Prince Albert's Ashton Ferster is back in Kamloops and preparing for the Memorial Cup. (Submitted Photo/Allen Douglas)

By Rob Mahon

Ferster to Mem Cup

Prince Albert’s Ferster back in game-mode as Blazers prepare for Memorial Cup

May 17, 2023 | 4:00 PM

In his first two seasons in the WHL, Prince Albert’s Ashton Ferster didn’t get to play in the postseason.But in his third, he’ll be playing about as late into the season as possible.

Ferster and his Kamloops Blazers are hosting the Memorial Cup this season, which will run from May 26 to June 4. The Blazers have rested and are now starting to reset after falling four games to two in the WHL’s Western Conference final to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

“It’s a very exciting time,” Ferster said. “We get a second chance after losing out to Seattle in the conference final. It was a good series but we weren’t satisfied. Now we get a second chance, and we’re getting pretty antsy over here getting ready for it.”

This season was the first playoff experience of Ferster’s WHL career and it lived up to the hype. The Blazers swept the Vancouver Giants and Portland Winterhawks in succession before the six-game battle of the titans with Seattle. Ferster’s even scored his first playoff goal, and added five assists in 14 games.

“You want to have those hard-fought battles, and Seattle is a really good team,” he said. “But we’re a great team too. It was a hard-fought battle, they got the edge over us in that series. But we know we have more to give.”

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Ferster had known all along he would be going to the Memorial Cup as long as he stayed with Kamloops, which made January 10 (the CHL trade deadline) a day full of anxiety and elation. He knew if he stayed with the Blazers through that day, then he’d be playing hockey into early June.

“We were a pretty late team to make some trades and we’d seen all of these other teams stacking up in the conference and on the other side,” Ferster said. “You know something is going to happen, you’re just hoping and praying that you did enough during the first half to stay on the team… Then you just get excited because you’re getting a chance to play in the Memorial Cup, a once in a lifetime thing.”

Kamloops did some loading up of their own that day, acquiring World Junior hero Olen Zellweger and 20-year-old power forward Ryan Hofer. Those two helped turn Kamloops into even more of a powerhouse.

“After the first game with those two guys, you know what they bring,” Ferster said. “Zellweger, I haven’t seen anything like him and Hofer’s just a beast. Those guys really helped us out and they’ll really help in this tournament coming up.”

Preparing to possibly face Seattle again (they lead the Winnipeg ICE 2-1 in the WHL finals) and the winners of the OHL and QMJHL means the Blazers have their work cut out for them between now and May 26. They’re back on the ice, training for the toughest competition they’ve faced yet.

“We had a little bit of a reset there after the playoffs, took a few days off to get the body to rest up and take a little mental break,” Ferster said. “We started back up on Monday. Practices have been fast and hard with lots of battles. We’re really trying to bring lots of energy to these practices.”

Kamloops will open the Memorial Cup on May 26 against the champion from the QMJHL.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP