Portland powers past Kelowna

The Portland Winterhawks brought out the brooms on Saturday night and swept up a weekend series against the Kelowna Rockets.

Ty Rattie had two goals and an assist for Portland, while first-round NHL draft picks Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter also scored, as the host Winterhawks defeated the Rockets 6-1. It was the second time in as many nights that Kelowna lost in Oregon. On Friday, Portland scored a tighter 4-2 win over Kelowna, with two goals coming late in the third period to seal the result.

Narrow wasn’t the tale of Saturday’s tape. Not after Portland lit the lamp three times in the first frame, then once more in the second to take a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes.

“It wasn’t a good night. It wasn’t  the same as the night before, that’s for sure,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “They scored three times in the first, and we weren’t able to come back from that.”

Huska said the frustrating part of Saturday’s loss was that “we have to find the part of our game that’s missing, and, right now, we’re not having everybody stepping up and competing hard. That’s the tough part.

“We need more than just four to five guys every night . . . we need to get the whole group going.”

Sven Bartschi, who tallied his 11th goal of the season while also registering an assist, and Tayler Jordan, with his first, also scored for Portland (12-2-0-1), which has won six in a row, including three victories over Kelowna. The Hawks are 10-1 in their past 11 games.

Shane McColgan, with his fourth goal of the season, a power-play goal tallied midway through the third period, replied for Kelowna (4-10-0-0), which has lost five of its last six games. McColgan’s goal came just 35 seconds into the man advantage. Earning assists were Tyson Barrie and Zach Franko.

The Hawks outshot the Rockets 41-30. Adam Brown, making his fourth consecutive start for Kelowna, stopped 35 shots, while Mac Carruth made 29 saves for Portland.

The Hawks were 3-for-8 on the power play, while the Rockets were 1-for-7. On Friday, the Rockets were 0-for-9.

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were D Mitchell Chapman (sixth game of a six-game suspension for kneeing), D Brendon Wall (concussion), RW Jessey Astles and LW Jason Siebert. . . . The attendance was 2,508.  Kelowna is back in action on Tuesday, when the Prince George Cougars visit Prospera Place. Game time is 7 p.m. . . . Following that, the Rockets visit Kamloops on Wednesday, Vancouver on Friday, then host Chilliwack on Saturday night.

Rockets 1 at Winterhawks 6

First Period

1. Portland, Rattie 10 (Morrow) 9:42 (pp)

2. Portland, Bartschi 11 (Burns, Rattie) 18:02

3. Portland, Johansen 4 (Ross, Aronson) 19:03 (pp)

Penalties — Rutkowski Por (high sticking) 4:06, Chikie Kel (holding) 8:33, Severson Kel (fighting), Jordan Por (slashing, fighting) 11:59, Hanson, Por (high sticking) 15:12, McColgan Kel (roughing) 18:29, Bloodoff Kel (elbowing), Corbin Kel (hooking).

Second Period

4. Portland, Rattie 11 (Morrow, Bartschi) 2:10

Penalties —

Bench minor Kel (too many men, penalty served by Chikie) 8:06, Chikie Kel (fighting), Rattie Por (elbowing, fighting) 10:16, Wotherspoon Por (boarding) 11:29, Corbin Kel (tripping) 12:13, Bloodoff Kel (slashing) 12:30.

Third Period

5. Portland, Niederreiter 1 (Ross, Rutkow-ski) 8:03 (pp)

6. Kelowna, McColgan 4 (Barrie, Franko) 10:39 (pp)

7. Portland, Jordan 1 13:31

Penalties — Koren Kel (tripping) 6:05, Hanson Por (tripping) 10:04, Main Kel, Wotherspoon Por (fighting) 14:51, Callahan Kel (roughing) 15:52.

Shots on goal by

Kelowna 14 8 8 — 30

Portland 10 16 15 — 41

Goal — Kelowna: Brown (L, 2-9); Portland: Carruth (W, 6-1).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Kelowna: 1-7; Portland: 3-8.

Attendance — 2,508.

Hawks double up Rockets

Call it a case of oh-so-close, but still oh-so-far for the struggling Kelowna Rockets.

Nino Niederreiter had an assist for Port-land in his first game back in the WHL after spending nine games with the New York Islanders, as the host Winterhawks beat the Rockets 4-2 in WHL action on Friday night. Kelowna put in a spirited effort against the league’s best team, but Portland, leading 2-1 midway through the third period, pulled away with two late goals.

The end result may have been different had Kelowna not went 0-for-9 on the power play. However, in what’s been a season-long trend, the Rockets couldn’t cash in when it counted.

“The effort was there and that’s something positive we can take out of tonight’s game,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “But we have to start generating some offence, and that starts with the power play. When we have chances to score, we haven’t been good, and that’s something we have to bear down on.”

Joe Morrow and Riley Boychuk, with goals in the first, plus Brad Ross, with his seventh goal of the season, and Sven Bartschi, with his 10th, scored for Portland (11-2-0-1), which won its fourth in a row. Morrow made it 1-0 at 8:45 of the first on the power play, while Boychuk made it 2-1 eight minutes later. Ross and Bartschi, respectively, made it 3-1 and 4-1 at 15:32 and 15:59 of the third. Cody Chikie, with two goals, replied for Kelowna (4-9-0-0). The loss was the Rockets’ fourth in fifth games. Chikie levelled the score at 1-1 at 9:04 of the first period with his first goal of the season. His second of the night came at 19:57 of the third to close out the scoring.

Adam Brown made 32 saves for Kelowna, while Mac Carruth turned aside 33 shots for the Winterhawks, who again host the Rockets tonight. Portland, meanwhile, was 1-for-8 on the power play in a game played before just 2,448 fans.

Kelowna’s power play is now rated at 11.0 per cent (nine goals on 82 chances), the second worst percentage in the WHL, with Lethbridge bottoming out at 8.5 per cent (5-59). However, when it comes to just road games, Kelowna’s power play is an incredibly low 5.9 per cent, with just two goals in 34 chances over five games.

“I was happy with the effort from the players, but, as I said, we just have to find a way to put it together,” said Huska. “We missed some glorious chances late in the game to tie it up. Now, we have to regroup and try to get (the win) tomorrow.”

Huska added that his team “needs to learn how to win. We haven’t been great so far and when we get an effort like this, we need to find a way to get more push from the players. We were close, but close isn’t good enough. It’s about wins.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were D Brendon Wall (concussion), D Mitchell Chapman (fifth game of a six-game suspension for kneeing), C Andreas Stene and C Gal Koren. . . . Earning assists for Kelowna were Damon Severson, Geordie Wudrick and Colton Sissons.

In what has to be the most disappointing web story of Nino's return to the WHL and Portland, click here. Don't worry. The read won't take long.

Mighty Portland gets mightier

If you haven't heard the news today, well, junior-hockey fans should be dancing in the streets of Portland, with the New York Islanders returning 18-year-old phenom Nino Niederreiter to the Winterhawks.

Here’s a story from ESPN:

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The New York Islanders have returned 18-year-old center Nino Niederreiter to junior hockey, the team announced Thursday.

The Islanders, after dressing Niederreiter for nine games, decided to return him to the Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks.

“At the end, it’s better for me to go for one more year in juniors, to be a leader there,” Niederreiter told Newsday before he left. “Now I know how NHL players have to play, how hard it is to get scoring opportunities. I definitely have to work on that. I tried my best on that here, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Niederreiter was the Islanders’ first pick, fifth overall, in last June’s NHL entry draft. In nine games with the Isles, the native of Switzerland scored one goal and added one assist. He led the Winterhawks with 36 goals last season while adding 24 assists in 65 games. He also had eight goals and eight assists in 13 playoff games.

Niederreiter also led Switzerland with 10 points (6-4) in seven games at last January's world junior hockey championship.

Teams around the league at this time of year have big decisions to make. Once a junior-aged player plays his 10th NHL game, the first year of his entry-level deal in the NHL counts regardless of whether or not the player finishes the season in the NHL. By returning a player back to junior before his 10th game, his entry-level deal resets for next season.

On Thursday, DubNation contacted Winterhawks general manager and head coach Mike Johnston and asked him his thoughts on Niederreiter’s return. To say the least, they were positive.

“We’re excited. But in the end, we wanted what was best for Nino,” said Johnston. “If it was the choice of the Islanders that he could play there, we were confident that they’d done a good of evaluating him through exhibition and the nine-regular season games. We were confident that they knew what was best for him. In the end, they decided coming back to junior for one more season was good for him.

“I watched six of those nine games and I thought Nino played really well, I really did. He played very well in every game and he had power-play time in some games, and for an 18-year-old player that’s incredible.”

For Portland (10-2-0-1), this is understandably great news. For the Kelowna Rockets (4-8-0-0). it's bad news. Why? Because they play the Western Conference-leading Winterhawks this weekend. Twice. In Portland.

Uh oh.

As it is, Portland's a big, talented team with a literal fleet of good, solid forwards. Sophomore Ty Rattie, a 17-year-old from Airdrie, Alta., is third in league scoring with nine goals and 23 points in 13 games. Last season, Rattie had 17 goals and 37 points in 61 games. Rookie Sven Bartschi, an 18-year-old from Switzerland, is ninth with nine goals and  20 points in 13 games.

Then there’s centre Ryan Johansen, selected fourth overall in June by Columbus. The 6-foot-3 forward from Port Moody, B.C., has an understated three goals and 11 points in 10 games. And 6-1 left-winger Brad Ross of Lethbridge, Alta., has six goals and 12 points in 12 games. Ross was selected in the second round, 43rd overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Adding El Nino to the mix makes an tough mountain to climb become almost impossible.

“He’s going to make a good team better. He’s a very good hockey player,” Kelowna Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of Niederreiter on Thursday while en route to Portland. “It’s probably a great day for Portland, getting a guy of his calibre back in their lineup. For us, we have to make sure we’re focused on playing them and their entire team tightly.

“When he’s on the ice, and probably with Ryan Johansen, we have to make sure we’re careful not to give them a lot of room.”

One hope Kelowna has is that Niederreiter’s return temporarily throws a wrench into Portland’s smooth running offence. That happened to Kelowna when the Rockets landed Mikael Backlund following the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championship, though Kelowna’s offence eventually meshed after a month and wound up demolishing the rest of the league.

With Johansen and Niederreiter, two players who are not only first-round picks but top-five first-round picks, the same lofty expectations are being placed on the Winterhawks.

“That can happen,” Johnston said of his offence possibly going awry over the short term. “We had a couple of players come back, like Johansen and late from Columbus and (left-winger) Oliver Gabriel late from Columbus (on a free-agent tryout), and we had already played four games by that time, so we’ve gone through a little bit of that. And there is a transition period, for sure, for guys coming from pro (to junior) and just the mentality and the letdown and everything you deal with psychologically.

“But, at the same time, Nino has been with us for a season, and he’s moving back into his same billet and with the same roommate, so there’s a lot of familiarity here. I think he’ll be able to settle in quicker than maybe a guy like Backlund did when he came into a new situation.”

Huska said it’s possible they could catch Portland at an awkward time, but that his main focus was getting his team to establish a better work ethic after losing 3-1 to the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday night.

“We have to respond with a good effort after losing our last game at home,” said Huska. “So we have to look forward to playing, and when we get an opportunity to play hard against the best team in the league, you have to be excited about that opportunity. We have to look forward to the challenge.”

Tonight’s contest will be the second of four meetings this season between Kelowna and Portland. After Saturday’s game, the two don’t play again until Saturday, Jan. 14 in Kelowna at Prospera Place. In their first meeting, the Winterhawks outmuscled the Rockets 5-1 in Kelowna.

The Winterhawks opened the scoring at 4:33 of the first, Spencer Bennett with his sixth goal of the season, then, after Geordie Wudrick levelled the score at 41 seconds of the second period, closed it out with four unanswered goals. Johansen and Rattie both finished with two goals and one assist in a game that Portland simply owned.

“We’ve really been focusing on our defensive game and our penalty killing over the last two months,” said Johnston, whose team is averaging 3.69 goals a game while surrendering 2.53 (Kelowna’s respective averages are 2.66 and 3.83). “Our scoring hasn’t been where it should be, but we feel that we still have the ability to be a dangerous transition team.

“Being a good a puck-moving team is what we pride ourselves on, and that usually equates to being a good transition team. I don’t think it’s been totally there yet, and it’s been hit-and-miss on some nights and we’re looking for a little bit more, but we’ve been happy with how we’re playing away from the puck and how we’ve been on the penalty kill.”

Here’s the press release from the Winterhawks.

Here's a story from the Portland Tribune.

ICE CHIPS: Johnston said Portland cut down its goaltending scenario from three to two by placing G Ian Curtis on the waiver wire. That leaves Portland with 6-foot-3 Mac Carruth, 18, of Shorewood, Minn., and 6-foot-1 Keith Hamilton, 18, of Kelowna. . . . Curtis had played in two games (2-0, 3.50 goals-against average, .909 save percentage), while Carruth in five (4-1, 1.58, .952) and Hamilton in six (4-1-0-1, 2.63, .925). . . . Portland also has only two 20-year-olds, 6-foot-6 LW Tayler Jordan of Wynyard, Sask., and Bennett, meaning they’ll likely be looking for a third some time soon.

Financial impact study on Rockets

Kenneth Carlaw says the Kelowna Rockets are highly valued members of the Okanagan’s business community.

How highly valued depends on a person’s specific point of view. For non-sports fans, the Rockets’ impact will be minimal. For those involved with sports, however, the impact is quite big.

Commissioned by the Rockets to do an economic and social impact assessment, Carlaw, a professor at the UBC Okanagan, found it to be in the millions. According to the study, the direct economic  impact of the Rockets on the city of Kelowna in 2009-10 was more than $3.9 million, while the indirect economic impact was $31 million.

Other findings are:

The economic impact of the playoffs, pre-season and special events is more than $5.3 million

The economic impact of the Rockets’ social activities is more than $242,000.

The economic impact of former players and local staff living in Kelowna is more than $7 million annually.

Carlaw compared the findings of a similar survey done in 2009 on the economic impact of the Saskatoon Blades on Saskatoon. That study found that the annual economic impact of the Blades is $10.8 million.

From the report’s executive summary, Carlaw states:

“The economic impact of the Rockets comes from a variety of sources, some of which we are able to readily quantify and others about which we can only make speculative conjectures. In this report, we identify the quantifiables. In reporting the data, we replicate a study done by Gary Houseman in 2009 titled Economic and Social Impact Assessment of the Saskatoon Blades. By doing so, we hope to establish a comparison basis for such impact assessments for sport tourism activities lasting an entire season, such as those provided by the Kelowna Rockets. The total annual economic impact of the Kelowna Rockets on the city of Kelowna is $31,502,482.31.

“One major source of economic impact data is derived from the spending of spectators that attend regular-season games and support the Rockets during the season. This includes ticket sales, spending at games, corporate sponsorships, visitors from outside the area and competitors coming to play. The indirect economic impact of the Kelowna Rockets’ regular-season activities is $14,909,569.48.

“A second major source of data is the spending of the Rockets’ organization. This includes salaries and wages, advertising done by the team, player salaries and expenses, billet expenses, player spending and the annual costs of the WHL scholarship program to the team. The direct economic impact of the Kelowna Rockets is $3,994,830.16.

“A third major source of data is playoff spending of the Rockets and spectators attending playoff games, the spending of visiting teams during the playoffs, players (and their parents) attending pre-season camps and visiting teams, spectators and support staff attending other hockey events (e.g., the Super Series of 2010). The economic impact of playoff, pre-season camp and special event activities is $5,305,689.20.

“In addition, the Rockets’ organization has a tremendous annual social impact on the city of Kelowna through community outreach programs and long-term impacts derived from Rockets alumni returning to live in the Okanagan. Community outreach programs include school reading and mentorship, the BLAST program and a huge number of community and charitable activities in Kelowna. The economic impact of the Rockets’ social impact activities is $242,393.38.

“There are also at least 20 former Rockets (now or formerly NHL hockey players) that have returned to Kelowna to live. (Along with coaching and other staff that own homes in Kelowna) The annualized impact of these long-term effects is estimated to be $7,050,000.00.”

That last stat, the $7 for housing, caught my eye, and I wondered how Carlaw came up with it. Below is his explanation:

“A crude calculation of the average annual impact of returning Rockets alumni and the residence of the Hamilton family and coaching staff is made by taking the total estimated expenditure on housing $35.25 million and dividing it by 5 years, which, according to the Kelowna Rockets’ records, is the period of time over which former players have been returning to the city of Kelowna. That number is $7,050,000.00.”

While $7 million is certainly a curious number — because it begs the question: Can purchasing a house really be considered an annual statistic? — I’ve no reason to doubt the rest of the stats. And, in fact, I tend to agree with Carlaw when he says the indirect numbers (minus the housing) are conservative.

In his book, Carlaw writes: “One thing that was not measured either in the Houseman or this study is the impact of local spectators on the community around the sporting venue. From interviews with local restaurant merchants and The Great Canadian Casino directly across the street from Prospera Place, we know that there are significant increases in clientele to these establishments on game nights. These increases occur regularly throughout the hockey season. We are unable to establish a dollar value for these economic impacts, but we are certain there is a positive impact. For this and the reasons listed throughout the study, we regard the economic impact assessment of the Kelowna Rockets on the city of Kelowna measured at $31,502,482.31 to be an underestimate.”

Wheat Kings thresh Rockets

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

Kelowna’s Geordie Wudrick made his point. But the Brandon Wheat Kings left town with two points.

Shayne Wiebe scored what stood up as the winner in the opening minute of the third period, as Brandon beat the Rockets 3-1 in WHL action at Prospera Place on Tuesday night. With the win, the Wheat Kings snapped a nine-game losing skid, while the Rockets dropped to 2-6 on home ice this season.

“We didn’t work tonight. It was an awful effort, I can’t put it any other way,” said Rockets coach Ryan Huska. “There’s no fire from our group right now. We’re not playing good hockey as a team, and we don’t have good work ethic, and that’s the biggest thing.”

Mark Stone and Brenden Walker also scored for the Wheat Kings (5-9-0). Shane McColgan replied for the Rockets (4-8-0). Liam Liston made 27 saves for Brandon, while Adam Brown stopped 25 shots for the Rockets. Wudrick, meanwhile, was arguably the hardest-working Kelowna player, answering the bell after being a healthy scratch in last Friday’s 4-3 shootout win over Everett.

“Clearly, I haven’t been playing to the best of my abilities. They sent a message to me and I take that to heart,” said Wudrick, an over-age forward who scored 19 goals and 34 points in 38 games with Kelowna last season, but has only one goal and one assist in 11 games so far this season.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever missed a game in my five years. I’m going to take that personally any time that happens. My goal tonight was just to come out and really work hard and be physical and do the things I can do to help the team win.”

Wudrick was a factor all night, despite not factoring into the scoring. He generated what appeared to be a game-tying goal at 4:46 of the third period, when his hard shot from the left face-off circle rebounded in off Cody Chikie’s chest. The play was reviewed and disallowed, ruled that Chikie illegally directed the puck in.

“They have video replay for that now, but that’s a tough one. I don’t know how you direct it with your chest,” Huska said. “But they have people upstairs now, so it’s hard to argue.”

As for Wudrick’s effort, Huska said: “I thought Geordie was better tonight than he’s been.

“We need Geordie to step his game up for us. Geordie’s a very good hockey player and he has to work his way through this. That’s really all that will get him through it, is the work ethic.

“He has to make sure he’s the hardest working guy on the ice all the time, or it won’t change.”

That Chikie non-goal was as close as the Rockets would come to levelling the score, as Liston denied Colton Scissons on a point-blank chance, Brandon’s penalty kill outchanced Kelowna’s power play in the dying minutes and Walker salted away the victory with an empty-netter in the last second of regulation.

Poor numbers a points concern for Rockets

Two teams, both with losing records, will meet Tuesday night at Prospera Place. That those teams are the Kelowna Rockets and Brandon Wheat Kings is, to say the least, surprising.

Heading into the season, pundits predicted good, albeit not overly great, things for both Kelowna (4-7-0-0) and Brandon (4-9-0-0). Instead, neither has played up to its potential, despite each having solid talent in place.

In Kelowna, for example, 6-foot-3 forward and 20-year-old Geordie Wudrick has just two points in 10 games, while forward Brett Bulmer is fourth in team scoring with four goals and six points, but has the team’s worst plus-minus stat at minus-12.

Kelowna’s plus-minus leaders are Mitchell Callahan, Zach Franko and Mitchell Chapman at a meagre plus-two, with Evan Bloodoff and Shane McColgan right behind at plus-one. It’s the same story in Brandon,  which jumped out of the starting gate by winning its first four games, but has lost its last nine.

“We had a good start and then we’ve really struggled,” said Wheat Kings GM and head coach Kelly McCrimmon. “So numbers are never favourable when you’re not winning games. With us, we’re giving up empty-net goals, because that’s the way our losses have been lately.

“We’ve been in games and we have been close, but we haven’t been able to win those games. We are making some progress, but, at the same time, we’re in a results business and we haven’t been winning.”

At the positive end of the plus-minus scale this season is 5-foot-8 right-winger Brendan Gallagher of the Vancouver Giants, who, with 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points, leads the league at plus-13. Next in line at plus-12 are defenceman Joey Leach of the Kootenay Ice (5 points) plus Ty Rattie (23 points) and defenceman Brett Ponich (5 points) of the Portland Winterhawks.

As to why the Rockets are so far behind in plus-minus, it comes down to simple offence. Vancouver, Kootenay and Portland have all scored more goals than they’ve given up, which isn’t the case with Kelowna (31 goals for, 43 against) and Brandon (39, 45).

“We’ve had some games where we’ve had chances to win, but we just couldn’t close the deal,” said Rockets president and GM Bruce Hamilton of his team’s poor start. 

“I think our guys are learning just how hard you have to work every night. You always have new guys who are going through that, but I think it’s the guys who were here last season that are thinking that it’s easier than it is. And it’s not.

“In our division, like I’ve said all along this year, it’s a tough division. Any team can win on any night.”

The Rockets are 4-4 in their last eight contests, while the Wheat Kings haven’t won since pounding the Saskatoon Blades 7-0 on Oct. 1. In its last contest, Brandon lost 6-3 on Saturday night to the Chilliwack Bruins, a team that the Rockets beat 4-3 on Oct. 15.

So, is this easy pickings?

Hamilton said not a chance.

“Anytime you’re playing a team that’s going through what they’re going through, they’re going to be a team that if you get ahead on them, they start to question themselves,” said Hamilton. “If they get ahead on you, then they become excited and play.

“But our team certainly has no reason to be taking any team for granted right now.”

ICE CHIPS: Brandon will be without  LW Michael Ferland (knee) and highly touted C David Toews (high-ankle sprain) and Jens Meilleur (hand). . . . In the plus-minus department, C Scott Glennie and D Darren Bestland are at minus-10.

Wheat Kings up next for Rockets

The Brandon Wheat Kings make their one-and-only stop in the Okanagan on Tuesday night. But before we get to that, first, a couple of out-takes from photos I took in Kelowna's game against Everett on Friday night.

Now, as anyone who's taken a photo before, not every frozen moment in time is a keeper. And when shooting sports, in fact, I'd say 90 per cent of all photos taken are deleted, with only a handful making the grade. Below are three examples that didn't make the grade, and here's why.

1. No facial expressions. Nothing says B-O-R-I-N-G more than an action shot of a player's back, or two backs in this case. Faces, and their expressions, are what make great action shots. Not backs. Nor the backs of heads.

2. Soft focus. In today's automatic, spot-on focusing, a softly focused photo gets trashed quicker than . . . a lineup sheet by a GM who just watched his team lose.

And for the record, automatic focusing isn't always automatic!

3. Poor timing. In a case of missed it by just that much (), resulting in Rule 1 (see above), a smiling Everett Silvertips captain Landon Ferraro turns to get the number of the truck he just collided with in the corner. The number? 18 of Shane McColgan.

Here's the link to DubNation's photo page, including selected photos from Friday's game at Prospera Place.

All photos there can be downloaded, free of charge.

 Wheat Kings up next for Rockets

When it comes to looking ahead, Shane McColgan, Zach Franko and Colton Sissons are key components to Kelowna’s future.

Asking first- and second-year forwards to be today’s leaders, go-to guys, though, is a load that should be carried by the Rockets’ veterans. But given how Kelowna’s veterans have performed so far, the Rockets are having their playing hands forced.

For example, over-age left-winger Geordie Wudrick was scratched in Friday’s 4-3 shoot-out win over Everett. Why the 6-foot-3 forward was scratched wasn’t surprising, with just one goal and one assist in 10 games.

“Geordie was a healthy scratch,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of the decision to sit the 20-year-old, who’s in his final season of junior eligibility. “Sometimes when a guy, when they think they’re playing hard, sometimes it takes sitting out and actually watching a game and realizing how much fun it is to play the game if you work hard. That’s what we’re trying to get across to Geordie.

“We need him to be a big contributer to our team. Hopefully, this is something that brings him back on course.”

Last season, Wudrick nearly averaged a point a game after the Rockets acquired him in a trade with the Swift Current Broncos. Prior to joining Kelowna, he had eight goals and 14 points in 24 games with Swift Current. Those numbers rose to 19 goals and 34 points in 38 games with the Rockets, giving him a season total of 48 points in 62 games. His best season in the league was 2008-09, where he had 35 goals and 57 points in 69 games with the Broncos.

Also scratched was over-age defenceman Brendon Wall, though he is coming off a concussion suffered in a 5-1 home-ice loss to the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday, Oct. 16.

Kelowna’s third over-age player, Evan Bloodoff, is having an OK season stats-wise, with two goals and five points in 11 games. In Bloodoff’s case, though, the normally offensive-minded left-winger seems committed to playing defensively this season.

Regardless, if Kelowna (4-7-0-0) is to improve its surprisingly slow start to 2010-11, the team will need big efforts from its trio of over-agers. And a good place to start will be Tuesday, when the Brandon Wheat Kings (4-9-0-0) visit Prospera Place.

Wheat Kings general manager and head coach Kelly McCrimmon isn’t one to suffer loses lightly, and his squad is winless in its six-game road trip against B.C. teams, with losses to Prince George (5-3) last Wednesday, Vancouver (5-2) on Friday then Chilliwack (6-3) on Saturday. After playing Kelowna, Brandon visits Kamloops on Wednesday, then Cranbrook on Friday for a tilt with the Kootenay Ice.

Seeing a poor effort on Tuesday night would quickly wipe out any momentum the Rockets had built up with their victory over Everett on Friday night. In that contest, goaltender Adam Brown, 19, had a stellar night, making 36 saves and earning first-star honours. The win came on the heels of a disappointing 7-5 loss to Vancouver on Wednesday, a game which saw Kelowna squander a 5-2 lead.

“Without a doubt, it was a big win,” said Huska. “With teams coming back on us, we need our goaltender to be the difference when teams are a little easy or unsure of themselves, and Adam was certainly the difference.”