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On Thursday, December 4th members of the OCN Blizzard will be helping out in the kindergarten classroom of Miss LaRocque at Opasquia Elementry School. Players will be helping the kids get in the Christmas Spirit by assisting them in writing letters to Santa. The Players will also be handing out "Read To Succeed" tickets for the games. This will be the Team's 8th time visit a school in the community. Thanks to the University College of The North, the Team has been able to hand out over 200 tickets to kids in Joe A Ross, Opasquia Elementry and Kelsey School.

Blizzard acquire defenseman from Ice Wolves and send one to the Flyers
OCN Blizzard have traded the Hockey Canada playing rights of defenseman Garrett Brook 19, to the Winkler Flyers for future considerations. In another move, the Blizzard acquired the Hockey Canada playing rights of defenseman Riel Thomson, 20, from the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the SJHL for future considerations.

 

Blizzard 1st Overall? It's True!

By Jamie Smalley

Thanks to an exciting win over the Swan Valley Stampeders in overtime on Wednesday the Blizzard sit 1st overall in the MJHL. Now I know it is early in the season but this is a spot the Blizzard were used to being in but haven't been since the 2005-2006 season. For a younger team like the Blizzard this is an important motivational step for a club looking to once again be contenders in a league they used to own. From a broadcaster's perspective, Wednesday's game may not have been the most exciting to call but the last 5 minutes of the 3rd period and the overtime sure had me on the edge of my seat or should I say the booth.

I like many I am sure wondered if this game would ever see a goal. The Blizzard controlled the play much more than Swan Valley and at one point outshot the Stamps 22-6. In reality if not for Chris Ward the Blizzard should have walked out with let's say a 6-0 win. Jordan Sinclair, who historically has played some of his better games against the Stamps, was awarded a penalty shot in the extra period and he made the perfect move on Ward but just put the puck wide. Things then looked to change as Dustin Pearson was sent off to the box giving the Stamps a big power play but after a blocked shot Mitch Olson chipped the puck off the boards and caught up in time to walk in and score the short-handed winner at 3:28 and giving the Blizzard 2 huge wins over a division rival. P.O. Lemieux wasn't tested a lot through 2 periods but made some key saves late in the 3rd and overtime to pick up his 2nd career shutout.

My 3 stars from Wednesday night were:

1) Lemieux - Got the shutout, enough said
2) Olson - Only goal of the game and a short-handed ot winner to boot
3) Ward - 34 save and easily the Stamps best player

Next up for the Blizzard is a 3 game in 3 night road trip starting Saturday against Portage who are 3-0 and completed a big trade Wednesday with the Blues. The Blizzard and Dogs also play Sunday and then the trip wraps on Monday in Waywayseecappo. All 3 games can be heard on CJ 1240.

Wrong Call Tarnishes great Game

by Jamie Smalley

On Monday the Blizzard played maybe their best road game of the season and more than deserved 2 points in Waywayseecappo but Wolverines goaltender Jamie Janzen made many big saves in the 3rd period to keep the Blizzard at bay and force overtime and ultimately the shootout where the Wolverines would be victorious, 4-3.

Unfortunately once in the shootout it was an incorrect call by referee Frank Taylor that was maybe the difference. Matt Watson was the first shooter and made an excellent move on Janzen and put his shot off of the post, off of Janzen and in. It should have counted but was waved off after some consulting and the Wolverines would score twice while the Blizzard only once on a great move by Sterling Bear. What would have made the blown call more interesting is if Zeanon Buternowski had scored because then all Blizzard shooters would have found the back of the net. After the game Taylor admitted he was wrong and told the Blizzard right away. Taylor also said he would inform the league office of this mistake which right now is of little comfort to the Blizzard players and coaches. However a protest/appeal will be made and if the league rules in favor of the Blizzard the shootout would likely be re-done.

Back to the game where it was Janzen not Taylor who was the reason the Blizzard did not leave with 2 points in regulation. Janzen made 2 excellent saves point blank on Dan Lind and Jordan Sinclair late in the 3rd to keep the game tied. Janzen made numerous other saves in the 2nd and 3rd as the Blizzard basically controlled the game from the time Mitch Olson got the Blizzard first goal at 6:45 of the middle frame. It was a great rebound for the Blizzard after a 6-1 loss in Portage on Sunday. The Wolverines to their credit played well too and they showed maybe how big of a steal getting Janzen was from Winkler too remain the only team in the MJHL without a regulation loss.

Three's A Crowd

Overshadowed by Janzen's play in goal was how well Alex Pouliot looked in his Blizzard debut. The smallest of the 3 Blizzard keepers turned aside 28 of the 31 shots he faced and more than gave his team a chance to win. He waited patiently for his 1st start (which was supposed to be Sunday) and now all 3 keepers have at least 1 win between the pipes. The upside now for Doug Hedley is he can pick any of the 3 to start and expect a win but on the flip side is who to pick? P.O. Lemieux had one of his best games on Saturday, Garrett Barr is 2-0 with a .930 save percentage and now Pouliot also showed he deserves another start.

More Line Juggling

Hedley juggled the lines again on Monday and I thought all 4 looked real solid. Buternowski had instant chemistry with Hebert and Boulet. The Lind-Sinclair Friesen line had the 3rd goal and twice almost had the winner. Again some great shifts from Bear-Watson-Olson (if Watson's goal in the shootout had counted all 3 technically found the back of the net). Finally some big props go to the line of Lathlin-Thevenot-Ballard. The 4th line on Monday worked their butts off and Thevenot had 2 great scoring chances, one coming on great feed from Lathlin in the corner in the 3rd. Hedley showed faith in those 3 by playing them several times in the 3rd and I think they showed their coach they deserve another chance together on Saturday when the Winkler Flyers are in for 2.

It could have been 4/6 points but 3/6 is still pretty good for this young team who have already played 10 games in just 18 days with 3 of their wins coming on the road.

As always any feeback on the broadcasts, ideas for blog topics and comments/questions for Coffee With the Blizzard are more than welcome. By the way Coffee With the Blizzard resumes next Tuesday, October 6th at 9:05 from McDonalds.

jsmalley@arcticradio

Blizzard Split Home Opener weekend

By Jomar Cruz

Opaskwayak - Well, two home openers in one weekend might be a first in Blizzard history... maybe even history period. An ammonia leak in the GLMC was the reason for the cancellation. A decision was made by the Fire Chief to call the game after the severity of the leak was assessed. Both teams warmed up preparing for the game (both were unaware of the possibility of cancellation). With the decision made, and the boys (and fans I’m sure) deflated after all the hype of the opener, it was off to the races for the GLMC to get the facility ready for the "second" opener in as many days. Saturday morning came around and the boys came to the rink for check in. We received word that it was "Game On"! So we pregame skated and we still had some hop so it was good to see the boys ready to play, and that they were.

Right off the start it seemed we had some great energy. Physical play by Dan lind, a veteran in his sophomore year who has re-invented his game, gave the crowd some hard heavy hits along with the likes of speedy Eddie Lathlin. Buternowski was up to his usual with his steady puck handling and grinding in the corners.... even he was throwing his little frame around. Butters was able to ink the scoresheet with 2 goals and an assist. Some steady work the by the defensive core lead by co-captain Justin Watters helped to keep the Blues to just 2 goals and 22 shots overall. Watters also added to his scoring streak (5 games) with a goal and an assist. Center Matt Watson, defenceman Carl "Bomber" Bombardier (not to be confused with Jamie Smalley as I would not want to insult the kid!) Dale Warkentin, and rookie forward Jordan Hebert all added points in their first regular season home game at the GL. Local OCN product Jordan Sinclair also made it on the game sheet with 2 apples of his own.

Sterling Bear made a solid impression in his debut in OCN as he had a Gordie Howe Hatty. A beautiful setup on Matt Watson's opening goal going tick tack toe off a 3-2 rush gave Bear his first point of the game. After a few how'da'ya'do toe drag/highlight real/leave the dman's jockstrap on ice moves by Bear, he was able to notch OCN's third goal of the night which ultimately was the GWG. A scrum around the blues net just after the 10 min mark of the third gave Bear his Gordie Howe as he dropped the mitts with Blues player Nick Turnbull.

P.O. Lemieux was solid in the home opener stopping 20 of 22 shots he faced (.910). It was a great win for Lemieux, for the Blizzard, and the fans in OCN/The Pas. To boot, it was the first time we have reached .500 since the start of the 06-07 season!

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