It will be a special evening for Kamloops Blazers fans who are in attendance at Sandman Centre on Firday.

For one, it will be a great matchup with the high-powered Everett Silvertips, but the Blazers will also be honouring a beloved player whose hockey career ended far too soon.

Kyrell Sopotyk, who played 107 games with Kamloops between 2018-20, was paralyzed from the waist down in a snowboarding accident in January 2021.

Photo Credit: Kamloops Blazers

All Blazers players will be wearing specialty-made Sopotyk #12 practice jerseys for pre-game warm up on Friday night.

Following the game, each one will be signed by the 20-year-old and auctioned off online until March 14, with all proceeds going to a charity of Sopotyk’s choice.

The former fifth-round pick of the Blazers in 2016 will also be on hand to drop the puck in a ceremonial pre-game faceoff.

For tickets to Friday’s game, or any of the other three home games coming up in the next week, head over to Ticketmaster.