Rockets fall to Chiefs

A great way to start the second half of the season this wasn’t.

After finishing the first half on a high note, posting a 5-1 road win over Saskatoon on  Dec. 17 prior to the annual Christmas break, the Rockets flopped on Tuesday night, falling 4-1 to the visiting Spokane Chiefs.

Yet, at the same time, Kelowna’s result was somewhat predictable.

The Rockets were missing seven players, including three who are competing at the World Under-17 Challenge in southwestern Ontario. Though teams hate to use injuries  and/or missing players as a crutch, seven is quite the roster hit. Yet, at the same time, Tuesday’s setback is in stark contrast to that Saskatoon victory.

So, the pressing question is, what gives?

That query is also stumping the Rockets’ coaching staff.

“We weren’t sharp at all,” said Rockets interim head coach Dan Lambert. “We didn’t compete very hard and we got outbattled pretty much all night. We took some weak penalties and they capitalized on a couple of them. It could have been a lot uglier had it not been for Adam Brown.”

Mitch Holmberg, with a three-point night with two goals and an assist, Marek Kalus and Collin Valcourt scored for Spokane (16-11-2-3). Reid Gow and Steven Kuhn also had two assists each. Brett Bulmer replied for Kelowna (14-17-2-3).

Mac Engel made 22 saves for the Chiefs, who led 1-0 and 3-1 at the period breaks. At the other end, Brown stopped 33 of 37 shots, including 14 in the opening period.

Spokane was 2-for-8 on the power play, while  Kelowna went 0-for-5.

In regards to Kelowna’s fill-in-the-blanks roster problems, there’s not much the team can do, other than use midget call-ups and hope they help seal the cracks.

“Before we went on the (Prairie) road trip, we weren’t competing very hard at home,” Lambert said. “I didn’t think our last three games at home were very good (2-1 loss to Victoria, Dec. 2; 3-2 loss to Prince George, Dec. 3; 5-2 win over Lethbridge, Dec. 7).

“Then we go on the road and we proved that when we play and compete, we’re able to play with teams. For some reason — and I don’t know why, maybe the guys think they have to put on a show for the fans, or what — their legs just don’t move the same way as they do on the road. That’s definitely a concern, because we’re supposed to have home-ice advantage with our fans that come here in droves every night. You’d think that would be an advantage. Maybe because it’s we’re young . . . I don’t know. But, regardless, this is something that has to change.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were D Jesse Lees, D Madison Bowey and C Tyson Baillie (all at World U-17 Challenge) plus D Damon Severson, C Tyrell Goulbourne, C Spencer Main and C Colton Heffley. . . . The Chiefs had three scratches: Jason Fram, C Anthony Bardaro and C Dominik Uher (WJHC, Czech Republic). . . . Up next for Kelowna is a Thursday, 7 p.m. road game against the Tri-City Americans (27-7-0-0). . . . In other WHL action from Tuesday, Alex Kuvaev scored the shoot-out winner as Vancouver beat Kamloops 4-3. The win was Vancouver’s third in a row, a result which moved the Giants three points behind Kamloops for first place in B.C. Division standings.

Holiday break over for Rockets

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

Brett Bulmer spent Christmas at home in Prince George — against his wishes.

Bulmer’s preference was to spend the big day in Edmonton with Canada’s national junior team, preparing for Monday’s world junior hockey championship opener against Finland. The 19-year-old came close to achieving that goal, being among the final cuts at Canada’s selection camp earlier this month, with reports suggesting he was on standby in case of injury.

But with forwards Quinton Howden and Jonathan Huberdeau deemed healthy and everybody else escaping pre-tournament play unscathed, Bulmer’s fate was sealed.

That’s bittersweet news for the Kelowna Rockets (14-16-2-3) — Bulmer’s club team — who maintained hope, for his sake, that he’d get the last-minute call for Canada. But Kelowna will benefit from having him in their lineup for tonight’s home game against the Spokane Chiefs (15-11-2-3). Puck drop is 7 p.m. at Prospera Place.

After tonight, the Rockets will visit the  Tri-City Americans (27-7-0-0) on Thursday night, then entertain the Calgary Hitmen (17-15-2-1) on Sunday (New Year’s Day) at 2 p.m.

That Bulmer failed to crack Canada’s roster could serve as motivation for the second half of what will most likely be his final WHL season, having already debuted with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild to start this season.

“Coming back after Christmas, he knows he’s staying in major junior and he can get focused in,” said Rockets general manager Bruce Hamilton. “And I know Minnesota wants him to get working on his game and get ready to go back up when our season is over.”

That focus will be on consistency first and foremost. Hamilton joined the Rockets for the back half of their six-game, pre-Christmas road trip across the Prairies and said Bulmer’s effort — or effectiveness — was hit-and-miss after getting released from Canada’s camp.

“He had spurts where he was real good, then he had some games where he just wasn’t quite there,” Hamilton said. “But I can understand why because of where he’s all been in the last few months.”

Bulmer, a second-round pick by the Minnesota Wild in the 2010 NHL draft, had three assists and six penalty minutes during his nine-game audition with the Wild that lasted until late October.

Since returning to the Rockets, Bulmer has scored 27 points in 18 games and is tied with captain Colton Sissons for second in team scoring behind Shane McColgan (36 pts). Bulmer’s also second in goals with 13 to Sissons’ 20.

At Canada’s camp, Bulmer was limited to one assist in intrasquad action and held pointless in an exhibition contest against CIS all-stars. Most still expected him to make the squad, at least as the extra forward, given his connection with Ryan Huska — Kelowna’s head coach who is an assistant under Don Hay with Team Canada.

Some accused Bulmer, along with fellow Prince George product Brett Connolly, of slacking in camp and showing up with a sense of entitlement given their NHL experience. Hamilton shot those accusations down, but didn’t dispute the roster decisions.

“With the world juniors, they pick guys that fit certain roles,” said Hamilton, noting Hay, coach of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, cut 11 WHL players from selection camp, only keeping a handful. “None of those guys from Portland made it either. I thought if a guy like (Brad) Ross was going to be on that team, then Bulmer could be there in the same kind of role. I think the biggest problem that Brett had is that the camp was short and he wasn’t at the summer camp, which sometimes affects it as well. Time will tell if they made the right decision.”

Canada kept Connolly, a returnee from last year’s silver-medal team and a forward for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. The former Prince George Cougar earned his spot by increasing his involvement, both offensively and physically, as camp wore on.

“I think what happened with Connolly is he came back and it was going to be Don Hay’s way. Then I think Mr. (Steve) Yzerman reaffirmed that with him,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think Brett Connolly was there thinking anything else; it was just a matter of understanding how serious this is. I can understand him being a little out of sorts because he’s been in the NHL and coming to this. I think the biggest thing that Brett Connolly found out is that Mr. Yzerman (Tampa Bay’s GM) and Mr. Hay were on the same page.”

It’s assumed Hay and Huska ended up on the same page with regards to releasing Bulmer, and ultimately icing an Ontario-heavy lineup. The depth chart features 10 OHL players, five from the WHL, four from the QMJHL and two from the NHL, plus captain Jaden Schwartz from Colorado College (NCAA).

“This team is going to be real interesting,” Hamilton said. “The coach is committed. I’m not saying the other coaches (from past years) weren’t committed, but this is a mission that Don Hay is on and he’s surrounded himself with the guys that he wants. And he’s picked his team the way he wants his team.

“Word already is drizzling out of there about how hard they’ve worked in practices and stuff like that . . . that it’s no holiday and all business. I expect them to be very well-coached and to be a real emotional team. There will be some ups and downs, but they’ll be a team that when they get going, they’ll be hard to stop.”

Rockets keeping close tabs on blue-line prospect

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

The last time Lorne Frey lured an undrafted defenceman from Sicamous to Kelowna, his name was Shea Weber.

This time, it’s Stewart Coyle and, yes, there are some similarities.

Coyle, 16, started this season playing for his hometown KIJHL Sicamous Eagles under coach Blair Robinson, just like Weber at the same age in 2002, when he helped Sicamous win a Western Canadian Junior B championship. Only time will tell how Coyle’s future plays out, but Frey is good at judging talent.

“Blair thinks that Stewart might be as good an offensive guy as he’s had at 16 years of age,” said Frey, director of player personnel for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.

Notably, Toronto Maple Leafs blue-liner Cody Franson also came through Sicamous’s system in the small town best known for houseboating and NHL defencemen.

“(Coyle) passes the puck well and has good offensive instincts,” Frey continued, “but, like every young player, defensively he needs some work. But that will get better, and he’s got good upside that’s for sure.”

Weber’s upside proved to be a Norris Trophy finalist as the NHL’s top defenceman last season while captaining Nashville. But he wasn’t always that highly regarded, getting passed over in the WHL’s bantam draft before being listed by Kelowna prior to 2001-02, in which he also played five games with the Rockets.

Coyle seems to be travelling a similar path — not picked in the 2010 bantam draft, listed by the Rockets out of training camp that fall, then recently summoned to Saskatchewan in the midst of Kelowna’s pre-Christmas road trip across the Prairies, debuting in Prince Albert and also suiting up in Saskatoon. Coyle will stay in Kelowna’s fold after Christmas, at least until injured defenders Damon Severson and Myles Bell are ready to return.

At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Coyle is about the same size as the 16-year-old version of Weber, who grew five inches from 5-9 to 6-2 following his bantam draft year before topping out today at 6-4 and 234 pounds.

How big Coyle grows is anyone’s guess. But it appears that the Rockets have big plans for him — he got his WHL feet wet last week, playing sparingly in two games.

“I almost felt bad for him,” said Rockets assistant coach Dan Lambert, who baptized Coyle by fire without so much as a practice before playing Prince Albert. “He wasn’t at our camp this year because he was hurt. So we really

hadn’t seen much of him other than warm-up. He had a few shifts and I wanted to put him out there more, but I also wanted to put him in situations where he could succeed. The few shifts he did have, he did a fine job, and he’s a kid we believe is going to be part of the future in Kelowna.”

Coyle’s call-up was necessitated by Kelowna’s rash of injuries, with seven regulars sitting out the last two games of that road trip, including Severson and Bell, with fellow defenceman Jesse Lees bumped up to forward.

Coyle can relate, with a soft-tissue issue that sidelined him for the first nine games of Sicamous’ season, before returning to tally one goal, five points and eight penalty minutes in 23 games. Weber, for comparison sake, recorded nine goals, 42 points and 87 PIMs in 47 games during his one and only KIJHL campaign.

“(Coyle) got a late start, but he’s continued to grow and continued to develop,” Frey said. “We think he has a chance to be a pretty good player for us.”

The Rockets have the makings of a pretty great blue-line in the seasons to come. Severson, 17, will play in next month’s Top Prospects Game at Prospera Place, Lees and Madison Bowey — Kelowna’s top two bantam draft picks from 2010 — are already becoming impact players as 16-year-old rookies, and Cole Martin, also 17, has exceeded all expectations as an all-around defender in his debut season.

Bell, who played in last year’s Top Prospects Game but went undrafted, and MacKenzie Johnston are only 18 and could play two more seasons in Kelowna.

Then, with Kevin Smith, 20, and Mitchell Chapman, 19, soon moving on, the likes of Coyle and Kelowna product Mark MacDougall, 17 (KIJHL Kelowna Chiefs), are waiting in the wings.

“We think we’re good at the back end for down the road,” Frey said. “That’s where we want to build from, and hopefully we can keep finding some good players. We’re young back there and it’s probably hurting us somewhat right now, but in talking to (GM Bruce Hamilton), the young guys played lots on this trip and they’re getting better, so that’s good to see.”

Rockets' road trip ends in style

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

Turns out, the Kelowna Rockets still had some gas left in the tank.

In their final stop of a six-game road trip across the Prairies, and short seven regulars from their lineup, the Rockets blitzed the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night, chasing backup goaltender Adam Todd in the first period

en route to a 5-1 victory. It was a team effort with Kelowna getting goals from five different players, including three power-play tallies, to salvage a satisfactory 2-2-0-2 record on this trip.

“Outstanding,” Rockets assistant coach Dan Lambert said of his club’s effort less than 24 hours after working overtime in Prince Albert, only to suffer a 3-2 shootout loss against the Raiders on Friday night. “I wasn’t surprised. I had a really good feeling going into this game for some reason. The guys were relaxed and they felt good about themselves. Even though we hadn’t been rewarded every game, they believed in themselves and that’s key, I believe, to have success as a team.”

Saturday’s game was Kelowna’s fourth in five nights and yet the Rockets skated with plenty of spunk in their stride after spending 10 days on the road, leading 3-1 and 4-1 at the period breaks. Now the Rockets (14-16-2-3) get a much-needed, well-deserved break, going their separate ways from Saskatoon before reuniting in Kelowna for a home game on Tuesday, Dec. 27th against the Spokane Chiefs.

Against the Blades, Tyson Baillie, with his sixth goal of the season, and Carter Rigby, with his 10th, on a man advantage, gave Kelowna a lightning-quick 2-0 lead just three minutes 20 seconds into the opening frame.

That’s all the offence Adam Brown would need, stopping 37-of-38 shots for first-star honours, while his counterpart’s tenure was cut short with Rigby’s goal. Todd, a former Pursuit of Excellence product, was benched in favour of Andrey Makarov after making only one save, while Makarov stopped 21 for the Blades (20-14-0-1).

“Brownie made some huge saves for us and really stepped up his game here tonight,” Lambert said of Kelowna’s starter who watched backup Jordon Cooke earn three of a possible four points in Kelowna’s previous two games. “Every good team has good goaltending and we definitely have that here.”

Chris Collins cut the deficit to 2-1 at 4:16 of the first period, but Brett Bulmer, with his 13th, on another Kelowna power play, answered for the Rockets at 7:30.

Colton Sissons, with his 10th power-play marker and team-leading 20th goal, and converted forward Jesse Lees, with his second, also scored for Kelowna. Shane McColgan added two assists to his total, for 36 points in 34 games, and was named second star, with Saskatoon’s Collins third.

“The boys played great, Brownie was fantastic and our power play stepped it up — it was just a lot of good things that happened out there,” said Lambert, adding the team saved its best for last in scoring its only regulation win of the trip, after previously edging Regina 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday. “Throughout this trip, we battled hard and we were in every game I thought. But our power play wasn’t able to get us some goals whereas it did tonight, and that was basically the difference in the hockey game.”

When the dust settled, Kelowna earned points in four of six games — also dropping a shootout decision (4-3) in Swift Current to start the trip — and couldn’t complain with the results given its injury-ravaged roster.

“We had a couple (affiliated players) and we were under the (roster limit) pretty much every game, but the guys worked really hard,” Lambert said. “Now with these seven to 10 days off (over Christmas), it’s going to be huge for our guys. Just for them to go home and get re-energized and refocused and hopefully have a great second half.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna scratched RW Filip Vasko (world juniors, Slovakia), D Damon Severson (hand), LW Tyler Goulbourne (upper-body), C Colton Heffley (lower-body), C Cody Chikie (upper-body), C Spencer Main (upper-body) and D Myles Bell (lower-body).

Rockets fall to Raiders

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

The Kelowna Rockets will fall short of Colton Sissons’ goal — though not from lack of effort.

Kelowna’s captain said prior to departing on the team’s six-game, pre-Christmas road trip across the Prairies that he expected their record to be “a game or two above .500.”

Sissons had a shot at keeping the Rockets’ trip record alive, but he was stopped by Penticton product Cole Holowenko to end Friday night’s shootout, as the Prince Albert Raiders celebrated a 3-2 home-ice victory over Kelowna in WHL action.

With the loss, the Rockets (13-16-2-3) fell to 1-2-0-2 through five games with the final stop tonight in Saskatoon against the Blades (20-13-0-2). Had Sissons scored to extend the shootout, or previous shooters Brett Bulmer or Carter Rigby netter the winner in the six-round tiebreaker that Prince Albert also took 3-2, Kelowna would be .500 with one game to go.

Realistically, the Rockets could just as easily be 3-2 at this point, given the opportunistic nature of shootouts, with Kelowna losing in similar fashion, 4-3, at Swift Current to start the trip on Dec. 9.

“In overtime, we probably had the better chances, and we had the puck on our stick (two) times to win the game in a shootout and just weren’t able to put it away,” Rockets assistant coach Dan Lambert said. “Both teams had chances throughout. Everybody battled hard again and we definitely can’t fault their effort. We need to look at this as a positive and move on to (tonight).”

The Rockets were missing seven  regulars for Friday night’s game — six were sidelined with injuries, while Filip Vasko is auditioning for Slovakia’s world-junior team.

Meanwhile, after a slow start, the Raiders (12-22-1-2) are suddenly red-hot — they’ve now earned points in seven of their last 10 games, including six wins.

The Rockets were led by Sissons, with his ninth power-play marker of the season and team-leading 19th goal to give Kelowna a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, and leading point-getter Shane McColgan, who opened the scoring two minutes into the first period with his 10th goal and 34th point of the season.

Jordon Cooke, making his second straight start after backstopping the Rockets to Wednesday night’s 3-2 overtime win over the Regina Pats, stopped 32 shots through 65 minutes, then 3-of-6 shootout attempts. McColgan, in the third round to prolong the shootout, and Zach Franko, in the first round, accounted for Kelowna’s goals in the extra session.

“Our older guys need to be our best players right now and they have been for the most part,” said Lambert. “Definitely their work ethic has been fantastic, and when they’re your hardest-working players, the young guys gotta follow suit. That’s basically what’s been happening.”

Prince Albert was also paced by its best players with Mark McNeill netting his 15th goal of the season, while Justin Maylan bulged twine for the 18th time. McNeill, like Bulmer, was cut from Team Canada this week.

Holowenko had 29 saves through regulation and overtime, then added four more in the shootout between two underachieving teams with plenty of firepower. Import forward Michal Hlinka, who only has two goals to his credit this season, scored the winner after McNeill and Kellan Tochkin gave the Raiders an early upper hand by scoring on their first two attempts.

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna scratched RW Filip Vasko (world juniors, Slovakia), D Damon Severson (hand), LW Tyler Goulbourne (upper-body), C Colton Heffley (lower-body), C Cody Chikie (upper-body), C Spencer Main (upper-body) and D Myles Bell (lower-body). Lambert said none of the seven will play tonight. . . . D Stewart Coyle, 16, of the KIJHL Sicamous Eagles, made his Rockets debut on Friday.

Top Prospects Game to feature 2 Rockets

In a month and a half, Kelowna will be home to the CHL Top Prospects Game, featuring major junior’s 40 best NHL draft-eligible players.

Two of them already call Kelowna home, with Rockets forward Colton Sissons and defenceman Damon Severson named to opposing teams for the 17th annual showcase, slated for Feb. 1 at Prospera Place.

Sissons, Kelowna’s leading goal-getter and captain, and the WHL’s top-ranked forward on Central Scouting’s preliminary rankings released last month, will play for Team Orr — coached by Bobby Orr.

The less heralded Severson, a sophomore blue-liner that plays an all-around game with offensive upside, will skate for Team Cherry — coached by Don Cherry — providing he recovers from a hand injury suffered on Kelowna’s current six-game, pre-Christmas road trip through the Prairies.

The Rockets (13-16-2-2) continue that trek tonight in Prince Albert against the Raiders (11-22-1-2), before wrapping up in Saskatoon on Saturday against the Blades (20-12-0-1).

The Top Prospects Game, which also includes a skills competition and 3-on-3 challenge on Jan. 31, will feature three players ranked first overall by Central Scouting in their respective leagues — Nail Yakupov of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, Mikhail Grigorenko of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts and Ryan Murray of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.

Murray, along with Tanner Pearson of the Barrie Colts (OHL), will compete in this event after representing Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship over the next few weeks.

“It is a huge honour to be named to this event and to play alongside some of the best players in the 2012 NHL draft class,” Murray said in a news release. “I’ve had some great friends compete in this game, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins last season, and I’m really looking forward to this opportunity.”

Both Russian-born top prospects were equally thrilled to be named to the rosters — Yakupov on Team Cherry and Grigorenko on Team Orr.

“I am very excited to play in the Top Prospects Game,” said Yakupov, last year’s CHL Rookie of the Year who has 49 points in 24 games this season. “I am looking forward to playing against and meeting the other top draft-eligible players from the CHL.”

Grigorenko, who leads all QMJHL rookies with 56 points in 35 games added, “I am honoured to play among the best NHL prospects and it will be a great challenge for me.”

Last season, Nugent-Hopkins became the 10th player to compete in this event since 1996 to be selected with the first overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft. Last year’s Top Prospects Game, held at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, featured 19 of a record 21 CHL players chosen in the first round of the NHL draft, also including Jonathan Huberdeau of the Saint John Sea Dogs (third overall) and Ryan Strome of the Niagara IceDogs (fifth overall).

The 2012 edition will ice 10 WHL players with 30 of the CHL’s 59 clubs represented, led by the OHL’s Belleville Bulls with three prospects on display — goaltender Malcolm Subban, plus forwards Brendan Gaunce and Daniil Zharkov. Eight other teams, including the host Rockets, have two players suiting up.

“The Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game is an event that all NHL scouts look forward to attending,” said NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr. “The 40 players competing in this game were chosen by the 30 NHL clubs with the game being a unique opportunity to evaluate 40 of the top draft-eligible prospects on a single stage in what has annually become an intense competition.”

Coaches and support staff for the 2012 event will be announced at a later date.

Big road win for Rockets

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

The Kelowna Rockets benefited from two players making their returns to the lineup on Wednesday night, not just one.

While all the pre-game talk was about Brett Bulmer being back in the fold after failing to make Team Canada for the upcoming world juniors, it was rookie defenceman Colten Martin that powered the Rockets past the host Regina Pats 3-2 in overtime.

Returning from a one-game absence due to illness, Martin scored the winner, his first career WHL goal, two minutes 33 seconds into the extra session, to give the Rockets (13-16-2-2) their first win in four tries on this six-game, pre-Christmas road trip across the Prairies. The victory will also go down as a first for acting head coach Dan Lambert, filling in for Ryan Huska, an assistant with Canada’s national junior team.

“The guys played hard tonight and that’s always nice to see,” Lambert said. “I think the effort’s been there every night for us, we just haven’t seen the results. Tonight, we finally saw the results and the two points is huge.”

Downplaying his personal milestone, Lambert was giving Kelowna’s players all the credit — specifically Martin, who blasted a slap shot past Pats goaltender Adam Beukeboom and also assisted on the game’s first goal.

“(Martin’s) played really well for us. He was sick and didn’t play in Brandon, but he played huge minutes for us tonight and did a great job playing against the (Jordan) Weal line most of the night,” Lambert said in highlighting Martin’s defensive assignment, paired with assistant captain Mitchell Chapman against Regina’s top scorer. “He was still feeling a little bit under the weather, but he’s a battler and it was great to see him get his first one. Our centreman won a draw and somehow it ended up on (Martin’s) stick. He wound up and gave it a big blast and the puck went five-hole on the goalie. . . . The moral of the story is it’s never a bad thing to get the puck on net.”

Bulmer also did his part, opening the scoring just 21 seconds after the opening puck drop to give Kelowna an early 1-0 lead — at the same time shrugging off the Hockey Canada snub earlier in the day when he was among the final 13 cuts in Calgary.

“Brett scored a big goal for us,” Lambert said. “Our team was looking a little bit flat, maybe from the trip last night and losing, but right away he got us going and got us thinking the right way. You need those guys. Brett’s a game-breaker and he’s got that ability (to score), so it was a boost for our team and I thought we needed it.”

On the down side, Bulmer took a cross-checking penalty in the final minute of regulation that led to Regina forcing overtime on Morgan Klimchuk’s equalizer with 33 seconds left. But that misstep was forgiven in the aftermath as everybody was focusing on the positives, which had been less rewarding through three losses — 4-3 in a shootout at Swift Current last Friday, 4-1 at Moose Jaw on Saturday and 5-3 at Brandon on Tuesday night.

“The penalty at the end, those things happen when you’re battling in the corner,” Lambert said. “We have to give Brett a lot of credit because what he went through today isn’t a lot of fun. He was definitely hoping to represent Canada at the world juniors and now he knows he’s not going to get that opportunity, and yet he comes here and all in all has a pretty good game for us.”

Another WHL rookie, Tyson Baillie, with his fifth goal of the season, an unassisted marker that gave Kelowna a 2-1 lead late in the second period, also scored for the Rockets, who got 29 saves from backup Jordon Cooke.

Andrew Rieder had Regina’s other goal, levelling the score 1-1 early in the second period, while Beukeboom stopped 24 shots for the Pats (17-14-2-1).

Kelowna will relocate to Saskatoon today before travelling further north to Prince Albert to play the Raiders (11-22-1-2) on Friday night. The Rockets finish this gruelling swing on Saturday in Saskatoon against the Blades (20-12-0-1).

“We definitely need a day off just because of the fact we’ve been playing with a shorter bench,” said Lambert, referencing injuries to D Damon Severson (hand), LW Tyrell Goulbourne (possible head/concussion), C Colton Heffley (lower-body), C Spencer Main (upper-body), C Cody Chikie (upper-body) and D Myles Bell (lower-body). “There’s been a lot of guys that have logged a lot of minutes over the last three or four games, so a day off is never a bad thing in this situation. Now Christmas is just around the corner, but we’ve got four available points before that happens, so we need to make sure we come up with a great effort.”

ICE CHIPS: Lambert rule Severson out for this weekend and also said Goulbourne was unlikely to suit up, at least for Friday’s game. . . . Martin’s goal left Slovakian import Filip Vasko as the only Rocket yet to score this season, though he’s recorded 11 assists in 32 games. . . . Rockets leading scorer C Shane McColgan, with 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists), was held pointless on Wednesday, and was whistled for a questionable embellishment penalty to end the second period. The Rockets killed that minor off to start the third. . . . McColgan also committed a turnover on a third-period power play that led to a 2-on-1 break for Weal, who was stopped by Cooke.

Canada announces national junior roster

Brett Bulmer didn’t get much sleep on Tuesday night. Neither did Ryan Huska.

This morning in Calgary, Hockey Canada announced its 22-man roster for the upcoming 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship that starts Boxing Day in Edmonton and Calgary. And on Dec. 26, when Canada opens against Finland, Bulmer will likely be watching the game on TV instead of playing in it, having been one of the final 13 roster cuts.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” Bulmer said in a media scrum at the team hotel after hearing the news. “I thought I worked hard, did everything they asked of me at camp so it's really disappointing. I thought I had a good shot. I worked hard, got on the body and did everything they asked but . . . ”

A 19-year-old forward for the Kelowna Rockets, Bulmer had been one of the 42 players invited to Hockey Canada’s national junior-team selection camp that started Sunday. On Tuesday, the first cuts were made, seven of them, including defenceman Mathew Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels. On Wednesday, the final day of camp, the last cuts were made, with Bulmer — who began the season with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild and seemed to have an inside track on making the team — being one of them.

With Team Canada’s coaching staff featuring two WHL coaches in head coach Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants and assistant coach Ryan Huska of the Kelowna Rockets, you’d figure they’d ice a team heavy with WHL flavouring. Instead, it seems they put aside their league allegiance and used their brains instead of their hearts.

Team Canada will feature just five WHLers, with the majority of the team hailing from the OHL (10). Four are from the QMJHL, one from college and two from the NHL. Sixteen WHLers were invited to camp; five were cut Tuesday and six on Wednesday.

In regards to Bulmer not making the cut, Huska said “Bulmer was disappointed, and rightfully so. It’s a young man’s dream to get a chance to play in this tournament and it didn’t happen for Brett. But the one thing I’d like for Brett to remember is there are a lot of great players in the NHL who didn’t get a chance to play for Team Canada. That’s something he has to remember and something he can use to push himself forward.”

One notable player who won’t play in this tournament is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers. Last year, as a 17-year-old, RNH was one of the final cuts, and there was hope the Burnaby product would be released to play for Canada this year as an 18-year-old. The Oilers didn’t release him, and, despite being able to play for Canada next year, well, if it didn’t happen this December, it won’t happen next December, either. 

“There’s (Nugent-Hopkins), Tyler Seguin is another. There are lots,” said Huska. “There’s quite a few guys, when you really look at things, who didn’t get the opportunity to try out or they were cut from the team. There’s a lot of great players in Canada, and you don’t necessarily pick the 22 best players. You pick the 22 players that you think make the best team.”

Asked specifically why Bulmer was let go, Huska said it couldn’t be boiled down to just one answer.

“There’s a a lot of things that come into play,” said Huska. “Things like where we think our strengths are in the lineup. Do we have enough scoring? Do we have enough grit? You have to factor in all those different things, and, at the end of the day, we went with the 22 guys who we thought gave us the best chance to win. Unfortunately for Brett, he wasn’t a part of that.”

Compounding Bulmer’s release were four X factors. The four: NHLers Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay) and Devante Smith-Pelly plus injured forwards Jonathan Huberdeau (foot) and Quinton Howden (suspected concussion). Howden is one of four returning players from last year’s silver-medal team, while Huberdeau is supremely talented, as are Connolly and Smith-Pelly.

“That’s a challenging part,” said Huska. “You don’t want to name extra players because they shouldn’t have to be cut twice. But, at the same time, you have to weigh whether or not the guys that are (injured) are going to be ready in time to play. That’s a tougher decision that we had to deal with last night.”

As to what type of team Canada will ice, Huska said “For us, in the west, you know how Don’s teams play in Vancouver, and this team is going to have a lot of those tendencies.”

While much has been written about how players suffer through a sleepless night in their hotel rooms after the final day of camp, wondering if they’ll receive that dreaded early morning phone call, telling them they didn’t make the team, they’re not the only ones thinking about the process. Coaches, too, are awake through the night, wondering if they’ve made the right decisions before making those dream-shattering phone calls.

“We stay up late in the nights before the cuts,” admitted Huska. “There’s a lot of discussion on the players; we want to make sure we have the right group put together. But even when our meetings end late at night, you go back to your hotel room and you start thinking about players. Did we make the right decisions or not? So you don’t get a lot of sleep the first few nights and you do feel for those young guys. This was their chance, for a lot of them, especially the 19-year-old guys, so you do feel bad for them if they’re not in the mix.”

WHLers who made Team Canada:

D Ryan Murray, Everett Silvertips

D Mark Pysyk, Edmonton Oil Kings

RW Mark Stone, Brandon Wheat Kings

LW Quinton Howden, Moose Jaw Warriors

RW Brendan Gallagher, Vancouver Giants

Cut on Tuesday:

C Max Reinhart, Kootenay Ice; D Mathew Dumba, Red Deer Rebels; D Brenden Kichton, Spokane Chiefs; C Mark McNeill, Prince Albert Raiders; LW Michael Ferland, Brandon Wheat Kings.

Cut on Wednesday:

D Alex Petrovic, Red Deer Rebels; D Joe Morrow, LW Brad Ross, RW Ty Rattie, Portland Winterhawks; RW Brett Bulmer, Kelowna Rockets; G Tyler Bunz, Medicine Hat Tigers.

WHL 

Rockets flocking to Twitter

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

Twitter is all the rage these days.

Why, even Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, who’s as old-school as they come, recently gave into the new-wave social media craze by creating an account.

It’s an extremely useful tool for following your favourite athletes or creeping your celebrity crush, or even keeping tabs on the Kelowna Rockets during their six-game road trip through the Prairies.

Several Kelowna players post regular updates on Twitter, with captain Colton Sissons (@colton_es15), assistant captain Mitchell Chapman (@chapstar5) and goaltender Adam Brown (@abrownoh1) among the most clever and comical, frequent and forthcoming.

Sissons flashed some dry humour during the initial 14-hour trek from Kelowna, tweeting last Thursday morning, “Just taking in the beautiful scenery from the bus...” accompanied by a picture of a barren and dreary-looking landscape seemingly somewhere between Calgary and Swift Current, though it could have been captured anywhere from Medicine Hat to Brandon.

Regardless, that stretch of highway breeds boredom, but, thankfully, Twitter for smartphones can help pass the time.

Chapman, who tipped me off to the new science-fiction TV series Terra Nova a few months back, celebrated his 200 followers milestone on the trip, then turned his attention to assisting Sissons in achieving the same feat — mission accomplished.

Brown, meanwhile, sent out some playful barbs directed at former teammate Colton Jobke (@coltonjobke6), a 19-year-old defenceman traded to the Regina Pats for blue-liner Myles Bell just prior to this season. 

Jobke fired back and they exchanged some inside jokes that included the hashtags #friendship and #missyou.

They’ll have a reunion of sorts Wednesday night when the Rockets (12-15-2-2) return to Regina to play the Pats (17-14-1-1). But before that, Kelowna will head to its eastern-most destination to face the Brandon Wheat Kings (19-13-1-1) tonight for its third game of this swing and first of four games in five nights.

The Rockets will also travel north for a tilt with the Prince Albert Raiders (10-22-1-2) on Friday before finishing up in the central portion of Saskatchewan against the Saskatoon Blades (20-11-0-1) on Saturday night.

For a handful of Rockets players, plus assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert, this trip also doubles as a homecoming.

Cuthbert, centre Colton Heffley, who sustained an undisclosed lower-body injury in Saturday’s 4-1 setback at Moose Jaw, and blue-liner MacKenzie Johnston, who scored his first goal of the season in Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss at Swift Current, all hail from the latter city also known as Speedy Creek.

Sophomore forward Zach Franko and rookie defenceman Madison Bowey are both from Winnipeg, and should have solid cheering sections of family and friends tonight in Brandon. Fellow defender Damon Severson grew up in Melville, Sask., about 1 1/2 hours northeast of Regina.

And freshman forward Tanner Moar calls Canwood, Sask., home — a small town located between Saskatoon and Prince Albert with a population of 337, according to the 2006 Census.

While it’s uncharted territory for others, like Slovakian import Filip Vasko, Johnston (@Mjohnston93) was complimentary of his compatriots in tweeting “Nice little treat from the Ramada hotel. Hospitality you can expect when in Saskatchewan.” Attached was a photo of some baking iced with a Rockets logo, plus a bottle of Gatorade.

That was a pleasant surprise, much like the weather to start this trip.

Sissons’ snapshot painted a blustery cold image, with fence posts half smothered by snow. However, Rockets play-by-play man Regal Bartel, who hails from Swift Current, indicated it was anything but in Moose Jaw, where there was no white stuff and balmy temperatures of 7 C on the weekend — yes, plus-7.

Cuthbert confirmed much the same from Regina in saying, “It was nice here today (on Sunday). There’s a little bit (of snow) on the ground, but nothing crazy and none on the roads. The weather’s been great and hopefully it holds.”

Vasko and other newcomers to this region of Canada know no different, but Cuthbert assures it could be much worse in mid-December.

“I’ve been out here in different years when it’s been minus-40 or even minus-50,” said Cuthbert, adding the Rockets are spoiled to be living and playing in Kelowna’s climate. “You kind of get used to it when you’re living out here, but as you move away you appreciate the warmer weather when you get it.”

So there were no snowball fights to be had this time around and no tears shed over that, according to Cuthbert.

“I don’t think anybody’s complaining,” he said, “about it being warm.”

As for Vasko, who billets with Moar in Kelowna and is still getting a handle on the English language, Cuthbert and company were communicating to the European product that there’s more to do in Saskatchewan than chase tumbleweeds.

“He’s a pretty quiet kid, but I’ve been happy with his play here,” Cuthbert said of Vasko, who will attend the Slovakian national junior team’s selection camp in Three Hills, Alta., Dec. 15-23. “He hasn’t said too much about his surroundings, but he’s a happy guy — happy to come to the rink every day and work.”

Relaxing day for Rockets

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

The Kelowna Rockets aren’t allowed to watch movies on their team bus after losses.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that after back-to-back road setbacks in Swift Current and Moose Jaw on the weekend, the Rockets spent their first day off in Regina by taking in a movie on Sunday afternoon.

“The guys went and saw The Sitter as a group and said it was hilarious, and it was probably just what the team needed,” said assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert, who is filling in for head coach Ryan Huska, an assistant with Canada’s national junior team. “The guys just laid low and got rested up today, so they can get back to work tomorrow. Rest was more important than getting them up and running around doing any sort of physical stuff. It was a good way for them to go hang out together away from everything.”

The last time the Rockets watched a movie was last Wednesday night on Kelowna’s 14-hour overnight trip to Swift Current to start this six-game, pre-Christmas trek across the Prairies. That movie was thanks to a 5-2

home-ice win over Lethbridge about an hour before Kelowna’s bus left the Okanagan.

So maybe The Sitter, a comedy about a suspended college student who is coaxed into babysitting some unpredictable kids next door, will restore that winning vibe for the Rockets (12-15-2-2), who lost 4-3 in a shootout at Swift Current on Friday night, then 4-1 at Moose Jaw on Saturday.

“There were a few options and that just seemed to be the best one with all the travel and everything else,” Cuthbert said when asked about past Prairie trips including tours of the Regina RCMP Depot barracks and Prince Albert penitentiary. “They just needed a day to unwind and relax.” 

Cuthbert and the rest of Kelowna’s coaching staff was more productive on Sunday by scouting the host Pats in WHL action against the B.C. Division-leading Kamloops Blazers, who are also working their way through the flatlands with the same six stops as Kelowna just in a different order.

Next up for the Rockets, after practising today, is a busy stretch of four games in five nights, starting Tuesday in Brandon, Man., against the Wheat Kings (19-13-1-1). It’s back to Regina on Wednesday to face the host Pats

(17-14-1-1), before visiting the Prince Albert Raiders (10-22-1-2) on Friday and Saskatoon Blades (20-11-0-1) on Saturday.

“There’s not going to be much more down time,” Cuthbert said. “It’s more about the hockey for the rest of the stretch here and that needs to be our focus — just six more days on the road and then guys can go home and do whatever they want. Any time you get on the road it’s great for team bonding . . . as long as it doesn’t go too long to the point they get annoyed with each other.”

So far, so good it seems.

As for today’s practice plans, coming off a competitive contest in Moose Jaw that saw the Rockets outshoot the host Warriors 28-24 but succumb to four power-play goals, Cuthbert said “We’ll just fine-tune a few things, and it’s more to get out there and have a good skate and get the guys feeling good to play the next day.”

Cuthbert added that centre Colton Heffley is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury sustained against Moose Jaw, and it was not known whether he’d take the ice today or be in the lineup in Brandon.