Kamloops locals savouring Memorial Cup experience – Kamloops Blazers
The city is affectionately nick-named Canada’s Tournament Capital, and for a group of Kamloops hometown heroes, the 2023 Memorial Cup presented by Kia bears extra significance.
On the ice, Kamloops Blazers captain Logan Stankoven and teammate Dylan Sydor join Seattle Thunderbirds defenceman Sawyer Mynio in trying to capture major junior hockey’s most coveted prize on home soil, while behind the bench, Blazers associate coach Don Hay and Thunderbirds assistant coach Carter Cochrane both find themselves in search of Memorial Cup glory here at home.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity,” Stankoven said prior to the tournament opener this past Friday.
“It’s been a fast four years here, I want to end it off on the right note.”
Stankoven has etched his name among the best to wear the Blazers sweater, notching north of 320 regular season and playoff points since debuting during the 2018-19 season.
The reigning Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year and 2022-23 WHL Humanitarian of the Year embodies the community spirit we’ve seen here all week.
A five-point effort Sunday against Peterborough served as the latest exclamation point in a series of noteworthy performances inside Sandman Centre.
And while the Blazers’ previous Memorial Cup triumphs, including a home-ice title in 1995, occurred prior to the 20-year-old’s birth, Stankoven is fully aware of his hometown Club’s pedigree at the tournament.
“It’s hard to re-create [those past memories], but if we can set our own path, set our own legacy, that would be nice,” he said.
Sydor, whose father Darryl won a Memorial Cup with the Blazers in Seattle in 1992, became the second member of his family to score a goal for Kamloops in the tournament Sunday, doing so in his Club’s 10-2 win over the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes.
“My dad’s told me how fun it is, and the biggest thing is to embrace it all,” the younger Sydor noted.
“Being able to play in this tournament at home, with family and friends watching, it’s a great feeling.”
No WHL coach has won more games than Don Hay, who returned to the River City last summer following four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks.
The two-time WHL Coach of the Year is participating in his eighth Memorial Cup and first since claiming the championship with the Vancouver Giants 16 years ago.
“I think it’s very special for [Stankoven and Sydor], Hay said. “They look up in the crowd, they know a lot of the people, friends, family, relatives, people that have really watched those players growing up here.”
“I remember back in 1995, I’d look into the stands and see my kids and now I look into the stands and see my grandkids, that is kind of special.”
Seattle’s Sawyer Mynio has earned NHL Draft attention as the 2022-23 season has progressed and has enjoyed success in Kamloops this season.
The 18-year-old blueliner, ranked 62nd among North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting, scored the go-ahead goal in the Thunderbirds’ decisive Game 6 victory in the Western Conference Championship earlier this month and is thrilled to be taking part in the Memorial Cup in front of family and friends.
“It’s really special,” said Mynio. “I’ll probably only get this opportunity [to play in the Memorial Cup at home] once in my life.
“I’ll definitely have a handful of family [members in the stands], some friends too.”
Mynio is joined in the Thunderbirds’ Kamloops contingent by first-year assistant coach Carter Cochrane. The 27-year-old is a product of the Kamloops minor hockey system and as a player, spent time patrolling the blueline in the U.S. Division with Everett and Tri-City.
Those local connections are set to come to a head when the Blazers and Thunderbirds meet for the 11th time this season, but for the first time in 31 years on Memorial Cup ice. The two WHL representatives, both 1-1-0 in this year’s tournament, will close out the round-robin portion of the event Wednesday evening (6:00 p.m. PT, Sandman Centre, TSN).