Rockets leapfrog Giants

Kelowna wins 6th straight game; takes over B.C. lead

Special to The Okanagan Sunday

It may have been a day later and a different game with much different implications, but the result was the same for Kelowna, as the Rockets came away with a huge 7-3 win over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night.

This one meant a lot more than the previous evening’s victory over Prince George in a lot of ways, not the least of which is the fact that Kelowna vaulted over the Giants into first place in B.C. Division standings.

“I really liked our game,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, “We hadn’t seen them in  a long time, but I thought our second period was really good, and I’d like us to play that way all the time. We always found a way to come back, which was nice.”

Photo: Mitchell Callahan of the Kelowna Rockets, middle, races for the puck between a pair of Vancouver Giants in Andrej Stastny, left, and David Musil, right, during WHL action at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday, Jan. 29. The Rockets won 7-3. Also pictured are Zach Franko, right, and Kevin Smith of the Rockets, plus, far left, Michael Burns of the Giants.

Two quick goals within the space of under two minutes in the second period set the pace for Kelowna, which has now won six games in a row and squared its season series against Vancouver at 2-2 with four games played.

Geordie Wudrick — who scored once in Friday’s 7-3 rout of the Prince George Cougars — paved the way against Vancouver with a hat trick and an assist. Both teams opened up with tight checking, neither willing to give up a mistake that might have cost a scoring chance.

Kelowna, however, got the lift they needed from Brett Bulmer, who also had an assist, and Wudrick, with his first of the night — goals that were scored 112 seconds apart in the middle stanza to get them ahead 2-0.

Photo: Mitchell Callahan of the Kelowna Rockets, middle, looks down while about to tip a shot in front of Vancouver Giants goaltender Mark Segal. Callahan registered a goal and assist.

Bulmer got his 18th of the season as he undressed Giants defenceman David Musil, and, breaking in alone, shelved an unstoppable backhand shot over Giants goalie Mark Segal.

Despite that opening, the Giants, as they’ve shown all season, refused to back down and they made it 2-1 at 17:14 of the period, with Brendan Rowinski getting his first of two on the night.

If the first two frames were more defensive, the third was the opposite, with seven goals in total and keeping the official scorekeepers busy.

The Rockets came out on the winning end of that 20-minute gunfight, though, as first Mitchell Callahan, on a 5-on-3 power play, then Zach Franko tallied for Kelowna.

Rowinksi added his second, and Greg Lamoureux also scored for the Giants, but with the score 5-3, Wudrick sealed the deal for Kelowna with his 28th and 29th goals of the season coming late in the frame.

The significance of Saturday’s win was not lost on Wudrick.

“It’s so huge for us, especially down the stretch and going into the playoffs,” Wudrick said. “To be able to move into first place and to try to get some separation . . .  we’ve got a couple of games in hand, and that was absolutely big-time for us.”

Adam Brown played a solid game in net for the Rockets, turning aside 24 shots and making several key late saves to preserve the win.

Kelowna was 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Giants went 0-for-2 with the advantage. 

The Rockets, who have won their last six games, are 29-20-0-0 and have two games in hand on the Giants (26-20-1-4). Prince George, which lost 4-2 to Everett on Saturday, remains in third place, seven points behind Kelowna.

Kelowna will now have a chance to put some space between its provincial rivals. Two games into a seven-game stretch against B.C. Division opponents, they will next take on the Chillwack Bruins this coming Wednesday at Prospera Place. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m.

Rockets' hot streak continues

Kelowna wins 5th straight; host Giants tonight

Special to The Okanagan Saturday

The scoring chances came early and often for the Kelowna Rockets on Friday night. 

And, before a sold-out crowd of 6,088 fans at Prospera Place, the Rockets made good on them, riding three-goal first period en route a 7-3 win over the Prince George Cougars in WHL action. First star Cody Chikie had a goal and three assists to help the Rockets to their fifth win in a row, plus their sixth over their northern Cariboo opponents this season.

“I’m loving our line right now,” Chikie said afterwards. “Spencer Main and Andreas Stene, we’re playing very well together. We’ve got a lot of chemistry going, and we’re just going to get better every day from now on."

Kelowna came out flying and scored on two out of its first three shots. First, Colton Sissons, then Shane McColgan beat Cougars starting goaltender James Priestner to make it 2-0 before two minutes had elapsed after the opening faceoff.

With many of the fans still finding their seats, Sissons, untouched by Prince George’s defence, and benefitting from the corner work of linemate Evan Bloodoff, slotted a quick shot under Priestner from the left faceoff circle to open the scoring just 23 seconds in.

McColgan followed that up 92 seconds later, and Geordie Wudrick made it 3-0 with a team-best 26th goal of the season before the Cougars’ Martin Maricin, with a power-play shot from the point, beat Adam Brown in Kelowna’s net to make it 3-1 at the break.  

Prince George could get no closer than that, though, and the Rockets survived a rough second period in which the two teams traded plenty of extracurricular roughness, with a combined total of more than 50 minutes of infractions. 

Kelowna came out ahead where it mattered, however, as Chikie added a helper on Kevin Smith’s fourth goal of the season and later on Evan Bloodoff’s 12th to keep the home team’s momentum going.

The Cougars struck again when Troy Bourke solved Brown at 11:31 to give them faint hope. But, Bloodoff, with perhaps the highlight of the night, outraced Shane Pilling of the Cougars to a loose puck, then neatly slid it under Priestner’s replacement, Ty Rimmer, making it 5-2 and all but ensuring victory.

In the third, Zach Franko added yet another tally, and, after helping his team all night, Chikie added his 10th of the season to earn first-star honours.

The Cougars, who had two chances disallowed in the earlier going, got a late short-handed goal from Brock Hirsche, but that was it for Prince George (24-22-2-1).

The Rockets (28-20-0-0) went 0-for-10 on the power play, while Brown turned aside 25 shots. The Cougars were 1-for-8 with advantage and saw 26 Rockets shots. 

Prince George is now five points behind the Rockets in B.C. Division standings.

The Rockets won’t be able to talk much about Friday’s victory, as, tonight, they play host to the Vancouver Giants (26-19-1-4). Game time is 7 p.m.

In B.C. Division standings, the Giants have 57 points, while Kelowna is two points back, but has two games in hand. Prince George is third with 51.

“Every point is important, and when you’re playing teams in your division, those are four-point nights,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “We want to make sure we have good efforts against them, and that’s the way it’s going to be for the remainder of the season. Everybody needs points.”

A sign of the times we live in.....

Ever hear the adage that one man's stupidity is . . . well, just stupidity?
Today, in Chicago, there's news that a car salesman was fired for wearing a Green Bay Packers tie to work.
Insulting the boss, his wife or kids; threatening to go postal; going to work naked; there are a million reasons why a person can get fired. But wearing a tie?!? Holy stupid, Batman!
This episode reminds me of what the Kamloops Blazers tried to pull off in its feud with The Kamloops Daily News — a thought that wasn't well thought out.
For the full story, click here.

Rockets sweep road trip with rare win in Tri-City

Before we get to Sunday's result between the Kelowna Rockets and the Tri-City Americans, yesterday's news also included the death of exercise pioneer Jack LaLanne.

Admittedly, and probably like 99.9 per cent of the world, I never knew LaLanne, but I knew who he was: A man dedicated to fitness. Who could forget television footage of him pulling a boat while swimming? Or his endless commentary of saying it's never too late to get in shape.

I find his death, frankly, surprising. For of all the men in the world who seemed like they'd never die, it was him. Below are a few paragraphs from the Associated Press story.

For the full read, click here.

 

Exercise pioneer Jack LaLanne dies at 96;

inspired generations to get fit

MORRO BAY, Calif. (AP) — Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died on Sunday. He was 96.

LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California’s central coast, his longtime agent Rick Hersh said.

Lalanne ate healthy and exercised every day of his life up until the end, Hersh said.

“I have not only lost my husband and a great American icon, but the best friend and most loving partner anyone could ever hope for,” Elaine LaLanne, Lalanne’s wife of 51 years and a frequent partner in his television appearances, said in a written statement.

Just before he had heart valve surgery in 2009 at age 95, Jack Lalanne told his family that dying would wreck his image, his publicist Ariel Hankin said at the time.

“He was amazing,” said 87-year-old former “Price is Right” host Bob Barker, who credited LaLanne’s encouragement with helping him to start exercising often.

“He never lost enthusiasm for life and physical fitness,” Barker told The Associated Press on Sunday. “I saw him in about 2007 and he still looked remarkably good. He still looked like the same enthusiastic guy that he always was.”

LaLanne (pronounced lah-LAYN’) credited a sudden interest in fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and he worked tirelessly over the next eight decades to transform others’ lives, too.

“The only way you can hurt the body is not use it,” LaLanne said. “Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it’s never too late.”

**********

Rockets edge Americans 4-3

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) —  The Tri-City Americans are accustomed to starting strong, scoring a ton of goals and winning on home ice. So much so, that they had won 13 straight games at Toyota Center.

On Sunday, the Kelowna Rockets threw a wrench into the Americans’ perfect world.

Zach Franko scored twice and rookie goalie Jordon Cooke made 30 saves for Kelowna in a 4-3 win before a crowd of 4,017. MacKenzie Johnston and Jessey Astles also scored for the Rockets (27-20-0-0), who hadn’t won in Kennewick in almost three years.

Carter Ashton, with two goals, and Justin Feser replied for the Americans (29-13-2-1), who had earned points in their last seven games. Tri-City, which was playing its fourth game in six nights, outshot the Rockets 33-15.

“They came in and were more determined than we were,” Tri-City head coach Jim Hiller told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “Their feet were faster than ours, and it was hard to make plays. Generally, it’s the other way around.”

With the win, Kelowna has won its last four games, including going three-for-three on a weekend U.S. Division road trip that started with a 6-3 win over Seattle on Friday night. The Rockets, who also beat the Spokane Chiefs 5-3 on Saturday, had not won at Toyota Center since Feb. 25, 2008.

While breaking that winless span of nine games was good, for Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, winning three games against Western Conference rivals was the big goal.

“It was a good week for us,” Huska said. “What we did this week is more important than anything in the past.”

From the start, Kelowna played physical, eventually knocking the Ams off their game plan.

“I thought when we pushed back, that’s when we got better,” Huska said. “If you allow them to skate like they can, you’re in for a long night.”

Tri-City now trails Portland by six points and Spokane by three in the U.S. Division standings.

“We knew Kelowna would come in tough,” Ashton said. “They came out strong. As a group, we had to match that, and, at times, we did. It was frustrating to hand the goals to them. We outplayed ourselves.”

“This was a tough one,” Kelowna captain Tyson Barrie said. “Tri is well skilled and fast. They play a great game. It’s tough to win three in one weekend, but we pulled it off.”

Rockets rally, stun Spokane

Call it a most unlikely win.

However, even that doesn’t do justice to the Kelowna Rockets’ surprising 5-3 win over the Spokane Chiefs in WHL action on Saturday. Trailing 1-0 just 80 seconds into the game, then 2-1 midway through the first period and 3-1 early in the second, the Rockets rallied to beat the host and high-powered Chiefs with four unanswered goals.

Brett Bulmer, with two goals and an assist, Colton Heffley, Shane McColgan and Geordie Wudrick scored for Kelowna (26-20-0-0), which was outshot 38-17. Adam Brown turned aside 35 shots for the Rockets, who have won three in a row and improved to 2-0 on its three-game U.S. Division weekend road trip.

The Rockets began their Washington trip with a 6-3 win at Seattle on Friday. They close out their journey tonight against the Tri-City Americans (29-12-2-1). Game time is 7 p.m.

Tyler Johnson, with his 36th goal of the season, Levko Koper and Mitch Holmberg scored for Spokane (29-12-3-2), which lost for just the fourth time on home ice in regulation time this season. Mac Engel made just 12 saves. Wudrick’s goal was into an empty net.

Kelowna is 0-2 against Tri-City this season, losing 4-3 at home to the Americans on Sept. 29, then falling 1-0 in Kennewick, Wash., on Oct. 1.

To go 3-0 on this trip, the Rockets willl need a strong start. The Americans are 17-1 when leading after the first period and 25-1 when leading after two. When trailing after 20 minutes, Tri-City is 2-9-2-1 and is 2-10-1-1 when trailing after 40 minutes.

Kelowna is 11-2 and 18-3 when leading after the first and second periods, respectively, and is 6-13 and 2-15 when trailing.

ICE CHIPS: Saturday's attendance in Spokane was 6,834. . . . Kelowna was 1-for-4 on the power play; Spokane was 0-for-5. . . . In B.C. Division standings, Kelowna is in second place with 52 points, one behind the front-running Vancouver Giants (24-19-1-4).

Rockets start tough trip with two points

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Saturday

Zach Franko might list the Seattle Thunderbirds as his favourite team to play against.

The Kelowna Rockets’ rookie forward scored two power-play goals on Friday night to power the visitors past the host Thunderbirds 6-3 in WHL action. Heading into the contest, Franko was the only Rocket with more than one point against Seattle this season, tallying a goal and two assists as the teams split their first two games. Kelowna previously scored a 3-2 home-ice win on Dec. 1, then dropped a 3-1 road decision in Kent, Wash., on Jan. 7.

“He’s starting to understand the consistency side of the game,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of Franko, who has points in every game of 2011, tallying five goals and six assists for 11 points during his nine-game streak. Now fifth in team scoring, Franko has 11 goals and 35 points in 45 games to date this season.

“He’s a guy that’s got good skill offensively, and I think he’s feeling a little bit more comfortable within the league too,” Huska continued. “So you’re starting to see some of his offensive ability come through now.”

At Kent, Wash., Franko tallied his 10th and 11th goals of the season, Shane McColgan netted his 16th and Evan Bloodoff scored his 11th for the Rockets (25-20-0-0), who were coming off a 6-1 clobbering of the Prince George Cougars at Prospera Place in Kelowna on Wednesday. Tyson Barrie sealed the deal on Friday with two shorthanded, empty-net goals from his own zone — his seventh and eighth markers of the campaign.

“It was a good game for us,” said Huska, whose squad was tied 2-2 after the first but led 4-2 after the second. “I was very happy with the effort we got from just about everybody in our lineup tonight. This might have been one of the better games I’ve seen our forwards as a group play.”

Colin Jacobs, with two goals, and Luke Lockhart replied for the Thunderbirds, who have now lost four straight, including a 4-3 shootout decision against Kamloops on Tuesday.

Rockets goalie Adam Brown stopped 26 shots, while Calvin Pickard finished with 32 saves for Seattle (18-20-4-5), which has been struggling of late with just two wins in their last 10 games.

Friday’s victory kicked off a three-game weekend trip for Kelowna, which also features stops in Spokane to play the Western Conference-leading Chiefs (29-11-3-2) tonight and Kennewick, Wash., to take on the Tri-City Americans (28-12-2-1) on Sunday evening.

“It’s not an easy trip for us,” said Huska, whose Rockets kept pace with the B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants (23-19-1-4), who blanked Prince George 3-0 on Friday. “But we have to go into (Spokane) and play a hard, smart game. That will be our players’ challenge, not to create any problems for ourselves. We want to give ourselves an opportunity to win.”

Rockets scratch up win over Cougars

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

Without Shane McColgan and Brett Connolly in their respective lineups, someone had to step up for the Kelowna Rockets. Cody Chikie definitely did.

With Kelowna and Prince George Cougars both missing their top scoring forwards, it was Chikie stealing the spotlight with two goals to pace Kelowna past Prince George 6-2 in WHL play at Prospera Place on Wednesday night.

"I thought Cody was very good. He was probably the only guy for us, in the early stages of the game, that had a lot of speed," said Rockets coach Ryan Huska, whose squad led 3-1 and 4-1 at the period breaks, but was outshot 32-29. "(Chikie) had good energy all night long, and his line played hard."

McColgan, the Rockets' leading scorer with 44 points in 39 games, was on the ice Wednesday night, just not in Kelowna. The 18-year-old forward was playing in Toronto, helping Team Orr hammer Team Cherry 7-1 in the CHL's annual Top Prospects Game. McColgan, however, was held scoreless there.

While Chikie and Co. made up for McColgan's absence, the Cougars struggled minus Connolly, who will be sidelined three-to-six weeks with a knee injury suffered against Chilliwack last Wednesday. A first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning last June, Connolly was leading Prince George with 25 goals and had 40 points in 34 games, having also represented Canada at the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo earlier this month.

Kelowna's supporting cast rose to the occasion led by Chikie and linemates Spencer Main, with a career-best four assists, and Andreas Stene, with two helpers. Evan Bloodoff, Brett Bulmer, Colton Sissons and Mitchell Callahan also scored for Kelowna (24-20-0-0), which leapfrogged Prince George in Western Conference standings with the win. The Rockets now head south for a three-game U.S. Division road trip this weekend with stops in Seattle, Spokane and Tri-City.

Taylor Stefishen and Nick Buonassisi replied for the Cougars (22-20-2-1), who dropped to sixth place, one point behind fifth-place Kelowna and two back of the idle B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants (22-19-1-4).

With plenty of offensive support, Rockets goalie Adam Brown made 30 saves, while Kelowna chased Cougars starter Ty Rimmer after scoring three times in the opening 13 minutes. The Rockets put three more pucks past his replacement, James Priestner.

Chikie, held pointless in two games last weekend and in five of seven games this month, tallied his eighth and ninth goals of the season in succession to end Rimmer's night. And they came in similar fashion, with Chikie forcing turnovers off the forecheck and stuffing quick wraparounds past Rimmer. He almost completed the hat-trick in the game's dying seconds, only to be denied in-close by Priestner as time expired.

"Just using my speed and getting to pucks first and turning them over . . . it's been working," Chikie said. "Our team played good tonight, my line especially. We're starting to get some chemistry together, and today it just paid off."

Main had more to show for his efforts – with four points to Chikie's two – but their line as a whole complemented a makeshift top unit of Callahan, Bulmer and rookie Zach Franko.

"We're starting to figure it out," Main said. "Our line embraced that responsibility, and I thought we stepped up tonight."

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna's other scratches were LW Jason Siebert (wrist, 4-to-5 weeks), C Max Adolph (concussion, 1-to-2 weeks) and D Damon Severson. Prince George's other scratches were C Charles Inglis (eye, day-to-day) and LW Spencer Asuchak. . . . Wednesday was the sixth meeting of the season between Kelowna and Prince George, with the Rockets now holding a 5-1 series lead. The Cougars won the first contest, 6-2 at Prospera Place on Sept. 25, but lost the next four to Kelowna: 6-2 on Nov. 2, 5-1 on Nov. 12, 4-2 on Nov. 19 and 2-1 in overtime on Nov. 20. The two teams will face off three more times in the next three weeks, again at Prospera Place next Friday, Jan. 28, then in Prince George for a two-game set on Feb. 4 and 5. . . . Both Kelowna and Prince George were coming off losses on Saturday, with the Rockets falling 5-2 to visiting Medicine Hat, while the Cougars dropped a 3-1 decision to Chilliwack. . . . McColgan was among 40 skaters in Toronto looking to impress NHL scouts for the upcoming 2011 entry draft. In Central Scouting's mid-term rankings for North American skaters eligible for the draft, the 5-foot-8 centre from California was ranked 102nd. Kelowna teammates Franko (105th) and Jessey Astles (192nd) also made the list.

Cougars 2 at Rockets 6

KELOWNA, B.C. — WHL on Wednesday night:

First Period

1. Kelowna, Bloodoff 10 (Barrie, Main) 1:42 (pp)

2. Kelowna, Chikie 8 (Stene, Main) 6:07

3. Kelowna, Chikie 9 (Main, Stene) 13:00

4. Prince George, Stefishen 12 (Acolatse, Marincin) 19:51 (pp) 

Penalties — Vlach P.G. (boarding) 0:50, Gibb P.G. (delay-of-game) 10:01, Forsberg P.G. (hooking) 16:23, Sissons Kel (tripping) 19:08.

Second Period

5. Kelowna, Bulmer 15 (Callahan) 17:13

Penalties — Wudrick Kel (double-minor, high-sticking) 4:34, Koren Kel (interference) 9:54, Wudrick Kel (roughing), Forsberg P.G. (roughing), Dumais (roughing) 17:23.

Third Period

6. Kelowna, Sissons 8 (Main, Barrie) 6:08 (pp)

7. Kelowna, Callahan 18 (Franko, Jobke) 7:56

8. Prince George, Buonassisi 15 (Smith) 18:04

Penalties — Chikie Kel (roughing), Acolatse P.G. (roughing), Smith P.G. (roughing) 5:36, Makin P.G. (goaltender interference) 8:31, Gibb P.G. (holding) 10:28, Kel Smith, Forsberg P.G. (fighting) 12:33, Heffley Kel, Stefishen P.G. (fighting) 14:14, Franko Kel (hooking) 18:28.

Shots on goal by

Prince George        14        5        13        —32

Kelowna        12        8        9        —29

Goal (shots-saves) — Prince George: Rimmer (9-6) (L, 10-11-0-1), Priestner (20-17)

(13:00 first); Kelowna: Brown (W, 20-17-0-0).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Prince George: 1-5; Kelowna: 2-7.

Referee — Pat Smith. Linesmen — Ward Pateman, Ron Dietterle.

Attendance — 6,061.

McColgan trying to make mark

Shane McColgan of the Kelowna Rockets is in Toronto, attending the Top Prospects Game, where he hopes to improve his ranking.

Recently, NHL Scouting released its mid-term rankings of players eligible for the 2011 draft, and McColgan was ranked 102nd amongst North American skaters. Only time will tell where the feisty and skilled California product will get drafted, but it appears he's doing his best to get noticed.

From Tuesday's skill competition comes this paragraph:

Things got testy at one point during the 3-on-3 play, when defenceman Duncan Siemens of the Saskatoon Blades and forward Shane McColgan of the Kelowna Rockets exchanged cross-checks, slashes and shoves. They had to be separated by officials and yapped at one another all the way to the bench.

For the rest of the story, click here.

For results, click here.

My thought: Wednesday's game should be good. And too bad the Blades and Rockets don't play again this season.

Rockets to host Cougars

In a season filled with surprises, arguably the biggest has been how well the Prince George Cougars are playing.

Last-place finishers in the B.C. Division for five of the past eight seasons, the Cougars are challenging for the provincial pennant in this campaign. They have company, and plenty of it, but with 22 wins in 44 games this season, Prince George has almost doubled its sad-sack total from last season (12-56-1-3).

To Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, it’s no surprise the Cougars have turned around 180 degrees, for the signs were abundant last season — most noticeably in what was the final regular-season game for both teams on March 13. In that contest, the Cougars, led by forward Brett Connolly with a goal and assist, pushed the Rockets, but lost 6-5 in a shootout.

“They play hard,” said Huska, whose Rockets (23-20-0-0) will host the Cougars (22-19-2-1) tonight, 7 p.m. at Prospers Place. “They’re typical of how (head coach Dean Clark) wants his teams to play. They do a good job with that and they’re a hard team to play against because of that.”

As well as the Cougars have been playing, though, they’ll be without their top forward, Connolly, who suffered a knee injury last Wednesday in a 5-2 road loss to Chilliwack. Connolly was involved in a knee-on-knee collision with Bruins centre Steve Oursov late in the first period. He tried to skate again a few minutes later but immediately returned to the bench and headed for the dressing room.

The Prince George Citizen reported that doctors in Chilliwack and Prince George examined Connolly’s right knee and determined he has suffered a sprain. He’s expected to be out of action for three-to-six weeks.

“It’s very unfortunate. Brett obviously went through some injury woes last year and this is another setback for him, but certainly nothing like last year,” Clark told the Citizen. “It’s just a matter of him doing the hard work and getting the rehab done and he’ll come back when he’s ready.”

There was no penalty called on Oursov, who was not injured on the play. The next day, the WHL suspended Oursov for three games, the final of which will be today’s contest.

“Regardless of who’s getting hit, we just can’t go knee-on-knee, it’s too dangerous,” said Clark. “We want to take that right out of hockey, whether it’s our level, minor hockey or the NHL.”

Huska said just because Connolly is out of action, he doesn’t expect an easy two points.

“A lot of times when your key player is out of the lineup, everybody has a tendency to pick up their game and play a better team game,” he said. “That’s what we’re expecting.”

As for Prince George’s turnaround, Huska said “there were lots of times last season when they were in a lot of games. And I think they lost some games because they were very young and inexperienced. And sometimes when you’re that young, you don’t know how to win.

“I think over the course of the season, Dean Clark got through to them as to what he was looking for, and they picked that up. And this season, they’ve taken off with that and have done a great job.”

Tonight’s contest will be the sixth meeting of the season between Kelowna and Prince George, with the Rockets holding a 4-1 series lead. The Cougars won the first contest, 6-2 at Prospera Place on Sept. 25, but have lost four straight to Kelowna: 6-2 on Nov. 2, 5-1 on Nov. 12, 4-2 on Nov. 19 and 2-1 in overtime on Nov. 20.

In B.C. Division standings, the Cougars are in second place with 47 points, two behind the front-running Vancouver Giants (22-19-1-4), while Kelowna is third with 46. The Chilliwack Bruins (20-19-2-1) are fourth with 43 points, while the Kamloops Blazers (20-24-1-1) are fifth and last with 42.

While the Cougars will have do without Connolly, the Rockets will also be shorthanded, albeit temporarily, with leading scorer Shane McColgan away in Toronto attending the CHL’s annual Top Prospects Game tonight. He will be among 40 skaters looking to impress NHL scouts for the upcoming 2011 entry draft. In Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for North American skaters eligible for the draft, the 5-foot-8 centre from California was ranked 102nd. McColgan left for Toronto on Monday, and he will play for Team Orr, which will be coached by former NHLer Doug Gilmour.

Teammate Zach Franko was ranked 105th, while Jessey Astles was listed at 192nd.

Huska also complimented the Cougars on making good acquisitions.

“They’ve made a few good ones,” said Huska. “(Centre Charles Inglis from the Saskatoon Blades) is a good one, they also have a good European they picked up (in defenceman Martin Marincin) and (defenceman Sena) Acolatse has also been good for them. So if you look through their lineup, I think they’ve done a good job of adding some experienced guys to some of their good, younger players.”

ICE CHIPS: Coincidentally, tonight’s game will feature the only two teams in the division with .500 records or better. Prince George has 22 wins and 22 losses and Kelowna is 23-20, while the remaining three have more losses than wins, though every team but Kamloops has a points percentage (formerly known as winning percentage) of .500 or better, with Vancouver in first at .533. Kelowna is .535 and Prince George is .534. . . . Both Kelowna and Prince George are 5-5 in their past 10 games and both suffered losses in their last contests. . . . On Saturday, Kelowna lost 5-2 to Medicine Hat on Saturday, while Prince George lost 3-1 to Chilliwack. . . . In regards to that flat loss to Medicine Hat, which followed an exciting win over Portland just 24 hours earlier, Huska said “I think (a letdown) was expected, for a few minutes, if not the first period. But after that, we expected to be better. But in our situation, we didn’t do a very good job of putting pucks in good spots where we could get a good forecheck going and create some energy. Too many times, their goaltender (Tyler Bunz) would break our forecheck up by stopping pucks behind the net. And we spent too much time chasing the other way. By the time we got it back again, we were changing. So we didn’t have any good energy going in that game because of that.” . . . .  Kelowna is 13-10 at home, while Prince George is 9-9-1-0 on the road. . . . The Rockets’ leading scorers are RW Shane McColgan (15-29-44), RW Mitchell Callahan (17-21-38), LW Brett Bulmer (14-21-35), LW Zach Franko (9-23-32) and D Tyson Barrie (6-26-32). The Cougars’ top guns are D Martin Marincin (11-31-42), RW Brett Connolly (25-15-40), C Nick Buonassisi (14-26-40), C Charles Inglis (18-19-37) plus Vernon, B.C., product and LW James Dobrowolski (14-23-37). . . . The Rockets are 10-2 and 16-3 when leading after the first and second periods, respectively, while the Cougars are 16-1-1-1 and 17-1-1-1. . . . Conversely, the Rockets are 5-13 and 2-15 when trailing after 20 and 40 minutes, while the Cougars are 3-11 and 1-16.