KAMLOOPS – On Tuesday, October 9th the Kamloops Blazers announced their Leadership group. Two overage players were selected to lead the club, forwards Luc Smith and Jermaine Loewen. Smith, from Stony Plain, AB, is in his second full season with the team and first season as an assistant captain. The hulking forward has yet to find his stride this season going pointless through the first seven games. Playing most of the season thus far with Smith is newly minted Captain Jermaine Loewen. Loewen’s story is well documented, after living the first five years of his life he was adopted by the Loewen family and started living his new life in Arborg, MB. Soon after, he received his first pair of skates as a gift. From the most modest of beginnings, the six-foot four-inch forward has earned his keep every step of the way including a breakout season last year with 64 points in 66 games. Like linemate Smith, Loewen has failed to find his groove as of yet scoring three points in six games. Jermaine is currently serving a four game suspension dolled out for a hit a check to the head major penalty on October 5th against Portland.
Like the twenty-year olds, the 1999-born group also has two in the leadership group. One is the recently added forward Zane Franklin, who has started the season on fire with five goals and seven points through seven games. Franklin is notorious for his hard work and likeable (when he’s on your team) attitude. The other nineteen-year old who will be doning a letter is defenceman Nolan Kneen. Kneen is in his fourth full season with the Blazers and is also off to a hot start with nine points in seven games.
The youngest of the leadership group is 2000-born Brodi Stuart. After finding early season chemistry with teammate Orrin Centazzo the forward has tallied five points in his first seven games.
The Blazers name their 2018/19 leadership group:
C – Jermaine Loewen
A – @NKneen
A – @zaner19
A – Luc Smith
A – @11_bstuart
More info: https://t.co/vL7Egd2iq2 pic.twitter.com/48iWOGbcPS— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) October 9, 2018
Looking Ahead
After a strong first weekend, Kamloops has hit an early rough patch losing five straight. Things don’t get any easier this weekend with road games against Vancouver (Ranked seventh in the CHL’s weekly rankings) and Everett. Looking beyond this weekend, the Blazers next eight games are not easy with only one game they should absolutely win versus Swift Current. The remaining ten are Everett x2, Portland x2, Vancouver x1, Seattle x1 and Brandon x1. The Blazers will need to get their game in order quickly if they want to stay above water in the Western Conference.
