2023-24 Season Preview – Kamloops Blazers
After a memorable 2022-23 season that saw the city of Kamloops host its second Memorial Cup, the Kamloops Blazers enter the 2023-24 campaign with a young, new-look roster. Logan Stankoven, Olen Zellweger and others may have moved on to professional hockey, but make no mistake, this year’s Blazers team still has plenty of offensive pop as it looks to claim its fifth consecutive B.C. Division crown.
Key Returners
Kamloops will bring back a trio of NHL-drafted forwards including 2022 Toronto Maple Leafs second-round pick Fraser Minten, who scored 31 goals and totalled 67 points during the 2022-23 regular season. Minten will be joined up front by fellow 67-point man, and fellow Vancouverite Connor Levis, who heard his name called by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2023 NHL Draft. Forward Emmitt Finnie enjoyed a remarkable second half to the 2022-23 season and enters the 2023-24 campaign as a Detroit Red Wings prospect. 20-year-old forward Dylan Sydor is sure to have a prominent role up front, too. Defenceman Logan Bairos put up 40 points a season ago, while blue line mates Harrison Brunicke and Ryan Michael both set for increased roles this winter. Kamloops also returns a pair of 19-year-old goaltenders in Dylan Ernst and mid-season acquisition Matthew Kieper.
Who’s In And Out
The newcomers in Kamloops know they have big skates to fill, with the likes of Stankoven, Zellweger and 40-goal man Ryan Hofer among the Blazers’ departures from the 2022-23 campaign. Import defencemen Matteo Koci and Vojtech Vochvest arrive in Canada’s Tournament Capital after being selected in the 2023 CHL Import Draft; they look to carry on an import blueliner legacy that’s seen the likes of Ondrej Vala, Marko Stacha and Canucks draftee Viktor Persson roll through town in recent years. Forward Nathan Behm, the Blazers’ first-round pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, soaked in last spring’s playoff run as a black ace after putting up 51 regular season and playoff points in Alberta’s U18 league last season.
NHL Draft Prospects
Kamloops holds the longest active streak in the WHL by having at least one player selected in each of the past 12 NHL Drafts. Defenceman Harrison Brunicke is perhaps the elder statesman among the Blazers’ 2024 NHL Draft-eligible players, having skated in 59 games last season as a 16-year-old, scoring his first career post-season goal in the Memorial Cup to boot. Forward Ashton Tait, the Club’s top pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, is part of the team’s youth movement, while goaltender Jesse Sanche made his WHL debut last season.
BLAZERS BY THE NUMBERS (2022-23):
Team Record: 48-13-4-3 (103 points)
Division Ranking: 1st, B.C.
2023 WHL Playoffs: lost Conference Championship (Seattle)
Goals For: 313 (2nd)
Goals Against: 198 (5th)
PP (Overall): 30.1% (1st)
PK (Overall): 77.2% (14th)
Leading Scorers: Stankoven (34-63-97), Bankier (37-48-85), Seminoff (31-51-82)
Leading Rookie: Michael (3-9-12)
NHL Draft: Finnie (DET – 2023), Levis (WPG – 2023), Minten (TOR – 2022)
