Rockets end road trip with loss in Calgary

By Daily Courier Staff

Alberta wasn’t the winter getaway the Kelowna Rockets were hoping for.

With Sunday’s narrow 2-1 defeat at Calgary against the host Hitmen, the Rockets ended their four-game road trip through Wild Rose Country with only one win.

After starting out on a high note, upsetting the Eastern Conference-leading Oil Kings 6-4 in Edmonton on Wednesday, Kelowna dropped three straight decisions, though it earned three total points thanks to Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

There were no points to be had on Friday in Lethbridge, where the Rockets fell 6-2, or in Calgary to close out the trip with Kelowna trying to avenge a 7-1 home-ice loss against the Hitmen on Feb. 17.

Not that points are of the utmost importance to Kelowna in its current predicament. The Rockets (26-29-3-6) have settled into sixth place in the Western Conference standings with eight games remaining in their regular season, including five at home.

Kelowna trails the fifth-place Spokane Chiefs by 10 points, while leading the seventh-place Victoria Royals by 15 points. Kelowna’s ranking isn’t likely to change, with a looming first-round playoff matchup against the third seed, either the Portland Winterhawks or Tri-City Americans.

So the next few weeks essentially represent tune-up time for the Rockets, who have a home-and-home set against the B.C. Division-leading Kamloops Blazers this weekend, in Kamloops on Friday and back in Kelowna at Prospera Place on Saturday.

At Calgary, Hitmen forward Victor Rask scored the game-winning goal at 8:48 of the third period as the hosts held off the Rockets in the dying minutes.

Kelowna’s leading scorer Shane McColgan hit the post on a shorthanded breakaway with less than two minutes left, and Kelowna’s power play misfired to end the contest. Brett Bulmer, with his 29th of the season and fifth on this trip, scored Kelowna’s lone goal. He finished February with nine goals and 12 points in 11 games, including four multi-goal efforts.

Jimmy Bubnick, with his 29th, also replied for the Hitmen (37-23-2-1), who bounced back from a 4-1 loss at home to the Oil Kings on Friday, then rested on Saturday.

Calgary netminder Brandon Glover made 26 saves to record his 18th win of the season, while Kelowna’s Jordon Cooke stopped 30 of 32 shots in a losing cause.

Kelowna product playing big role in Calgary

By Dave Cunning

Losing 7-1 to the Calgary Hitmen last Friday certainly wasn’t enjoyable for any of the Kelowna Rockets, but fans can at least take some solace in knowing two Hitmen players with Kelowna ties were on the right side of the lopsided victory.

Collin Bowman played with the Rockets from 2006 to 2010, until he was dealt to the Moose Jaw Warriors, and then to Calgary this season. Carrying on from Kelowna seemed to be a good move, as his 48 points with the Warriors last season, and 41 so far this season with Calgary have both been higher than what he was able to put up while wearing Rockets colours.

It’s also made him the Hitmen’s highest-scoring defenceman this season.

“It’s always fun to come back,” said Bowman. “Kelowna has a great crowd. I played here for four years, so there are a lot of memories. It’s even nicer to get a win, especially one like that.”

Today, the Rockets get a chance to avenge that thumping they took from the Hitmen, when Kelowna visits the Calgary Saddledome for their final head-to-head meeting of the regular season. Game time is 3 p.m.

Playing against former Rockets teammates and friends doesn’t mean Bowman dials back any part of his game come the drop of the puck.

“I found it’s more of a motivation for me,” Bowman admitted. “You want to play them hard and show them what your team’s about. It’s fun playing against those guys and making it a hard night for them. When you get traded, it’s kind of a pride thing to beat up on your old team. When we can come in here and get a win, it definitely feels good to gain some bragging rights.”

Cody Sylvester is Calgary’s captain, and also lived in Kelowna from the age of nine, until he went on to play his first of four years with the Hitmen.

“It’s always fun to come back to your hometown, and play in front of your family and friends,” Sylvester said. “It’s a bonus to get a big win too. I’m just coming off the flu, so once we got up a few there, I didn’t play as much. Our guys battled hard though, and I’m just happy we got the win.”

Playing through sickness is just one of the many lead-by-example tactics Sylvester has used to motivate his teammates.

“I like to be vocal and get guys fired up, but I think it all starts on the ice,” said Sylvester. “I just try to go out there and work as hard as I can. If the guys see me doing that, maybe they’ll also start working as hard as they can.”

This has easily been Sylvester’s most productive WHL season — he currently sits tied for the team lead in scoring with 62 points in 57 games played. That’s 30 more points than he had last year, and in two less games. He also leads the team with a plus-26 rating.

Despite the increased output, Sylvester doesn’t think his game has changed all that much from previous years.

“I haven’t really changed anything,” conceded Sylvester. “I just try to work as hard as I can every night. My linemates are playing well, and that’s a big factor of me having success. I’ve just been throwing the puck at the net, and trying to set up my teammates — it’s been going well so far this year.”

Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson said both players have been tremendous assets to the squad.

“Both guys have done such a good job on and off the ice,” Williamson said. “Sylvester being our captain, and Bowman really solidifying things for us on the back end. Both guys play such an important role for us night in and night out, and they’re both very unselfish players. Both guys have a strong two-way game, and that’s their strength. Sylvester’s really developed into a strong two-way player that can play in any situation.

"He’s good on draws, so he takes key face-offs, power play, penalty kill . . . he logs a lot of minutes. Bowman’s added an element on our power play with his shot and his ability to run things on the blue-line. He also plays against top guys defensively.”

Dave Cunning is a former semi-pro hockey player turned writer, coach and personal  trainer. You can read his blog at

http://davecunning.wordpress.com.

Rockets claw out point in shootout loss to Tigers

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Sunday

The effort was much better, the result only slightly improved for the Kelowna Rockets.

Hunter Shinkaruk and Curtis Valk netted shootout goals as the host Medicine Hat Tigers edged the Rockets 4-3 in WHL action on Saturday night.

For Kelowna, it was a well-earned point on the heels of a lopsided 6-2 loss in Lethbridge on Friday night. Despite the schedule working against them, the Rockets (26-28-3-6) now have three points to show for their efforts through three of four games on this Alberta trip, which wraps today (3 p.m.) in Calgary against the Hitmen (36-23-2-1).

“We’ve had an unfavourable schedule-maker for this trip, but we have to deal with that and make sure we’re prepared to play a simple, hard game in Calgary,” said Rockets coach Ryan Huska, whose squad has had to play four games in five days while Calgary and Medicine Hat were both fresh in awaiting Kelowna’s arrival having not played the previous night.

The Rockets opened this trip with an impressive 6-4 win in Edmonton over the Eastern Conference-leading Oil Kings on Wednesday.

Against Medicine Hat (37-21-2-3), the Rockets were led by veteran players — namely forward Brett Bulmer and goalie Adam Brown.

Bulmer keyed Kelowna’s offence with three points — two goals, one assist — while Brown made 37 saves as the last line of defence.

“Adam was very good in net for us,” Huska said. “He made a couple saves with not much time left that were game-savers. It wasn’t a bounce-back game for Adam, (who was pulled against Lethbridge). Unfortunately, he didn’t have a team that played in front of him the night before. He played well and he got a better effort from some of our defencemen tonight.”

Defenceman Myles Bell had Kelowna’s other goal, but he was stopped by Tigers goalie Kenny Cameron to end the shootout. Dylan Bredo, Emerson Etem, with his league-leading 53rd goal, and Trevor Cox replied in regulation for Medicine Hat, which outshot Kelowna 40-38.

As for Bulmer, Huska said: “He’s been good lately. He’s feeling the puck now and making things happen when he’s on the ice. And he’s been shooting more, which is what we want.”

Rockets stuffed by Hurricanes

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Saturday

Ryan Huska wasn’t sugar-coating it.

Coming off one of his team’s better efforts of late, a 6-4 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday to open a four-game Alberta trip, the Kelowna Rockets’ head coach was less than pleased with his team’s follow-up performance in a lopsided 6-2 loss against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night.

“We just weren’t very good tonight,” said Huska, whose squad trailed 2-0 and 5-1 at the period breaks. “I thought our defence as a group really struggled early on and Lethbridge got some good momentum off some of the mistakes made on our back end.”

The host Hurricanes (25-36-0-1) blitzed the Rockets (26-28-3-5) in the first period, scoring twice and outshooting the visitors 16-10 in the frame.

Brady Ramsay led Lethbridge’s onslaught, netting a hat trick with all three goals coming on the power play, one in the first and two in the second. Ramsay made it 2-0, 3-0 and 5-1, the latter with 13 seconds left in the second.

“We made some soft plays on our penalty kill and that’s why it hasn’t been any good over the last little while,” said a frustrated Huska. “We have to play harder and be more competitive with our penalty kill.”

Graham Hood, to open the scoring, Nick Buonassisi, to make it 4-0, and Brody Sutter, to round out the scoring in the third period, also lit the lamp for Lethbridge. Damien Ketlo made 37 saves for the win as Kelowna rallied on the shot clock for a 39-39 draw. Tyson Baillie, with his eighth, and Cody Chikie, with his 16th, replied for the Rockets, both goals also on the man advantage.

Adam Brown started in goal for Kelowna, but got the hook after 40 minutes, having allowed five goals on 29 shots. Jordon Cooke, who was in goal for the victory over Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton, stopped nine of 10 shots in relief.

Huska wasn’t blaming Brown, as much as the players in front of him.

“Our back end really had a hard time early on and that kind of put us on our heels in the first period,” Huska said. “They pushed and we didn’t have much push-back.”

Friday marked the first of three games in three days for the Rockets, who next visit the Medicine Hat Tigers (36-21-2-3) tonight before wrapping up this trip in Calgary against the Hitmen (36-23-2-1) on Sunday afternoon.

Rockets leave Tuesday for Alberta road trip

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

The Kelowna Rockets needed to win on Saturday night — plain and simple.

Not for the standings or the playoff picture, where they are all but assured to qualify as the Western Conference’s sixth seed — 13 points behind the fifth-place Spokane Chiefs but 16 points ahead of the seventh-and eighth-place teams, the Seattle Thunderbirds and Victoria Royals. But from a confidence and momentum standpoint, the Rockets needed those two points — not just one but both of them once Saturday’s game against the visiting Red Deer Rebels stretched to a shootout.

Marred in a five-game home losing skid and six-game overall slide, Kelowna (25-27-3-5) was on a slippery slope heading into this week’s four-game Alberta road trip. The Rockets gained a little traction, though, when Damon Severson scored in the seventh round of the tiebreaker to secure a well-deserved 4-3 victory in WHL action at Prospera Place. 

That resulted in a pleasant sendoff from the capacity crowd, which remained supportive despite the Rockets suffering their worst home defeat in five seasons to start the weekend, a 7-1 beating by the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night.

“That’s one of those games you just have to forget about and put it in the past. We just wanted to move on and get back to the simple things that make us successful,” said Rockets forward Brett Bulmer, who scored twice in regulation against Red Deer and had several chances for the hat-trick goal. “We wanted to respond, obviously, at home, and I thought the crowd was really into it tonight and that helped us out a lot. It’s great to get two points going into the road trip.”

Rockets goaltender Adam Brown stopped Turner Elson on Red Deer’s final attempt in the seventh round of the shootout, only allowing one goal on seven shots in the extra session after making 28 saves through regulation and overtime. This, after Brown was beaten twice in the first period and pulled in his two previous starts against Calgary and the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings, a 6-3 doubling last Wednesday.

“We showed a lot of heart tonight,” said Shane McColgan, Kelowna’s leading scorer, who also scored in Saturday’s shootout before Severson netted the winner. “We battled back (from a 2-0 first-period deficit). It was a solid effort by the whole team and Brownie came up big for us.”

Brown and the Rockets won’t have to wait long for a shot to avenge those lopsided losses, opening their Alberta tour in Edmonton (38-14-3-4) on Wednesday, followed by stops in Lethbridge (23-36-0-1), Medicine Hat (36-20-2-2) and Calgary (35-22-2-1) on the weekend.

“They’re all good teams,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “Calgary is a very good team, Edmonton is obviously a very good team and Lethbridge is a team that competes very hard now as well, and Medicine Hat is always dangerous in that building. It’s not an easy trip by any stretch of the imagination. We’re going to have to keep our game simple and work the way we did here (on Saturday).”

Rockets halt losing skid

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Sunday

Brett Bulmer seemed to have the game on his stick all night. In the end, it was teammate Damon Severson holding that distinction.

Severson scored the shootout winner, after also scoring in regulation, to send the Kelowna Rockets to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Red Deer Rebels at Prospera Place. Bulmer accounted for Kelowna’s other two goals and had several chances for the hat trick, not to mention hitting the post on his shootout attempt, as the Rockets snapped a six-game losing skid prior to leaving on a four-game Alberta road trip next week.

“We did work a lot harder tonight, that wasn’t in question at all,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose club rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit on the heels of a 7-1 blowout loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night. 

“(Saturday) we had some good chances, but their goaltender played very well and made some good saves. It was much better than the previous two games, for sure. We were able to keep pucks in the offensive zone and wear them down a little bit, and that’s why we were able to get ourselves back in the game.”

Kelowna also halted a five-game home losing streak, saving face in front of 6,079 fans after Friday’s drubbing and Wednesday’s 6-3 doubling at the hands of the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings.

In both those contests, Kelowna (25-27-3-5) was dominated in the second, outscored by a combined 9-0. Against Red Deer (26-26-1-5), the middle frame was won by Kelowna as the momentum shifted with Bulmer finding that extra gear that few WHL players can match.

Bulmer scored the only goal of the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1, but he easily could have had a natural hat trick, firing wide on a penalty shot in the early stages and pinging the crossbar in the final minute when aiming for the same spot as his goal over the left shoulder of Rebels goaltender Deven Dubyk.

The Rockets were snakebitten through 40 minutes with Shane McColgan, Kelowna’s leading scorer, and Zach Franko, who’s had the hot hand of late, both fanning on quality scoring chances.

But the bounces changed for the better in the third, with Severson’s point shot redirecting off the post, off Dubyk and in to even the score before Bulmer buried the go-ahead goal off a Myles Bell rebound for his second of the night.

“I was struggling early and I was getting really frustrated,” said Bulmer, “but all my guys picked me up and said ‘stay with it, you’re going to get a couple here,’ and I did. So it was nice to see a couple go in for me.”

To which Huska said, “Brett has the ability to be like that every night. That’s where we want to see his game, and it shouldn’t be every four or five games; it should be every night. That’s the consistent side we’d like to see, and that’s what we need to see from him down the stretch.”

Red Deer’s Mathew Dumba forced overtime with a hard one-timer with 32 seconds left in regulation.

In the shootout, which went seven rounds, McColgan scored for Kelowna on a botched deke-turned-highlight-reel goal and Charles Inglis countered for Red Deer on a quick shot just inside the post. After Bulmer was denied by the bar, Severson deked to the forehand and lifted the puck over a fallen Dubyk, then Brown turned aside Turner Elson’s deke attempt to seal the victory.

Rockets suffer embarrassing loss to Hitmen

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Saturday

Home ice hasn’t been kind to the Kelowna Rockets of late. 

Nor has the second period.The Calgary Hitmen scored four unanswered goals in the middle frame en route to a 7-1 road victory over the Rockets in WHL action at Prospera Place on Friday night. This, after the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings scored five straight second-period goals in a 6-3 win at Kelowna on Wednesday. In both cases, the Alberta-based visitors chased Rockets starter Adam Brown and sent several hundred fans to an early exit as the atmosphere went mute and Kelowna’s home losing skid stretched to five games.

The spectators that stayed let out a sarcastic cheer when the game’s final minute was announced, then a slightly more enthusiastic salute when Madison Bowey spoiled Calgary’s shutout with 36 seconds left.

“It was embarrassing. It was tough to stand behind the bench and watch, as much as it was for people sitting in the seats,” said Rockets coach Ryan Huska, whose club trailed 1-0 and 5-0 at the period breaks and got outshot 38-23, including 13-2 and 27-11 at the intermissions.

Tonight marks Kelowna’s last chance to earn a home win in the month of February, hosting the Red Deer Rebels (26-26-1-4), who scored a 3-2 upset win over the Western Conference-leading Kamloops Blazers on Friday. Tonight’s puck-drop is 7 p.m. at Prospera Place.

Against Edmonton, Kelowna (24-27-3-5) started strong but blew a 2-0 first-period lead. Against Calgary (34-22-2-1), Kelowna never led and didn’t put up much of a fight after falling behind.

The Hitmen dominated from start to end, but did most their damage in a 2:21 span of the second period, with three quick goals to make it 4-0. Calgary’s imports — Victor Rask of Finland and Alex Gogolev of Russia — took control, with Gogolev setting up Rask for a power-play marker at 5:59, and Rask returning the favour to Gogolev at 7:32.

The latter, a soft goal on a bad-angle shot that squeaked through Brown’s five-hole, prompted Kelowna’s goalie change. But Jordon Cooke couldn’t stop the onslaught, beaten by Greg Chase and Alex Roach, on another man advantage, before the second-period buzzer to put the result out of reach.

“It was a lack of everything,” Huska said. “Tonight was one of those nights that you’d like to throw away and that’s maybe the way we’re going to have to look at it. . . . But we’ve gotta keep pushing this group to get better. That’s our challenge, and we have to find a way to push the right buttons to get them to compete all the time.”

Danny Gayle, with two third-period goals, including the Hitmen’s third power-play tally of the night, and Brady Brassart, to open the scoring late in the opening period, also clicked for Calgary. The Hitmen close out a three-game B.C. trip (2-0) tonight in Kamloops.

Bowey’s shorthanded goal, Kelowna’s lone highlight, prevented Calgary netminder Chris Driedger from blanking the Rockets for the second time this season.

Driedger stopped 23 shots after posting a 27-save shutout victory on New Year’s Day in a 2-0 Calgary win.

Driedger had been perfect at Prospera Place, also stopping all 14 shots he faced in Team Orr’s 2-1 win over Team Cherry in the CHL Top Prospects Game on Feb. 1.

Kelowna, marred in a six-game overall losing streak, last won at home on Jan. 25, a 3-2 shootout decision over Kamloops.

The Rockets last won on Feb. 4, 4-1 at Prince George. Kelowna hits the road to Alberta next week, with the four-game trip starting in Edmonton on Wednesday, followed by stops in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Calgary.

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna scratched RW Colton Sissons (concussion), D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body), RW Filip Vasko (knee) and C Spencer Main (concussion). Calgary scratched D Jaynen Rissling (lower-body) and LW Calder Brooks (upper-body). . . . Rockets C Shane McColgan was held pointless in his 200th career regular-season WHL game, having tallied 194 points through 199 games, including a team-best 56 points in 57 games prior to Friday. . . . Rockets LW Zach Franko also had his hot hand cooled, coming off a hat trick against Edmonton and four goals in his previous two games. . . . Rockets RW Jessey Astles returned to the lineup after missing 18 games with a concussion, having been sidelined since Jan. 6 at Victoria, while LW Brett Lyon also returned after serving a six-game suspension for an illegal hit at Prince George on Feb. 3.

Hitmen 7, Rockets 1

KELOWNA — WHL Friday night:

First Period

1. Calgary, Brassart 20 (Humphries) 16:29

Penalties — Bowman Cal (goaltender interference), Rigby Kel (cross-checking) 12:32.

Second Period

2. Calgary, Rask 25 (Brassart, Gogolev) 5:59 (pp)

3. Calgary, Gogolev 23 (Rask, Helgesen) 7:32

4. Calgary, Chase 4 (Kornelsen) 8:20

5. Calgary, Roach 4 (Bowman, Gogolev) 18:31 (pp)

Penalties — Brassart Cal (holding) 2:11, Heffley Kel (slashing) 4:52, Severson Kel (hooking) 12:37, Bubnick Cal (hooking) 14:23, Astles Kel (charging) 17:15.

Third Period

6. Calgary, Gayle 13 (Helgesen) 12:49

7. Calgary, Gayle 14 (Chase, Roach) 15:20 (pp)

8. Kelowna, Bowey 6 (Baillie, Lyon) 19:24 (sh)

Penalties — Goulbourne Kel (misconduct) 6:51, Brassart Cal, Astles Kel (misconduct) 9:10, Clayton Cal (slashing), Bulmer Kel (roughing) 9:52, Chikie Kel (tripping) 14:36, Clayton Cal (slashing, roughing, penalty served by Sylvester), Heffley Kel (roughing), Johnston Kel (misconduct) 17:21, Chikie Kel (goaltender interference) 17:54.

Shots on goal by

Calgary 13 14 11 — 38

Kelowna 2 9 12 — 24

Goal (shots-saves) — Calgary: Driedger (W, 17-9-2-1); Kelowna: Brown (19-16)(L, 18-21-1-2), Cooke (19-15)(7:32 second).

Power plays (goals-chances) — Calgary: 3-5; Kelowna: 0-3.

Referees — Pat Smith. Linesmen — Mike Langin, Kris Hartley.

Attendance — 6,102.

Rockets' roster a hurtin' unit

If you weren’t there, the statistics from Kelowna’s 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday night don’t paint a pretty picture. Yet, on the whole, it wasn’t that ugly of a loss.

And, believe it or not, it could have been uglier had it not been for a game effort from the home team.

Yes, it’s been a strange season for the Rockets, one filled with ups, downs and twists, such as a battered roster of late that had a hand, or lack thereof, in Wednesday’s loss. The team was missing no less than six players — seven if you count Cody Chikie, who had just returned from the injury list and wasn’t playing at 100 per cent. While injuries are part and parcel of sports, having to field a bandaged roster against one of the top teams in the league, well, you didn’t need a crystal ball to forecast the outcome.

As expected, the Oil Kings proved to be the better team, especially on the power play, with the visitors collecting four goals on five power-play chances. Notably, three of those four goals were scored with three different 16-year-old rookie Rockets sitting in the penalty box. Take away those young mistakes — not that you can, because winning in sports is predicated on mistakes — and the result suddenly looks a lot different.

Three mistakes, three goals and a three-goal margin of victory.

Factor in a healthy, older roster — Kelowna was missing a 20-year-old (Brett Lyon, sixth game of a six-game suspension), two 19-year-olds (defenceman Mitchell Chapman and centre Spencer Main) and three 18-year-olds (captain Colton Sissons, Filip Vasko and Jessey Astles) — and maybe the Rockets score a different result. Then again, maybe not, as Edmonton was consistently good over the final 40 minutes, while the Rockets have been consistently up and down.

Regardless, while I’ve roundly criticized this team for its lack of consistency this season, it can’t be criticized for losing to Edmonton, or its lack of effort. In fact, during Wednesday’s game, Oil Kings general manager Bob Green said in the press box that Kelowna, once healthy, will be a dangerous team.

While that’s a possibility, Kelowna won’t be fully healthy for some time, not with Sissons and Main out with concussions and Chapman out with an undisclosed injury. So it won’t be a fully stocked team Kelowna (24-26-3-5) will field tonight against the visiting Calgary Hitmen (33-22-2-1) and on Saturday night against the Red Deer Rebels (25-26-1-4). Both games at Prospera Place are 7 p.m. starts.

“Calgary has been one of the better teams in the league of late, and Red Deer always play tough; they like to grind it out,” said Rockets forward Zach Franko, who scored a hat trick against Edmonton with a penalty shot and two power-play goals. “Those are two good tests for us, and hopefully we get our feet going in the right direction.”

That Franko scored his ninth, 10th and 11th goals of the season didn’t surprise the team.

“You could almost sense it was coming,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “His last few games, he’s been around the net, he’s been working harder and he’s been getting some chances from inside. So I was happy for him that he was able to get the three goals; that’s a nice thing for a player to have, and he should be able to build off that confidence.”

The Rockets will need every ounce of confidence they can muster tonight. Kelowna lost 2-0 to Calgary on Jan. 1, and the Hitmen have a solid road record of 17-11-2-0. Kelowna’s home record? 12-15-0-2, including a four-game home-ice losing streak.

Oil Kings drill Rockets

In a game of what ifs, the Kelowna Rockets were left wondering what happened?

Tyler Maxwell sparked a five-goal barrage for Edmonton, scoring back-to-back markers in the second period, and the Oil Kings dumped the Kelowna Rockets 6-3 in WHL action on Wednesday night. Yet, for 20 minutes, and Kelowna sporting a 2-0 lead, the Rockets were playing inspired hockey despite icing a shortened roster.

Then came the game’s turning point in the second — a disallowed Kelowna goal that spun momentum from the Rockets towards Edmonton. 

The call was correct, as the puck didn’t cross the goal-line before Edmonton’s net was dislodged. Sure enough, the Oil Kings collected themselves, and, five minutes later, Maxwell scored his second of the night. By period’s end, it was 5-2 Edmonton, and the writing was on the wall for Kelowna.

That goal, though, had it counted, would have given Kelowna a 3-1 lead, and who knows what would have happened. Mind you, the Oil Kings punished the Rockets on the power play, scoring four times on five chances, so maybe that non-goal would have meant little even if it had counted.

“The unfortunate thing is we gave them needless power plays,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “They have the second best power play in the league and I don’t think our penalty killing, as you can tell, was any good tonight. I don’t think we had enough care or want in tonight’s game from the bulk of our guys.”

Asked if he was pleased with his team’s effort, considering their roster woes, Huska said one word: “No.”

Michael St. Croix, with his team-leading 37th goal of the season, Rhett Rachinski, Keegan Lowe, with his third goal of the season, and Henrik Samuelsson also scored for Edmonton (38-13-3-4), which trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes, but led 5-2 after 40. Maxwell’s markers were his 33rd and 34th of the season.

“Sometimes you get bounces and we were fortunate (to not be behind 3-1),” said Maxwell. “It was the right call, but the way we responded . . . we got that first one and then we piled it on. That stretch of goals was important for us.”

Zach Franko, with three goals, replied for Kelowna (24-26-3-5), which played its second game in as many nights with a shortened roster. In a 4-3 shootout road loss to Seattle on Tuesday night, the Rockets were without seven regulars. Against the Oil Kings, they were missing six regulars, including captain Colton Sissons, who suffered a concussion in Saturday’s 3-2 home-ice loss to the Kamloops Blazers.

Laurent Brossoit made 25 saves for the Oil Kings, who are 2-1-1-0 on a five-game B.C. Division road trip that ends Friday night in Vancouver.

Adam Brown started for Kelowna, but was pulled after Edmonton’s fifth goal. He finished with 20 saves, while back-up Jordon Cooke stopped 18 of 19 shots in relief. The Rockets were 2-for-6 with the extra man.

Franko had a good outing with two power-play goals and a penalty shot, but it was all for naught.

“We took a couple of penalties early in the second and that killed us,” said Franko. “We couldn’t bounce back, but we should have. We’ve gotten into a little adversity and we didn’t kick back. A good team needs to push back. They pushed back and we didn’t. By the time we did show some push back, it was too late.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches (6) were D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body injury), RW Filip Vasko (lower-body injury), RW Colton Sissons (concussion), C Spencer Main (concussion), LW Brett Lyon (suspension) and LW Jessey Astles (upper-body injury). Edmonton (5): C Cole Benson, C Travis Ewanyk (upper-body injury), D Ryan Dech (lower-body injury), D Mason Geertsen and LW Tristan Sieben.

Rockets lose to Thunderbirds

Ryan Huska liked how his team finished Tuesday night’s game against Seattle.

The start? Well, that’s another matter.

At Kent, Wash., Colin Jacobs scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, in the shootout, as Seattle beat the Kelowna Rockets 4-3. The host Thunderbirds stormed out to an early 3-1 lead, then watched their advantage evaporate as the Rockets rallied.

And the Rockets did so with a heavily bandaged roster, with no less than seven regulars missing. One wonders what the outcome would have been had the Rockets had a healthy team.

According to Kelowna, it leads the league in lost man-games, having hit 300 on Tuesday night. So, that they rallied against the T-Birds and managed a point was of some comfort to the Rockets.

“We gave them three goals in the first period and that was the frustrating part of the night,” said Huska, Kelowna’s coach. “But after the first period, I thought we responded very well. Our guys got themselves back in the game and our key guys stepped up. Short of not scoring in the shootout, we did everything we could to win the game in the second and third. 

“But we didn’t win this game tonight, so . . . we left a point here because of the mistakes made in the first period, the needless turnovers they capitalized on, but the positive is that we did battle back.”

Carter Rigby, who opened the scoring at 1:34 of the first period, Zach Franko, in the second, and Myles Bell, at 19:07 of the third with a penalty shot, scored for Kelowna (24-25-3-5). Branden Troock, Burke Gallimore and Justin Hickman scored for Seattle (20-34-1-1).

Bell forced overtime with less than a minute remaining when, according to the Rockets, the T-Birds knocked their own net off its pegs, resulting in a penalty shot.

“We were on the power play and we had some pressure around their net and one of their defencemen knocked the net off,” said Huska. “So knocking a net off (late in the game) is an automatic penalty shot.”

Bell has “been really good for us,” continued Huska. “It’s probably the best I’ve seen him play in our uniform. He’s been getting so much better in his own zone, he’s competing harder away from pucks and now he’s adding his offensive side that we know he has, so he’s been really good.”

Jordon Cooke made 23 saves for Kelowna, which tonight hosts the Edmonton Oil Kings at Prospera Place. For the T-Birds, Calvin Pickard made 33 saves. The Rockets were 0-for-2 in the shootout, while the T-Birds were 2-for-3. Seattle won the four-game season series 3-1-0-0.

Kelowna was without Mitchell Chapman (upper-body injury), Filip Vasko (knee), Cody Chikie (upper-body), captain Colton Sissons (concussion, one-month plus), Spencer Main (concussion), Jessey Astles (upper-body) and Brett Lyon (suspension).

“Potentially,” said Huska, “we might have Cody Chikie back, but Colton is out with a concussion. The frustrating part of it is the league is fully aware of Colton having a concussion and, yet, the player in Kamloops is still playing, so there’s no suspension. They talk about head shots and wanting to clean it up, but there we go with another situation.”

Rockets locked into sixth place

Unable to move up or down in the standings, the Kelowna Rockets are all but locked into their playoff position despite four weeks remaining in the regular season.

So, as the Rockets prepare to visit the Seattle Thunderbirds tonight in Kent, Wash., what is Kelowna really playing for? With 55 points, the sixth-place Rockets (24-25-3-5) trail the fifth-place Vancouver Giants (32-21-1-2) by 12 points. Kelowna is also 15 points up on Seattle (19-34-1-1) and the Victoria Royals (17-33-2-4), both of whom have 40 points each and are tied for seventh.

The Rockets might be playing for pride, but that’s an unsure answer considering their last three games. Kelowna was full marks despite a pair of weekend losses to the Western Conference-leading Kamloops Blazers (5-4 shootout loss on Friday; 3-2 on Saturday), yet the team earned a failing grade in a 2-0 home-ice loss last Wednesday to Seattle. Had the Rockets put in a game effort against the T-Birds that night, either in a winning or losing scenario, then fans might know what to expect when the playoffs begin (March 23-24).

Yet, they didn’t. Call this team Jekyll and Hyde, for even the coaches don’t know what team will show up. For proof, two weekends ago, head coach Ryan Huska wasn’t happy with his team’s older players in a 2-1 road win against the Prince George Cougars. At the time, the Rockets were playing a heavily bandaged team, and it would have been shocking had they lost. They won, as expected, but it was an effort which was below expectation — something that’s dogged this team all season.

To compound matters, following tonight’s game, the Rockets will have to  rush back home for a Wednesday 7 p.m . tilt against the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Edmonton Oil Kings (37-12-3-4, 81 pts.).

The Rockets are 1-1-0-1 against the T-Birds, with all three games being quite close (4-3 win, 2-1 shootout loss and that 2-0 win). The Rockets are 1-0 against the Oil Kings, with a 2-1 shootout victory on Nov. 11. That win, however, was before Edmonton caught fire and shot up the Eastern standings. Wednesday’s tilt will also be the Oil Kings’ second in as many nights, as they visit Kamloops on Tuesday, the third of a five-game B.C. road swing that began in Prince George with a weekend split in Prince George (5-4 overtime loss on Friday, 5-0 win on Saturday).  

These should be two tough games — should be, because this is junior hockey, and there are no guarantees in the junior game — and maybe, just maybe, the Prospera Place faithful will get a good glimpse of what to expect four weekend in a month’s time from now. Because if this team doesn’t get its consistency act together, it’s going to be a short playoff run. 

And by short, consider this: The Rockets will likely face the Portland Winterhawks, who had an easy time against Seattle on Saturday, slapping the T-Birds 7-2. If the Rockets can’t beat Seattle consistently, how are they going to beat Portland come playoff time?

The Rockets are 0-3-0-1 against the Winterhawks (including a 6-5 shootout loss). And if it’s not Portland, then it’ll be the Tri-City Americans (38-14-1-1, 78 pts.), who the Rockets have an equally tough time against.

The answer is consistency, but, so far, that concept is eluding this team’s grasp. Maybe over the next four weeks they can finally get a grip on it. 

Earlier this month — on Groundhog Day to be precise — many media members who cover the WHL and many WHL insiders were stunned to hear that Everett Silvertips governor Gary Gelinas had fired general manager Doug Soetaert. According to Gelinas, his decision to fire Soetaert was made because Soetaert's contract was expiring and the team determined it was time for a new direction.

More about the firing can be found here on Nick Patterson's Everett Silvertips blog. Nick works for The Everett Herald and is a strong, well-balanced writer. Nick's blog can be found here.

One aspect I found interesting about Gelinas’ press release on firing Soetaert was this snippet: ". . . and the team determined it was time for a new direction."

The same thing was said in Kamloops in 1995 when then Blazers president Colin Day fired GM Bob Brown, and we all know how well that worked out.  But for a brief history recap, the firing came 22 days after Kamloops had won the 1995 Memorial Cup, the Blazers’ third national championship in four years. Talk about a surprising decision.

Now, granted, there are major differences between the two firings — Kamloops being a national champion while Everett is in a rebuilding mode and struggling to make the playoffs — but anyone, especially in the WHL, who suggests a new or different direction, well, they simply don't know their WHL history very well. Since that firing, the Blazers have only advanced past the first round just twice (Western Conference final, 1996; league final, 1999).

A faux pas? Maybe, but certainly an ugly one.

Now, according to Gregg Drinnan, Gelinas will introduce Garry Davidson as the team's new GM. Prior to Soetart’s firing, Davidson was the director of player personnel for the Portland Winterhawks. I have respect for Garry, who has certainly put in his WHL dues, having seen him many times at Prospera Place talking to players. 

Garry was hired by Portland in Dec., 2008, after a long, long tenure in the B.C. Hockey League as a coach and, later, owner/GM/coach of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but Gelinas has BCHL roots as well, including the purchase of the Langley Hornets and the sudden relocation of said franchise to West Kelowna to become the Westside Warriors. Oddly enough, Everett’s head coach, Mark Ferner, also has BCHL history with the Vernon Vipers.

Vernon, Salmon Arm and Westside are all within an easy drive of each other. Coincidence? Given the oil-and-water relationship between the WHL and BCHL, I find it hard to believe otherwise.

Gelinas will apparently be in Everett to make today's announcement. What I want to know is: Where does Gelinas live? For it looks like he calls Phoenix home, and I also find it odd that a governor doesn’t live near the team he governs — especially when he makes such a major move, like a mid-season firing.

Further, it looks like Gelinas isn't the governor of just one team, but, as the president of Consolidate Sports Holdings, is also the governor of three others (which he says so in the following biographies).

Amarillo Bulls

Texas Tornado

North Iowa Bulls

Still, being the governor of four teams does seem excessive — too much in my books. But that's just me. Either way, here's hoping there’s more clarification on exactly why Soetaert was fired.