One day after losing the Western Conference final to the Seattle Thunderbirds in a Game 7 on home ice, the Kamloops Blazers are looking back on the season that was.

Head Coach/GM Shaun Clouston says while there is a lot of disappointment in the Blazers camp, there is also a lot to be positive about.

“There was a lot of battling, so I mean, in general, very proud of our guys,” Clouston said on the Blazers broadcast on Radio NL.

“Some of our younger guys, I think, really took some steps and realized just how hard you have to work, how competitive it is, how important it is to play within yourself, to play within the structure, to compete every shift.”

Associate Coach Mark Hollick also said he was proud of the Blazers given everything they’ve gone through this year.

“Playing in front of half capacity, you know we had zero last year, and the season shutdown the year before, so this is the first playoff action the lot of kids have seen,” he said, on Radio NL.

“To dig their heels in and play to the end of May, they all bought in and all of them tried to accomplish something special for themselves and for the city and for the organization. Ultimately, we fell a little short.”

Seattle’s win last night was the first time a team won back-to-back games in the series. They also became the first team ever in WHL history to win two Game 7s on the road in one post-season.

“You got to give Seattle credit too, I mean, geeze what a hockey team they are,” Hollick added. “They’re big, they’re strong, they’re fast, they play heavy. They’re well coached. They’ve got great goaltending, and a big strong defence.”

“At the end of the day, they worked really hard and they protected their net and we had a hard time getting there. And when we did, we had some opportunities but you got to make the most of it.”

The Thunderbirds will face the Edmonton Oil Kings for the WHL title, with game one in the Alberta capital this Friday. The winner will move on to the 2022 Memorial Cup in St. John, New Brunswick.

The Blazers meanwhile will look towards building for next season, having already been named as the host city for the 2023 Memorial Cup.

“[The loss] is going to hurt for a little while but there is definitely a lot of growth that took place,” Clouston added. “It was awesome for the guys to come and play here the last few weeks in front of our fans and all of our support. It’s been really neat to hear the buzz.”

“It was really special.”