Leafs prospect scores 1 of 10 goals as the Blazers destroy the Petes, 10-2
Toronto Maple Leafs' prospect, Fraser Minten, continues to impress in his draft+1 season as his Kamloops Blazers just took down the Peterborough Petes by a score of 10-2 in a round robin game in the Memorial Cup.
Minten was drafted in the second round of last year's draft after scoring 20 goals and 55 points in 67 regular season games before scoring 6 goals and 16 points in 17 post-season games. This year he stepped up in a big way and scored 31 goals and 67 points in just 57 games. His Blazers are the host of the Memorial Cup and are playing alongside the winners of each Canadian junior league: Peterborough Petes of the OHL, Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL, and the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL.
"I thought we had a lot of good energy and we were playing our systems really well. We played them almost perfectly throughout that whole game, as perfect as you can in a hockey game, so I think we're really proud of our effort tonight."
Dallas Stars prospect, Logan Stankoven scored a goal and added 4 assists, Minten was one of 9 different goal-scorers, and the Blazers routed the Petes, who many believed were a Cinderella team heading into the Memorial Cup. He scored on the power play to give his team an early 2-0 lead with a quick shot from the face-off dot on a nice cross ice feed.
The Blazers were soundly defeated in their previous game against the Quebec Remparts 8-3, which makes their upcoming tilt against the Thunderbirds that much more important. Peterborough looks to be on the outside looking in with 2 defeats in as many games but Kamloops can solidify their position in the tournament with a win against their WHL rivals in Seattle.
Kamloops were defeated by Seattle in the Western Conference Finals of the WHL playoffs in 6 games. Seattle ended up winning the title against Winnipeg in 5 games. On what it feels like to play them again and if they're looking for revenge, Minten said:
"As bad as you can, we had a really great series against them but we fell short and looking to prove we can beat them again."
