2004-05 – OH SO CLOSE
2004-05 – Oh So Close
The Blazers were slow out of the gate as they dropped their first five of six games. Dean Clark, the Blazers GM and Head Coach stepped down after leading the team to a 7-12-1-0 record to start the season. The Blazers had struggled to create offence being shutout in six of the team’s twelve losses. Mark Ferner stepped behind the Blazers bench, and things didn’t seem to improve. It was the year of the shutouts as Devan Dubnyk saw action in 65 games and finished with six shutouts. The Blazers scored only 161 goals on the season and were shutout thirteen times. The hockey club only won 26 games which was the least since the franchises inaugural season in 1981-82. Despite the negatives, the club still managed to qualify for the playoffs, and were heavy underdogs against the WHL’s top team, the Kootenay Ice. The Ice finished 43 points ahead of the Blazers in the standings. In game one, the Blazers were down 3-0 going into the third period. Somehow, the Blazers stormed back with three third period goals and sent the game to overtime. Terrance Delaronde was the hero scoring 16 seconds into overtime and the Blazers shocked the Ice winning game one. In game two, the Blazers again forced overtime but fell 3-2. With home ice advantage gained, the Blazers showed the home crowd they were for real as Kevin Hayman scored with 1:03 to play to give the Blazers a 2-1 series lead. The Blazers were on the cusp of taking a 3-1 series lead, but the Ice scored a late goal to tie the game and won in overtime to tie the series at 2-2. It was heartbreak as the Ice seemed to regain the advantage and went on to win the series 4-2. It was a positive way to finish the year, which the hockey club needed to build on.
Team Record: 26-37-7-2, 4th West
Playoffs: Lost First Round (4 games to 2 vs. Kootenay)
Leading Regular Season Scorer: Ray Macias – 12 Goals, 35 Assists, 47 Points
Leading Playoff Scorer: Roman Teslyuk – 5 Points
Notable Players: Ray Macias, Devan Dubnyk, Reid Jorgensen, Matt Kassian, Keaton Ellerby, Brock Nixon
