Blazers acquire Carter Phair from Oil Kings

The Kamloops Blazers bolstered their goaltending situation Tuesday afternoon, acquiring 18-year-old goaltender Carter Phair (1998) from the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for a fourth round pick at the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft.

Phair, a 6-foot-4, 181-pound native of Carnduff, Sask., was a 10^th round pick of the Oil Kings in 2013 and joins Connor Ingram (1997), Dylan Ferguson (1998) and Max Palaga (2000) as the goaltenders remaining on the Blazers roster.

“We are excited to add Carter to our organization,” said Stu MacGregor, general manager of the Blazers, in a team release. “He is a competitive goaltender that had a good season in Weyburn of the SJHL last year.”

Phair spent 2015-16 with the Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, going 8-4-1-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average (GAA), .925 save percentage (SP) along with two shutouts.

He also saw action in one WHL game with the Oil Kings this past season, turning aside five of the six shots he faced during 20 minutes of mop-up duty in a 7-2 loss to the Red Deer Rebels on March 19 at the Enmax Centrium.

The Oil Kings dealt Phair from a position of depth, as they still carry four goaltenders, including 20-year-old Alec Dillon (1996), Patrick Dea (1997) and Liam Hughes (1999), along with Boston Bilous (2001). Bilous, of course, made waves earlier this summer when he joined the Oil Kings after having previously been committed to the NCAA’s University of Denver.

“Presently, with the numbers we have in goal and with Carter’s positive development since we drafted him, [it] allowed us to make this trade,” said Randy Hansch, general manager of the Oil Kings, in a team release. “We appreciate Carter being a part of our program over the years and wish him all the best with his new team.”

Blazers incumbent starter Connor Ingram was one of the feel-good stories of the 2015-16 Western Hockey League campaign, going 34-15-5-4 with a 2.61 GAA and .922 SP, along with four shutouts to guide the Blazers back to the post-season after missing out on the big dance in consecutive years. With that in mind, MacGregor knows there’s a very real chance his team will have to go without the services of the product of Imperial, Sask., for at least part of the 2016-17 season.

“Carter will have an opportunity to compete for a position with our hockey club,” MacGregor said. “We needed to add depth to our goaltending position with the possibility of starting the season without goaltender Connor Ingram due to NHL training camps. We also face the possibility of Connor being a part of Canada’s World Junior team.”

Ingram’s performance in 2015-16 caught the eyes of NHL scouts as the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped him up with the 88^th overall selection in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

With the addition of Phair, the Blazers are now carrying 31 players on their roster, including 16 forwards, 11 defencemen and four goaltenders.

The Blazers are 1-1-0 after the opening weekend of the WHL pre-season, having collected a 5-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets, while suffering a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Victoria Royals.

Next up, the Blazers play a home-and-home with their Okanagan rivals from down the highway. The Kelowna Rockets host the Blazers in pre-season action Friday, Sept. 9 (7:05pm PDT) before the two teams take to the ice in Kamloops for a rematch Saturday, Sept. 10 (7pm PDT).

The Blazers wrap up the 20016 WHL pre-season on Friday, Sept. 16 in Prince George.

The Oil Kings are 1-1-0 after the opening weekend of the WHL pre-season, having doubled up the Prince George Cougars by a 4-2 margin on Sept. 3 in Red Deer. One night earlier, the Red Deer Rebels handed the Oil Kings a 6-1 loss.

Next up, the Oil Kings host the Calgary Hitmen in at Servus Credit Union Place in St. Albert, Alta., on Friday, Sept. 9 (7pm MDT) before heading south for a rematch in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday (7pm MDT).

The Oil Kings round out the 2016 WHL exhibition slate when they host the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday, Sept. 17 (7pm MDT) in St. Albert.