One of sports’ oldest adages is that blocked shots win championships. Well what if there’s no championship on the line? What’s the point of putting your body on the line if there’s nothing to play for? Six current members of the WHL have no problem explaining why blocking shots is still a crucial element to the game in this abbreviated season.
Tag: Don Hay
Winterhawks hang on to beat Chiefs
The Portland Winterhawks managed to hang on to a narrow win to beat the Spokane Chiefs Sunday night. This was the 150th time the Winterhawks have won against the Chiefs in franchise history. As the opening weekend comes to a close, the Winterhawks have a strong start, bringing five […]
The Greatest Empty Netter in Giants History: Spencer Machacek
Spencer Machacek played for the Vancouver Giants from 2005-2008. During that time, he went to two straight Memorial Cups and was named captain of the team in his final season. Currently, Machacek is plying his trade over in Germany with Grizzlys Wolfsburg of the DEL. The 32-year-old has great […]
Record Setters: Casey Pierro-Zabotel
Casey Pierro-Zabotel was a star for the Vancouver Giants from 2007 to 2009. The undrafted forward put up over a point a game in his Giants career. Although he was only a Giant for two years, his legacy lives on in Vancouver having had one of the greatest seasons […]
Q&A with Cole Ully – Kamloops Blazers Alumni (Part 1)
As an intermission guest on a Western Hockey League radio broadcast a few years ago, I was caught off guard during a live interview by a question I didn’t see coming. The query went something to the effect of, “Who’s the favourite player you’ve interviewed for a feature, the […]
The 2019-2020 Kamloops Blazers: by the numbers
Though the WHL season was abruptly cut short, the 2019-2020 edition of the Kamloops Blazers was a remarkable one. Between their first B.C. Division title since 2012-13 and multiple franchise records being pushed to the brink, the orange white and blue made this one a season to remember. The […]
Four goal third period helps Winterhawks to 40th win
Friday evening in the WHL saw long-time U.S. Division rivals face off against one another. So far this season, the Seattle Thunderbirds (22-28-3-3) and Portland Winterhawks (40-8-3-4) have needed more than 60 minutes to find a winner in four of the seven games played — including the last two. Both […]
The 2010s: Vancouver Giants All-Decade Team
Tuesday will see the end of not just the calendar year, but the decade as a whole. As their 2010 through 2019 record of 340-345-34-30 shows, the 2010s were very average for the Vancouver Giants. Ten years saw two BC Division titles, a Western Conference championship banner, a WHL Final […]
Portland Winterhawks: Introducing Simon Knak and Jonas Brøndberg
The Portland Winterhawks are 21 games into their season and are currently tied for first place in the U.S. Division. A big portion of their success has been the play of their two 2019 CHL Import Draft selections, Simon Knak and Jonas Brøndberg. Portland selected Knak with the 40th overall […]
All-Time WHL Lineups: Kamloops Blazers
Originally posted Aug 12, 2019. Folks, it is August 12th, and we are almost there. Training camp is just around the bend, and we are ready to get things moving into the hockey season. In the meantime, we have wound back the clock and taken a crack at assembling an […]
