Cleve Dheensaw / Times Colonist
JANUARY 28, 2019 10:07 PM
Former Victoria Royals forward Lane Zablocki can probably give a cautionary bit of advice to the four Victoria Grizzlies players ranked by Central Scouting for the 2019 NHL draft.
The Detroit Red Wings thought enough of Zablocki’s hard-scrabble style to make him a third-round selection in the 2017 NHL draft. Zablocki’s career trajectory hasn’t matched that early projection, at least to date, hence the wariness about draft status.
But the gritty over-ager returned to the Island on Sunday and proved he can still play, and make an impact at the junior level, as Zablocki scored twice to lead the Vernon Vipers to a 4-1 B.C. Hockey League victory over the Island Division-leading Grizzlies at The Q Centre.
Zablocki was acquired at the trade deadline last season by the Royals in a Western Hockey League deal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He scored a goal with six points and 44 penalty minutes for Victoria in the latter part of the regular season and added two goals and an assist in 10 playoff games.
Because of the Royals’ over-abundance of returning 20-year-olds this season, Zablocki was traded to the Kelowna Rockets for a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2019 WHL bantam draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2021 bantam draft.
Zablocki began this WHL season with four goals and 12 points in 22 games in Kelowna. But when the Rockets picked up veteran 20-year-old defenceman Matt Barberis from the Vancouver Giants at the trade deadline this month, Zablocki was released because Kelowna can only carry the WHL limit of three 20-year-olds.
The native of Wetaskiwin, Alta., stayed in the Okanagan and caught on with the Vipers in the BCHL and has made an immediate impression with three goals and two assists for five points in six games, including the pair of shots he got past Grizzlies goaltender Zack Rose on Sunday.
Ryan Nolan opened the scoring unassisted for Victoria with his 18th goal of the season but that’s all the hosts could muster in falling to 29-16-2 while remaining one point ahead of the Powell River Kings atop the division.
The Grizzlies continue their homestand against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Thursday night.
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