Associate Player which restricts him to a maximum of 10 games for the rest of the year. He did not play with the Storm this weekend and the energy void his absence created was noticed. Expect him back soon, possibly this week.

As previously mentioned, Justin Palazzo, a new recruit with significant WHL experience has joined the team on defence. His offensive abilities shone through this weekend as he was in on 9 of the 10 goals that the Storm scored this weekend. His defensive play was definitly suspect however as he coughed up the puck many times in his own end and was on the ice for quite a few goals against. In fairness, he hasn't played in 10 months and he's coming into the season with everyone else in mid-season shape. Let's hope he can pick that part of his game up and be the real asset to the team that the coaches and management expect of him. I'm sure he will.

Goaltending was a bit scary. Both Anthony Manfredi and Kyle Graham played sub-par at the 2 home games. Manfredi got the hook after the second period against Sicamous after 4 goals and Graham promptly let in the first shot he faced. On Sunday, Graham got the start and looked shaky all game, missing with the glove hand, giving up generous rebounds and sitting way too deep in his net where he got burnt early against Summerland.

Both Sicamous and Summerland outworked them.

Sicamous bottled up the middle and the Storm players were not sharp enough to find their way around them. Passes were slow and inaccurate which caused turnover after turnover. The stretch pass was working like a square wheel. There were more 1 on 3's than I have seen all year.
Against Summerland on Sunday, it was much the same until the 3rd period where the Storm took over and scored 3 consecutive goals to take the lead on to turn the puck over late in the game and allow the Sting to tie it up and force a shoot out where the 4 Storm shooters were impotent and Graham struggled, letting in 2 of 4 shots.

It's mid-January and the party is over. Let's get back to some crisp, disciplined hockey get ready for the playoffs. There are only 5 regular season home games left.

So, who played well. Jamie Galbraith (who celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday) was a workhorse. Shawn Menton was steady as was Tyler Jackson. But it was James Friedel who stood out in my mind as a character player this weekend. He was asked to play both forward and defense and did well in both. James has made great strides in his game in the last month and consistently contributes to the good fortunes of the team.

Good luck to all participants in next week's KIJHL All-Star Game and Prospects Game in Chase.

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The Crazy Caption Contest is still on however so far it has been a bust. There either is no interest or the process appears too complicated. Dolson's has committed to handing out discount coupons to participants and a prize to the player with the most comments by the end of the year.

Please send me an email at kamlooopsstormwriter@yahoo.ca and let me know if you are having problems uploading or if it's just a waste of time.

Any other participation ideas are welcome.
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I rarely enter into any of the draws during the game but this past weekend I submitted my name to the Sun Peaks booth and won one of the prizes. Unfortunately, I can't use it so I am going to put it up for dibs.

The Prize:

Ski and Board Terrain Park Clinic for Two (2) at Sun Peaks - Feb 7-8, 2009.

Learn the Fundementals of Jumps, Boxes and Rails and Free Ride Skiing Skills.
Available to kids age 10-18 years old with a strong intermediate ability level.
Value 2x $150 = $300
Mandatory Equipment: Helmets and skiers need twin tips.

The Draw:

Enter your:
name:

city:

telephone #

in an email to:

bfsh@page1performance.com

Subject: Ski Terrain Clinic

We will make the draw during the Jan 24th home game against the Revelstoke Grizzlies. Anyone can enter however keep in mind that the prize is restricted to 10-18yr old kids. I will announce the winner on the air and publish the the winner's name in this blog.

This draw is only available from this blog so your chances of winning are pretty good.
Only email entries will be accepted. Thanx.

Storm Gathering Strength

Despite Dwindling Bench

The Kamloops Storm continue to create distance between them and the pack in the KIJHL Okanagan-Shuswap division. After 3 divisional games, gathering 5 of a possible 6 points, the Storm is poised to enter the New Year in first place despite the depletion of the roster.

The only blip on the radar this weekend was a 5-4 OT loss to the Posse on Friday night in Princeton. After a convincing 4-0 win over the Revelstoke Grizzlies at home on Saturday, the Storm followed up with a high scoring win, 7-4 over the visiting Summerland Sting.

Kamloops came into the year with a deep roster at all positions. As the year has progressed there have been a number of trades, deletions and injuries that have cut back on critical manpower but to the credit of the management and coaches, the team just keeps rolling along.

Austin Goode (5), Jose Reyes (7), David Gore(6), and Jamie Galbraith(5) all had big point weekends, Galbraith being the most consistent of the bunch as he had goals in every game.

Despite the success, the Storm have had to dip into the AP pool because of various injuries and illnesses. Kyle Graham has gone from AP to a signed back-up goaltender as Christian Pedersen continues to rehabilitate from a knee injury. With the departure of Sheldon McDonald and illness to Mike McCance (mono), James Friedel has filled in one spot temporaily while Logan Hawgood (AP) and Daniel Buchanan (AP) played alternately at home this weekend.

The forward too, have been shorthanded. Players like Duncan Shultz (AP), Rylan Willoughby(AP), Cody Jules (AP) and Ryan Clark (AP) have done an adequate job while Ryan Hanes (ankle) and Tyler Jackson (knee) recover from their injuries. It's unlikely that either of these guys will be back before Christmas.

So, despite the dent in the depth chart, the Storm keep rolling. Let's hope that the New Year brings them health and a full roster.
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The back-to-back games against Chase this coming weekend have more on the line than points and pride.




It's the Men-in-Pink weekend where the Storm will be wearing pink jersys in support for Breast Cancer. H.I.S. Ventures has purchased the pink jersys and helmets for the referees. The jersys will then be auctioned off and the money donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation. You can also purchase T-shirts at the game where $5 from each sale goes to the cause. The T-Shirts sell for $15. If you where pink to the game in Kamloops, $1 will be donated.

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Princeton Gets a Break... Lose only 7 Points for an ineligible player

The Posse caught a break from the league who only assessed a 7 point penalty for having an ineligible player on the roster since Oct 5. They could have lost as many as 22 points if the league stayed with the letter of the law. However that kind of penalty may have had enough negative effect on the team that they would have had to fold, considering they probably would have been eliminated from playoff contention in December, fan support would dwindle and team sponsorships could dry up. A compassionate but necessary decision by the league to help keep a long time franchise above water. As it is the Coach/GM's job to ensure that the rosters are in order, the responsibility falls on them. Therefore, coach and gm, Dale Hladun will be suspended for a total of 9 games for his oversight.

A fair ending to a complicated piece of league legislation.
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Enter the Kamloops Storm Crazy Captions Contest and win discount certificates from our sponsor, Dolson's Source for Sports.
Enter a picture, crazy caption and a short story to become eligible for $10 discount coupons from Dolson's. Go here to find out more.

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By the way...
Answer to the Survey Question... Felix Potvin

thanks for participating

2 Wins Last Weekend

Keep Kamloops Storm Atop the Division

Two key wins last weekend, against division rivals Revelstoke Grizzlies (4-1) and cross-divisional rivals the Castlegar Rebels (4-0) has put more distance between the Storm and the rest of the Okanagan-Shuswap division as Kamloops is starting to run away with the division.

Taylor Stuart had 2 goals in Friday's win against the Grizz and picked up 1 assist in Saturday's tilt for a 3 point weekend. Stuart has been playing well at both ends of the ice and has added another skating gear as his speed has significantly improved thru the month of November. The coaching staff have also taken note and have used him in both penalty kill and power play situations. Keep up the good work Taylor.

Jamie Galbraith has made his presence known since he returned from his groin injury. He scored in Revelstoke and was a real physical force in the game against Castlegar. His tilt with Taylor Anderson was the fight of the day of which Jamie was the clear winner. James Friedel also had a fight, duking it out with Jerris Gregory. James did ok but found himself on the bottom of the pile at the end of the skirmish.

Goaltender, Kyle Graham (I believe that he is now signed instead of an AP) won on Friday in Revelstoke. Anthony Manfredi posted the shutout win against Castlegar, however Graham finished the last 5 minutes of the game as Manfredi appeared to re-injure his knee. Graham's signing was necessitated by the extended injury to Christian Pederson who is on the mend at home in Calgary.

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Earlier this week we saw the departure of defenseman, Sheldon McDonald. He has been traded to Campbell River for future considerations. Kamloops as well as other KIJHL teams are considering trimming their rosters to make room for any Junior A cuts that may become available before the roster deadline. We wish Sheldon good luck on the Island.

Ryan Hanes was to have his ankle operation this week. I don't have that confirmed but I do believe he was booked in for Thursday. Expect him to be back in February. His electric presence will be missed.

I also expect that Ty Jackson should be ready to be back in the lineup this weekend but that is also not confirmed.

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This Weekend:

The Storm have a full weekend with 3 games. Divisional rivals Summerland Sting and Princeton Posse are on tap with the Summerland game being on the road Friday. Princeton visits on Saturday night and Spokane pays a visit to Mac Park for a Sunday afternoon contest. Spokane are currently 3rd in the Eddie Mountain Division, just 3 points behind 2nd place Castlegar.

I would expect that the game in Summerland could get physical and I suspect that the game with Princeton on Saturday will be another "swing party" as the Posse are always in the mood to dance.

Posse Gunned Down in Storm

Complete Team Effort by Storm Pays Dividends

It was a good old fashion shellacking, one we're sure the Princeton Posse will keep in the back of their minds for the next meeting. The Kamloops Storm unleashed their offense and used sound defense to control the game from start to finish. The Posse looked like they were standing still.

Two 20 year-old veterans, Jamie Galbraith and Mick Ludvig stepped up their efforts on Friday night to score 2 goals apiece in a 9-2 drubbing of the Posse. And there were significant contributions from almost every one on the team. In fact, everyone on the team got on the score sheet except James Friedel (who was tossed for fighting the middle of the second period) and AP Chris Clark. Clark saw limited ice time until late in the 3rd period.

Sheldon McDonald (0-3) and Austin Goode (1-2) led the point parade with 3 apiece while 7 others had 2 points.

For added entertainment there were a couple of good tilts. James Friedel took on Brody Brewster with Brewster taking a narrow decision and Jose Reyes duked it out with Kevin Darcy with Reyes on top of the heap after the smoking fists cleared.

A couple of unfortunate hitting-from-behind penalties also took a couple of players out of the game. Nick Cecconi got nailed for the Posse. I did not see the hit as my vision was obstructed so I can't comment on the hit. I will however say that Cecconi was issuing cheap hits earlier in the period and got away with it so it didn't break any of the Kamloops fans hearts to see him tossed. Darren Mann, in his speedy, aggressive style of play took out a Princeton player in front of the penalty box with a hit from behind and also got tossed. I did see that one and although I don't think it was intentional, it was a good call by the ref, who struggled with the concept of hitting and getting hit throughout the game.

Kamloops was firing on all cylinders. It was too bad that Manfredi lost his bid for a shutout. The goals were a perfect example of team overconfidence that led to breakdown. One fan mentioned to me after the game that it was a good thing the Posse scored earlier in the 3rd period because the Posse's 2nd goal was a coaches nightmare. Taylor Stuart, who played a pretty good game for the most part, committed the ultimate sin of being the last guy back with the puck, trying to stickhandle out of his own zone. With three Posse players on top of him, he coughed it up resulting in a goal by Bill Marshall. With head buried between his legs coming to the bench, the coaches didn't need to say too much.

For full game results, go the the KIJHL site here.

All said and done, the Storm seem to be coming together much earlier than the last two seasons.
With five really good players out of the lineup (Ryan Hanes-ankle, Travis Cech-suspension, Tyler Jackson - flu, Brandon Long - shoulder and Josh Caron- ankle) one wonders how good this team can really be. The impending 5 game road trip should solidify the character of the team and do nothing but grow their confidence.

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Keep your eyes open for the new player profile pages. We are solidifying a sponsor and intend to hold a season long contest for all fans.

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