B.C. Division

Toporowski, Englot shine in Blazers debut weekend. Garand Goalie of The Week in the WHL

Written by Kevin Olenick on

 

After a bit of a stumble in December, the Kamloops Blazers may be getting back on track.

On Friday, Luke Toporowski made his debut for the Blazers. He scored two goals and added an assist. Logan Stankoven had a goal and two assists. That lead the Blazers to a 5-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars.

Toporowski, who is 20, was acquired on the WHL Trade Deadline from the Spokane Chiefs for 20-year-old Nick McGarry and a 2025 2nd round pick.

The Blazers fired 53 shots at Prince George Cougars goaltender Tyler Brennan, 20 in the first. 18 in the second. 15 in the third. They scored two goals in the first, two goals in the second, and one in the third. Daylan Kuefler and Reese Belton also scored for the Blazers. Kuefler also had an assist. Drew Englot, who was also acquired at the trade deadline, chipped in his debut with two assists. Englot was acquired from the Regina Pats for Tye Spencer.

Dylan Garand made 31 saves for the Blazers. Only Caden Brown beat him in the second.

Saturday, Toporowski and Stankoven worked their newfound magic again. Stankoven set up Toporowski for the winner as the Blazers completed the sweep with a 3-2 win over the Cougars.

The Blazers had to come back in the third. Matthew Seminoff opened the scoring for the Blazers to take a 1-0 lead into the second. But Ethan Samson and Cayden Glover scored in the second to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

But the Blazers struck quickly. Connor Levis tied it at 2-2 at 4:12. Then Toporowski got the winner at 4:50 to get the win.

It was a productive weekend for Toporowski. He had three goals and one assist this weekend. Stankoven wasn’t too shabby himself. He had one goal and three assists this weekend. Drew Englot had three assists this weekend.

But perhaps the biggest star of the weekend was goaltender Dylan Garand. He made 31 saves for this win, He was also named the WHL Goalie of the Week. In two games, Garand had a 1.50 GAA and a .947 save percentage.

The Blazers are now 24-11-1 for 49 points. They are nine points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets for first place in the B.C. Division. They are 5-4-1 in their last ten.

The Blazers host the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday. And the Victoria Cougars on Friday.