TEAM SUCCESS BREWING AS BLAZERS HOST ROCKETS SATURDAY NIGHT
By Marty Hastings
Find Marty on Twitter @MartheReporter or via email at [email protected]
GAME PROGRAM vs. KELOWNA – January 27
TICKETS vs. KELOWNA – January 27
Kamloops Blazers’ head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston offered a frank assessment of his 2006-born players earlier this month after the WHL trade deadline, noting some of them were struggling to gain traction.
“It’s just the truth,” said Clouston, whose retooling club has undergone significant turnover after playing host to the Memorial Cup in 2023. “We’re a couple months away from it being next year already. It felt that maybe some of those players were almost waiting for next year. You know, ‘It’s going to get better in my second year.’ But it doesn’t just happen. There’s a process.”
Kalan Anderlini, a 6-foot-3, 186-pound defenceman from Langley, and Josh Kelly, a 6-foot-1, 187-pound forward from Port Moody, are among those who took notice of Clouston’s assessment — and both have experienced considerable growth in recent weeks.
Blazers’ associate coach Don Hay runs the club’s defence and notes growing confidence in Anderlini, whose discomfort under attack from speedy, sizeable forwards was noticeable in the first half of the 2023-2024 campaign.
“He’s learning how to use his size and physical advantage to benefit him,” said Hay, the winningest head coach in WHL history. “He’s not as intimated by speed and size as he was at the start. His development is on the upswing.”
Anderlini, a left-shot rookie who has two assists in 36 games this season, is showing aptitude for positioning, breakout passes and resiliency under duress.
“This has obviously been a challenging stretch for the organization,” Clouston said. “We’ve been missing some key guys and moved some key guys out, so different players have had more opportunity. With that opportunity, Kalan has really grabbed on to it and listened to what the coaches were pushing and tried to the best of his ability to embrace that.”
“He’s pushed himself to be in the right spots, to be a little bit more assertive, at times, in the corner or front of the net, which is what we’re looking for from a bigger defenceman.”
Improved team defence and better positioning from forwards in the neutral zone and inside their own blue line have helped Anderlini and the rest of the rearguards, said Clouston, noting better breakouts are enabling his club to put more pressure on opposition.
“We’re a younger team that’s had a lot of turnover,” Anderlini said. “It’s a good opportunity for our young guys to step up and showcase ourselves.
“Definitely the speed has been one of the toughest things to get used to. There is a lot more structure to it. You have to be a lot more meticulous about your game and really think about the way you’re playing. You can’t just go out there and do whatever you want.”
Clouston said Kelly is blocking shots, improving on breakout position, managing pucks through the neutral zone, forechecking and avoiding careless turnovers, all of which fall into the not-so-glamorous category often overlooked by rookie forwards.
“As much as we forewarn them when they’re looking at playing, when they’re signing, when they come to camp and we present to the parents and when [mental performance coach] Bob Wilkie talks to them about just how big of a challenge this is going to be, it really feels like the message that’s received by a lot of the players is,
Yeah, but I’m going to be the different one. It’s not going to be a major process.’ Josh is getting to the right spots and finding a way to factor in.”
Kelly has seven assists in 35 games, two of which came in a 6-2 triumph over the Victoria Royals on Jan. 21 on Vancouver Island.
The left-shot rookie smiled when asked about the prospect of burying his first WHL goal.
“I’m excited for it,” Kelly said. “I know it will come. I’m not trying to force things. When it comes, it comes.
“I’m trying to be up to the challenge and do the best I can do. I know I’m destined for good things, so I’m just focused on what I can bring to the table, just dialed in, feeling a lot better, playing more confident.”
Growing confidence appears to be a team characteristic.
Nathan Behm had a two-goal night and tallied the overtime winner for Kamloops (12-28-3-2) in a 4-3 victory over the hometown Kelowna Rockets on Friday, giving the Blazers back-to-back victories and the chance to snare a three-game winning streak on Saturday.
The Rockets (21-21-3-0) are in town for a rematch, with puck-drop slated for 6 p.m. on Kamloops Minor Hockey Association Night at Sandman Centre.
Fans are encouraged to bring new and gently-used children’s books to the rink to bolster the Literacy in Kamloops book drive.