Clubs loaded with prospects

Fans are in for a treat.

The Western Hockey League Western Conference final — Kamloops Blazers versus Seattle Thunderbirds — will showcase prodigious pro-level talent.

Games 1 and 2 will take place in Kent, Wash., on Saturday (April 29) and Sunday, with games 3 and 4 scheduled for Tuesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 4, at Sandman Centre.

Game time is 7 p.m. in Kamloops both nights.

EYE-POPPING TALENT GLUT

The T-Birds have 10 NHL-drafted players on their roster, including forwards Jared Davidson (Montreal Canadiens), Reid Schaefer (drafted by Edmonton Oilers, traded to Nashville Predators), Dylan Guenther (Arizona Coyotes), Colton Dach (Chicago Blackhawks), Brad Lambert (Winnipeg Jets), Jordan Gustafson

Season Series

(Vegas Golden Knights) and Lucas

Ciona (Calgary Flames), and defencemen Luke Prokop (Nashville Predators), Kevin Korchinski (Chicago) and Nolan Allan (Chicago). The Blazers have nine NHL-drafted players on their roster, including forwards Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars), Ryan Hofer (Washington Capitals), Matthew Seminoff (Dallas), Fraser Minten (Toronto Maple Leafs), Caedan

Bankier (Minnesota Wild), Daylan Kuefler (New York Islanders) and Jakub Demek (Vegas), and defencemen Kyle Masters (Minnesota) and Olen Zellweger (Anaheim Ducks).

Dizzying Draft Prospects Pool

Six T-Birds cracked NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Forward Gracyn Sawchyn, forward Nico Myatovic, defenceman Sawyer Mynio of Kamloops and defenceman

Jeremy Hanzel are ranked 24th, 26th, 62nd and 124th, respectively, among North American skaters.

Seattle’s backup netminder, Scott Ratzlaff, is pegged fourth among North American goaltenders, while starter Thomas Milic is ranked 28th among North American goaltenders. Two Blazers cracked the list, with Dylan Ernst ranked 26th among North American goalies and forward Connor Levis pegged 75th among North American skaters.

World Juniors Gold Mine

The series will feature nine players — three Blazers and six T-Birds — who won gold for Canada at the 2023 World Junior Hockey Championship in Halifax: Zellweger, Bankier and Stankoven of Kamloops, and Allan, Milic, Guenther, Korchinski, Dach and Schaefer of Seattle.

Opening Day

The Kamloops Youth Soccer Association and Kamloops Minor Baseball Association opened play for the outdoor season on Saturday. Kamloops This Week photographer Allen Douglas took in the action. Find more of his photos online at kamloopsthisweek.com.

Team Brown wrapped its 2022-2023 curling season in style, winning gold at the SGI Canada Best of the West Tournament in Saskatoon. The Kamloops Curling Club rink topped Kelsey Rocque of Winnipeg 6-1 in the championship tilt on Sunday to claim a cheque for $10,000. Skip Corryn Brown (left), third Erin Pincott and lead Samantha Fisher (right) picked up second Rachel Erickson (second from right) for the tournament, which the team has won in back-to-back years.

MARY-BETH HARRISON

Human resources manager at New Gold 10K

Congratulations to everyone who ran, walked, skipped, danced or strolled across the finish line on Sunday.

It was heartwarming on a chilly, wet day to see so many faces in Riverside Park. Even the beautiful chalk art along the route weathered the rain and kept the positive vibes going. On the course, it was definitely a party, with many musicians, DJs and cheer squads along making it impossible not to have a smile on your face — or, like me, do a dance as you passed Nick Carter coming off the bridge.

Whether this was your first Boogie or your eighth event, I hope you had a wonderful time and are inspired to try another one of our great community runs this year or, at a minimum, commit to Boogie again next year.

Thank you to all the amazing volunteers. Your energy was contagious. It is not a small undertaking to execute an event like Boogie the Bridge and it would not be possible without all of your support. Thank you to the New Gold employees and family members who helped continue our 10-year legacy of having the largest corporate team. Thank you to Kamloops This Week for hosting this space to share my Boogie training and event experience with the community.

I loved hearing from all the people — from colleagues to neighbours to my dentist’s office — who followed along over the last eight weeks. It was a pleasure to share this experience with you.

Happy running!

Nathaniel Martin

Millwright at Teck Highland Valley Copper 21K

Red smiles for miles!

Just the way Boogie the Bridge is suppose to be, regardless of the weather and no matter the distance ran.

So, when the runner’s high wears off, what then? I encourage you to keep going. Use this Boogie as a launching board into a journey of climbing the next mountain, a mountain of personal bests or new distances. Perhaps use this drive for better fitness to explore a new sport, such as dragon boating, kayaking, soccer or lacrosse.

My next personal goals are the West Coast Trail at the end of May and the 125-kilometre, 24-hour Great Canadian Death Race. Yes, this Boogie has been part of my own training to go farther, but with a better attitude and appreciation of my own body’s limits and listening to its needs.

I hope you learned at Boogie how happy your body felt in the moment and learned in the midst of it the power of community in moving each other forward. I hope you learned that when you get stuck in a pit of shame, pity or defeat, there are people at the top edge screaming down to encourage you.

So, don’t sink into that mud. Look up and feel for those voices supporting you, just like on Boogie, and grab the greasy rope and start climbing. As you climb, it might never get easier, but at the top, you’ll see the destination you wanted to reach.

Long live Boogie red in Kamloops. May we all see each other again next year, filled with stories of our successes, big and small.

ACACIA PANGILINAN Executive director at Kamloops & District Chamber of Commerce 5K

It was incredible to be in the sea of red among nearly 3,000 people at this year’s Boogie the Bridge and I had a wonderful time on race day.

I can’t believe how quickly the eight weeks of training went and how fast race day felt. I woke up Sunday morning with nerves and reminded myself that I did the work during training to be ready for race day. Upon arrival at Riverside Park, seeing the community show up in such big and positive way turned those nerves into excitement.

It felt like it happened so fast. After visiting a few sponsor tents, it was time to start the warm-up. I made the mistake of making eye contact with Jo and, sure enough, ended up on the stage to help lead the activity. Looking into the crowd, it was great to see so many familiar, smiling faces getting ready to Boogie.

The race route was awesome and featured live music from different cultures and genres. The positivity on the route was amazing and you could hear people lifting up one another along the way.

My partner, brother and Lola (grandmother) were all there cheering for me, which made crossing the finish line even more special.

Participating in RunClub and training for Boogie the Bridge has been rewarding and I would like to extend my appreciation to all those who made it an unforgettable experience.