Winterhawks end Rockets' season

All in. That the Portland Winterhawks are using a gambling term as their playoff motto this spring isn’t by coincidence.

On Thursday night, the Winterhawks were all over the place with their royal-flush offence. The end result? A predictable win, albeit hard-fought, over Kelowna, earning the Winterhawks a 4-0 sweep in their Western Conference first-round playoff series with the Rockets. Now Portland is one step closer to its goal of earning a seat at the final table, that being the Memorial Cup in Shawinigan, Que., in May.

“That was Kelowna’s best game (of the series),” said Portland forward Ty Rattie, who scored four goals in the Hawks’ 5-3 victory at Prospera Place. “They pushed back and came back from every goal, and they had a lot of jump tonight. We were lucky enough to get some bounces and we’re happy to close off the series.”

Said Portland general manager and head coach Mike Johnston: “That was a hard series, a real hard-fought series. They battled, they pushed us, and, really, when you look at a first-round matchup, Kelowna was a tough opponent, a real tough opponent. They were more like a No. 4 or 5 seed, and not No. 6. We knew tonight we had our hands full, and I thought they cranked it up.”

Taylor Leier, with what proved to be the game-winning goal at 13:05 of the third period, also scored for Portland, which never trailed in the contest. Rattie iced the win with an insurance marker, an empty-net goal with 35 seconds remaining in the contest. His linemates, Marcel Noebels and Sven Baertschi, also reached the scoresheet, with one and two assists, respectively.

“We played hard. Again,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “It’s that one line of theirs; we didn’t have answer for them all series. Portland is a very good hockey team; they’re deep on the back-end, they got good goaltending and they have a good group of forwards. And that one line (of Baertschi, Rattie and Noebels) that they do have is one that kind of . . . I feel it puts them over the edge right now.”

“Our big line was important in every game,” said Johnston. “They were the game breakers in every game, and you want your big guys to come up at the right time. Rattie, Baertschi and Noebels were really good.”

Madison Bowey, Brett Bulmer and Myles Bell replied for Kelowna, which lost to Portland in the playoffs for the second time in as many years. Last spring, the Winterhawks ousted the Rockets in six games in the second round. Further, Portland was the last team to sweep the Rockets from the post-season, that being in 1994 when the franchise was located in Tacoma, Wash.

Mac Carruth made 29 saves for Portland, while Adam Brown made 30 saves for Kelowna.

For Kelowna, well, this series really wasn’t about them. The Rockets entered as massive underdogs, and, with their Jekyll-and-Hyde season in the background, the end result proved a fitting end to a sub-par campaign. For proof, look at Game 3, in which the Rockets lost 6-3: Kelowna, for the most part, played OK, yet still lost by three goals. Or Game 4, Kelowna’s best effort of the series, and yet the home team still came up short.

Simply put, the Rockets didn’t have the horses, character or drive to compete with the Winterhawks. That’s not a knock on Kelowna, but rather just how good Portland is. 

“It’s not the way you want to end (your season) on a loss, but the last two games, I thought we showed some resilience in our group,” said Huska. “I was proud of the group, that they didn’t roll over in tonight’s situation. We made a couple of mistakes, and as we’ve talked about this whole series, they make you pay. They get a lot of chances, but they do capitalize on the bad mistakes we make. I think our back-end will be better for it, for sure. I guess the one line they had to play against is a line that’s probably going to be in the NHL sooner than later. It will be a learning experience for them; they’re disappointed now, but they’ll get better later on.”

Concerning the Winterhawks, one scout summed it up this way: “Every team has its time in the sun. This is Portland’s time.”

How long will Portland’s time be? Looking at the Hawks’ roster, not long. In the constantly revolving door that is junior hockey, Portland will likely lose several players to the pro game next season, with Sven Baertschi (Calgary Flames), Joe Morrow (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Marcel Noebels (Philadelphia Flyers) being three very good examples. Thus the all-in motto on their black t-shirts, emblazoned over a silhouette of the Memorial Cup.

“We’re going to lose all of our (19-year-olds),” said Johnston. “Almost all of them are signed, so they’re all going to be gone. We’re going to make a lot of changes for next season.”

ICE CHIPS: Game scratches — Kelowna: D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body injury), C Spencer Main (concussion), RW Austin Ferguson, RW Filip Vasko and D Riley Stadel. Portland: D Ben Betker, C Presten Kopeck, C Keegan Iverson, D Cody Castro, RW Alex Schoenborn, C Jason Trott and D Layne Viveiros.

Rockets in must-win scenario

Too little, too late or just in the nick of time. Which will it be for the Kelowna Rockets this evening?

With Portland holding a 3-0 stranglehold in its best-of-seven playoff series with Kelowna, the Rockets could be choked out of the post-season tonight by the high-flying Winterhawks. Portland has outscored Kelowna 16-6 so far, and the Hawks’ offence was lights-out good in Tuesday night’s 6-3 victory at Prospera Place.

How good was it? Consider this: Rockets goalie Adam Brown gave up four goals and was named the third star. If not for him, Portland’s goal total could have hit double digits. And yet, heading into tonight’s Game 4, Kelowna has a glimmer of hope — albeit a small one, but hope nonetheless.

On Wednesday, the WHL announced the length of its suspension to Rockets MVP Brett Bulmer, ruling that his major penalty for kneeing and  game misconduct in Saturday’s 4-0 loss was worth one game. In that contest, Bulmer lost his focus, racking up three kneeing penalties (though his kneeing major was more of a charging major) and two penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct. Bulmer served the suspension on Tuesday. 

The news of Bulmer’s light one-game suspension was certainly welcomed by the Rockets. However, it’ll take more than one player if Kelowna is to somehow storm back against Portland’s hurricane offence. Bulmer, who scored a team-high 34 goals during the regular season, has just two assists in two playoff games this spring. Further, Kelowna’s focus isn’t on scoring; it’s stopping Portland’s top trio of Sven Baertschi, Ty Rattie and Marcel Noebels from scoring.

On Tuesday, the three combined for 11 of Portland’s 14 points. Factor out Portland’s two unassisted empty-net goals, and the ratio was 11 points out of 12 in Portland’s first four goals.

“We watch video on what they’re going to do and stuff like that, just like every other team,” said Rockets defenceman Damon Severson, who scored twice in Game 3. “When it comes down to it, we have to shut down their top guys.”

Those top guys combined to score the game-breaking goals that took place late in the second and early in the third. Rattie made it 3-2 with 40.6 seconds left in the second, when, off a superb, fake-shot-pass from Baertschi in the slot, he knifed home his second of the night. Then, at 3:55 of the third, Baertschi made it 4-2 from the left side, burying a beautiful cross-ice, circle-to-circle feed from Rattie into a half-empty net. Both goals resulted in both groans of disappointment and silent-mouthed approvals of ‘wow’ from the Prospera Place faithful.

Yet, those three aren’t the only ones Kelowna has to worry about. Brad Ross and Brendan Leipsic sprung each other for breakaways, with Brown coming up big and stopping both of them.

“Through our whole lineup, we have guys on the third and fourth lines who can score,” said Baertschi. “That’s the most important thing. If they try to go against our line, we still have other lines who can score. It’s not that easy; I wouldn’t like to play against us; I think it’s really difficult. The organization did a great job of trading the right guys and bringing in the right guys.”

While Portland’s depth can’t be overlooked, Kelowna did a good job of pushing back late in the third. After Severson scored at 18:52 to make it 4-3, the Rockets came oh-so-close in the final minute after pulling Brown for the extra attacker in trying to force overtime. Portland survived — as championship-type teams do, which Kelowna fans can attest to — and iced the game with those two empty-net goals.

“The one line, what, generated most of their goals?” said Severson. “As long as shut them down, it’s a totally different game.”

“We were a lot better than Game 2,” added Rockets captain Colton Sissons. “Our compete was there all night and we really wanted this win . . . we made some mental errors that really came back to bite us in the end.”

Said Baertschi of the final minute: “As soon as they got the goal, you get nervous; anything can happen out there — it’s just how hockey is. But we were still positive and looking forward to winning and not getting confused about other things. Things like (late goals) happen; you have to control yourself and it’s just a part of the game. The emotions and stuff, you have to keep it as low as you can. The guys did a great job of bringing the puck out and we got those goals. It was really good for us.”

What wasn’t good for Kelowna was its power play. The Rockets were 1-for-4 (Portland was 0-for-3), but the more telling story about Kelowna’s extra-man advantage was how few chances it generated.

“We scored on the first one, but, after that, we didn’t generate much,” said Sissons. “We were throwing pucks away and we weren’t making smart decisions with the puck. I don’t know if that’s nerves or . . . we just don’t have our confidence right now. That needs to be fixed up, because we could have won that game on our power play.”

Bottom line: Kelowna had better power up its game tonight, or it’ll be lights out and season over.

Winterhawks take 3-0 series lead

Fans of the Calgary Flames will be cheering Sven Baertschi’s name next season. On Tuesday night, though, he made fans of the Kelowna Rockets groan in disbelief.

Baertschi had two goals and two assists for Portland, with linemate Ty Rattie also scoring two and two, as the Winterhawks beat the Rockets 6-3 in WHL playoff action at Prospera Place on Tuesday evening. Portland leads the best-of-seven series 3-0, and the Winterhawks can close out the first-round affair with a victory Thursday night in Game 4.

“We’re happy with the win tonight,” said Baertschi, the game’s first star and Calgary draft pick, after Kelowna made things interesting with a late goal that made it 4-3 and a wild push in the final minute that almost tied the score. 

Portland, however, survived Kelowna’s attempted rally, then added a pair of empty-net markers to seal the win.

“We have the series on our stick next game,” continued Baertschi. “If we keep playing the same way, it’s going to be good for us. We might be able to go home and get some rest. But there’s still a game we have to win, and we want to win it. We’re really looking forward to Game 4.”

For Kelowna, the tale of Tuesday’s tape was the scoresheet, with Baertschi and Rattie involved in Portland’s first four goals.

“I liked our effort,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “But it was the same thing; you make a bad decision against a good line like that and they make you pay. What’s been a struggle for us is trying to find a way to contain that line.”

Asked in the post-game press scrum what is Portland doing that’s confusing Kelowna, Huska said “it’s not confusing; they’re a good hockey team. We have to do a good job against them . . . the decisions you make with the puck have to be smart, because if you’re going to turn it over and allow them to play with speed against you, you’re asking for trouble.”

Added Rockets captain Colton Sissons: “Really, their one line of Rattie and Baertschi generates all their offence. We haven’t been able to figure out how to stop them yet. That’ll be huge if we can get back in the series and get a huge win on Thursday night.”

Joe Morrow and Taylor Leier, with those empty-net goals, also scored for Portland, which also received an outstanding effort from Marcel Noebels, who added three assists.

“(Four points) is pretty exciting, especially against a team like Kelowna and in a building like this,” said Rattie. “It’s always tough coming to Kelowna, but the pucks were going our way and it’s a big win.”

As for getting four points, including his fifth and sixth goals of the post-season, Rattie said “If I don’t get those kind of stats playing with a guy like Sven Baertschi, something’s wrong. I’m lucky to play on a great line.”

Damon Severson, with two goals, and Cole Martin, both defencemen, replied for Kelowna, which trailed 2-1 and 3-2 at the period breaks. Kelowna hasn’t been swept from the playoffs since 1994, when the franchise, then located in Tacoma, Wash., lost out in four to, of all teams, Portland.

Mac Carruth made 38 saves for the Winterhawks, while Adam Brown turned aside 40 shots for the Rockets.

ICE CHIPS: Game scratches — Kelowna: D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body injury), C Spencer Main (concussion), LW Brett Bulmer (kneeing suspension), RW Austin Ferguson, D Riley Stadel. Portland: D Ben Betker, LW Oliver Gabriel (1-game suspension), C Keegan Iverson, D Cody Castro, RW Alex Schoenborn, D Layne Viveiros and C Presten Kopeck.

Rockets without Bulmer for Game 3

Brett Bulmer was the last player off the ice in Monday afternoon's practice. He won’t be on it Tuesday's game.

The Kelowna Rockets and Portland Winterhawks continue their first-round playoff series Tuesday night at Prospera Place, and Bulmer won’t be available for the host team. On Monday, the WHL suspended Kelowna’s leading goal scorer for his undisciplined actions in Saturday night’s Game 2, which Portland won 4-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Bulmer, whose suspension length was to be determined as of Monday night, earned three kneeing penalties that night, with the last earning him a major penalty and game misconduct midway through the third period. Bulmer also earned two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the first period.

“It’s hard to argue,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of Bulmer’s suspension. “He had three kneeing penalties in the game. You don’t want to see anybody get hurt; it’s not a great way to hit a guy, and I’m hoping it’s just one game.”

Fresh out of the penalty box after serving a kneeing penalty at 9:55, Bulmer was quickly thrown back in after lining up and hitting Portland defenceman William Wrenn along the Winterhawks’ right half-wall at 12:11. Wrenn appeared to have suffered an injury on the hit; he immediately favoured his left leg after getting up, and there was no word from the Winterhawks on Monday as to their captain’s health.

Bulmer scored a team-high 34 goals for the Rockets this season, and was second in team scoring with 62 points, behind right-winger Shane McColgan (18-26-64). Wrenn is a key member of Portland’s blue-line, a 21-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, who led all Winterhawk defencemen in plus-minus at plus-20.

Which player is more important to his team can be debated endlessly — a high scorer or a defence-first captain. What can’t be debated is that Portland will also be without 6-foot-2 left-winger Oliver Gabriel, as the Edmonton product was suspended on Monday for one game for earning a game misconduct early in Game 2 on Saturday night. No further reason was given for Gabriel’s suspension, though he was handed a slashing minor at 31 seconds of the second period, then was given a game misconduct.

Continuing on with injuries, Rockets captain Colton Sissons left Game 2 part-way through and didn’t return. On Monday, Huska said “we’re expecting him to be back,” while defensive defenceman Mitchell Chapman (undisclosed upper-body injury) is listed as doubtful for tonight.

Having had time to digest Games 1 and 2, Huska said “we need to have short memories. You have to be that way at this time of the season. Portland is a very good hockey team, but we can’t give them too much respect; that’s one thing in the second game that we did a little bit. They’re good, yeah, but we can play hard against them. Harder than we did in Game 2, and that’s the mindset we need to have.”

It’s a plan that’s been used by Kelowna many times, with one immediate example being the 2009 playoffs. The Rockets lost their first two games in a second-round meeting with Tri-City, yet wound up besting the Americans in six games. Of course, Kelowna’s roster that season featured a loaded roster, but also playing a big role was how the Rockets bashed the Americans from pillar to post. The end result was a Tri-City roster which entered the playoffs scuffed, but got further nicked, bruised and heavily bandaged. For example, left-winger Mitch Fadden had a separated shoulder, while left-winger Petr Stoklasa had two separated shoulders and had a harness on each one.

“Yes, (their physical play) affected us,” then Tri-City coach Don Nachbaur said. “It was almost like getting bombed every night in a war, and, after a while, it gets too much for you. They did a good job; their physical presence was a good game plan and their power play and skill came out in the end. And that’s why they're moving on.”

“We’re definitely looking to play more physical against (Portland),” said Rockets defenceman MacKenzie Johnston. “I don’t think we got the body on them, especially on their back-end, that we needed to. We need to be really tough on them, because the longer this series goes, they’re going to be more worn down by the end of it. We definitely have to get more body on them.” 

ICE CHIPS: Monday seemed to be a day of suspensions with Kelowna angles. Not only were Bulmer and Gabriel suspended, but Kelowna products Ryan Harrison and Cody Beach were also handed suspensions. Harrison, who plays for Everett, was suspended one game for an interference major and game misconduct in the Silvertips’ 3-1 loss at the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. Beach, a 6-foot-6 power forward who plays for Moose Jaw, was suspended one game for a derogatory comment at the Regina Pats’ bench in the Warriors’ 8-1 win on Saturday. . . . Everett was also handed a $500 fine for violation of the WHL’s social media policy on Saturday (it’s believed a player swore in criticizing the officiating in a Tweet).

This is a fine mess the Kelowna Rockets are now in. Sad thing is, they only have themselves to blame.

On Tuesday night, Kelowna will host Game 3 of their playoff series with the Portland Winterhawks, a best-of-seven affair the Rockets trail 0-2.

With the series having started in Portland, it isn’t surprising that  Kelowna is down two games; the Winterhawks compiled an impressive home record of 31-4-1-0 this season, and they continued that trend on the weekend, dismantling Kelowna 6-3 and 4-0.

What was surprising was how badly Kelowna was outshot: 55-29 in Game 1, then 39-20 in Game 2. Total thus far: a mirror image in many ways of 94-49.

Elsewhere in the WHL playoffs, the Vancouver Giants are up 2-0 on the Spokane Chiefs after recording 7-5 and 7-3 home-ice wins. The Rockets could be in the Giants’ shoes right now, facing a team on equal footing instead of trying to slay the Western Conference’s version of Goliath. During the regular season, Vancouver finished 14 points ahead of Kelowna, and now the Giants are reaping their regular-season efforts with a better first-round opponent. 

Had Kelowna won just one extra game every 3.5 weeks — just one — well, the Rockets wouldn’t be playing Portland. And goaltender Adam Brown, the best ’keeper in franchise history, wouldn’t be facing a barrage of shots.

For the record, Kelowna was 2-2 against Spokane this season and 5-1-2-0 against Vancouver.

The regular-season ship has sailed, though, and now the Rockets have to win four of the series’ next five games if they want to advance to the second round. That’s an extremely tough task, winning four of five. And they might have to do it without forward Brett Bulmer.

On Saturday, Bulmer ran up a string of penalties: two for unsportsmanlike conduct in the first period, at 3:16 and 5:51; kneeing in the second, at 7:39; kneeing in the third, at 9:55, then a major kneeing penalty and game misconduct at 12:11.

“That’s part of playoffs. Especially with teams that are less talented than us, which is most teams in our league,” Portland goaltender Mac Carruth told The Columbian of Kelowna taking 53 penalty minutes, 23 of them to Bulmer. “They’re going to get chippy. They’re going to try to get us off our game. I think our guys did a really good job of staying together tonight.”

The WHL has an online version of its rulebook, albeit from 2008-09, and Rule 50 is about kneeing. Here are the definitions.

Rule 50 - Kneeing

50.1 Kneeing — Kneeing is the act of a player or goalkeeper leading with his knee and in some cases extending his leg outwards to make contact with his opponent.

50.2 Minor Penalty — The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a minor penalty, based on the severity of the infraction, to a player or goalkeeper guilty of kneeing an opponent.

50.3 Major Penalty — The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a major penalty, based on the severity of the infraction, to a player or goalkeeper guilty of kneeing an opponent (see 50.5).

50.4 Match Penalty — The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match penalty if, in his judgment, the player or goalkeeper attempted to or deliberately injured his opponent by kneeing.

50.5 Game Misconduct Penalty — When a player or goalkeeper has been assessed a major penalty for kneeing he shall also be assessed a Game Misconduct.

In Bulmer’s case, three kneeing penalties in one game is a flashing red light flashing, one that will certainly draw attention. However, in regards to possible supplementary discipline, 50.6, which involves fines and suspensions, had been crossed out. Here’s the rule:

50.6 Fines and Suspensions — There are no specified fines or suspensions for kneeing, however, supplementary discipline can be applied by the Commissioner at his discretion.

Confusing the picture is the NHL’s online version of rule 50.6, which has the exact same wording, but isn’t crossed out.

Time will tell if Bulmer gets a suspension of sorts, but maybe his being on the sidelines isn’t a bad thing. With this being his last season in the WHL, and Kelowna’s roster filled with youth, spreading out his ice time to others can be, in the long term, a valuable learning experience. That’s assuming, of course, there isn’t a major roster shake-up in the off-season following this Jekyll-and-Hyde season.

Yes, win or lose, these next two home games are going to say a lot about who’ll be back for next season.

Winterhawks win Game 2; up 2-0

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Sunday

Ty Rattie didn’t do as much damage, but it was still more than enough — or more than the Kelowna Rockets could match.

Coming off a hat trick in Friday’s series opener, Rattie scored another goal and added an assist as the host Portland Winterhawks beat the Rockets 4-0 in WHL playoff action on Saturday evening in front of 5,885 fans at Memorial Coliseum. It was an even more lopsided result than Friday’s 6-3 doubling for the third-ranked Winterhawks, who now lead the sixth-seeded Rockets 2-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final.

The series shifts to Kelowna for Games 3 and 4 at Prospera Place on Tuesday night and Thursday night. Both are 7 p.m. starts.

“They were definitely the better team,” said Rockets coach Ryan Huska, whose squad was almost doubled in shots on goal, 39-20, for the second straight night after Friday’s 55-29 differential. “They wanted the game more, and, because of that, they won the majority of the puck battles on the ice.”

That led to scoring chances and power plays, with Portland’s special-teams being the difference. The Winterhawks scored twice with the extra man — defenceman Troy Rutkowski to open the scoring in the second and Rattie to make it 3-0 in the third — while Brad Ross had a shorthanded breakaway goal late in the second that put Portland ahead 2-0.

“It’s terrible to give up goals like that,” Huska said of the demoralizing marker with 1:07 left in the middle frame, the product of a Myles Bell turnover at Portland’s blue-line, springing Ross, who deked Rockets goalie Adam Brown. “We were on the power play and those are typically killers, because you go into your room remembering that goal instead of something positive. That was a tough one for us.”

Kelowna never recovered, as Rattie buried his fourth of the series and 61st of the season on a perfectly placed shot over a sprawled Brown just 2:07 into the third. It came off a pass from Sven Baertschi, who also combined with Rattie to set-up Tyler Wotherspoon’s 4-0 goal on a delayed penalty to Kelowna. Rattie has five points and Baertschi has four helpers after two games.

Kelowna failed to generate much offence, making for a relatively easy 20-save shutout for Winterhawks goalie Mac Carruth. Brown made 35 saves for the Rockets, with Huska complimenting his effort and adding Brown will start Game 3.

A bigger question mark will be captain Colton Sissons, who, according to Huska, came down with the flu and was forced to leave Saturday’s game.

Sissons, who scored one of Kelowna’s goals in Game 1, had just returned to the lineup the previous weekend after missing 14 games with a concussion. The Rockets are still without assistant captain and defenceman Mitchell Chapman (undisclosed upper-body injury).

Winterhawks win series opener

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Saturday

Ty Rattie could’ve had a handful of goals. He settled for a hat trick in pacing the Portland Winterhawks to a 6-3 series-opening win over the Kelowna Rockets in WHL playoff action.

Rattie scored three times, bringing his season total to a WHL-best 60 goals, as the hosts peppered Rockets goaltender Adam Brown with 55 shots on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum in Portland.

The dominance is nothing new — Portland won all four regular-season meetings and also ousted Kelowna from the playoffs last spring, prevailing in six games of that second-round series. Game 1, though, was closer than the score indicates.

“We had a chance to make it 4-4 on a breakaway in the third period, and I think if we would’ve scored that goal, it might have been a different finish to the game,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of over-age forward Cody Chikie’s chance that he fired wide. “But once they got the fifth one, it was us on our heels the rest of the way.”

Game 2 of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final goes tonight, 7 p.m. in Portland, before the series shifts to Kelowna next week for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday at Prospera Place.

Containing Rattie will be crucial if the Rockets hope to salvage a split south of the border. There was no stopping him in Friday’s opener, which saw Rattie convert two set-ups from Sven Baertschi, a Swiss import fresh off a stint with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

Those goals erased a 1-0 deficit midway through the second period, and Rattie completed his hat trick to round out the scoring late in the third, sniping from the slot.

“That line, in my mind, was the difference in the game,” Huska said. “Ty Rattie is a special player on his own, but when you add Baertschi to the mix, they’re hard to play against. At times, our defence struggled a little bit with them, but we’ll regroup and we’ll be better against them (tonight).”

Despite being outshot throughout, sixth-seeded Kelowna, which finished 30 points behind third-ranked Portland, held its own early on. The Rockets carried the play for much of the first half, leading 1-0 after 20 minutes and recording the first six shots of the second before the momentum shifted in favour of Portland. Once the Hawks found the back of the net, they quickly filled it.

Chikie opened the scoring for Kelowna with a power-play marker off the rush that beat Winterhawks goaltender Mac Carruth over the blocker.

Zach Franko, in similar high-blocker fashion, to even the score 2-2 at 17:08 of the second, and captain Colton Sissons, on a deflection of Mackenzie Johnston’s point shot to cut the deficit to 4-3 at 8:06 of the third, also scored for the Rockets. Brown finished with 49 saves and skated off with the puck after the game’s final buzzer, to the chagrin of Portland players.

One of the turning points was a controversial buzzer beater by Portland's Joe Morrow to end the middle frame. Morrow, a fleet-footed defenceman and first-round NHL draft pick (Pittsburgh), capitalized on a Kelowna turnover off a clearing attempt that he knocked down and fired past Brown, unassisted, with only 1.8 seconds left on the clock for a 3-2 lead. Brown and Kelowna's bench protested to no avail that an icing should have been whistled, and that the play was offside in Morrow's bid to hold the blue-line.

Oliver Gabriel made it 4-2 for the Winterhawks just 2:43 into the third, tallying what stood up as the winner, and Taylor Leier snuffed out any comeback push by potting a rebound off the end boards at 10:53 to restore Portland's two-goal lead, 5-3.

Carruth made 26 saves to preserve the win. At the other end, Brown robbed Rattie once just before he buried his hat-trick goal, and, on a rare whiff, Rattie missed an open-net chance off another feed from Bartschi earlier in the game.

March edition, finally!

Update:

Over on the left, you'll find a small icon of the magazine. Click on that and you'll have the flip-page edition pop up on your monitor.

**********

Ever have one of those days where nothing went right?

Yeah, that was my Thursday/Friday. And, as it turned out, early Saturday as well. Can you say hard-drive meltdown?

I can, and it's something I don't want to repeat for some time.

Anyway, to the left of this text is the link to the latest edition of DubNation.

Originally, it was supposed to be out on Thursday, but that drug out to Friday due to . . . my soon-to-be boat anchor.

And then, as if that wasn't enough — this edition will feature flip-page formatting; PDFs are ok, but flip pages are a much, much better viewing experience — I experience yet another minor hassle.

So I upload the magazine to a hosting site, and, in a continuation of troubles, I was stopped by an out-of-the-blue hurdle. One that will hopefully be ironed out this morning. Cross your fingers for me.

Regardless, hopefully you enjoy the read.

Good news day for Rockets

It was a blast of expected good news for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, with Sidney Crosby announcing he’s healthy enough to play, and will do so Thursday, after a year of concussion-like symptoms.

Turns out the Kelowna Rockets also had good news on Tuesday concerning two of their leaders who have been out of action due to concussions. The team announced that captain Colton Sissons will return to the ice on Friday night, while veteran forward Spencer Main appears to be on the cusp of rejoining the squad.

“Sissons will play (in Vancouver),” said Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton, whose team ends its regular-season schedule with a home-and-home series against the Giants. “He’s cleared to play; he had his first day of contact (Tuesday), so he’ll be ready to go for the weekend. And Spencer is going to see a doctor this week to see where he’s at. He’s now put in two solid days of practice without contact and has, from all reports, felt fine. So we’re excited about the news.”

Main, a 19-year-old veteran centre, has been out for most of 2011-12 with a concussion, playing in just 12 games before getting hurt in a 5-2 loss on Oct. 23 in Vancouver. Sissons has been out for a month, suffering his injury in a 3-2 home-ice loss to Kamloops on Feb. 11.

While Tuesday’s news was certainly uplifting for Kelowna (29-31-3-6), Sissons and Main still won’t be available for tonight’s home game against the Everett Silvertips (21-38-2-8). Too bad, because the Rockets — after last weekend’s embarrassing efforts, a pair of 3-1 home-ice losses to Victoria and Prince George — could certainly use those two leaders in the lineup.

Heading into the weekend, the Rockets weren’t a truly healthy bunch, with flu-like symptoms smothering the team after last Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout victory in Spokane. By Friday, it appeared the team had recovered — though their flat effort against Victoria said otherwise.

The players were flatter than Manitoba and, afterwards, coach Ryan Huska was asked if sickness had played a part in the 3-1 loss. His answer: A quick, emphatic no.

He was right. For if you’re healthy enough to play, you’re healthy enough to compete. And that flat, lack of effort, not the end result, was what was most bothersome.

The scenario may repeated again tonight, as Kelowna again will be playing a playoff-bubble team.

As of this morning, Everett is seventh in the Western Conference with 52, points, one better than eighth-place Victoria (51 pts.) and two better than the ninth-place Seattle Thunderbirds (50 pts). Seattle, however, has played 69 games, the same as Everett (69), but less than Victoria (70), so the Thunderbirds are in the mix for the last two playoff berths. 

Last-and-10th-place Prince George (23-45-0-2; 48) is still alive, though at three points out of eighth with just two games left (70), the Cougars’ season is all but over.

A win by Everett tonight should clinch the Tips a post-season spot, so count on the Tips playing desperate — much like Victoria and Prince George did on the weekend.

In related news, the WHL released its preliminary playoff schedule this week, and the Rockets, who are stuck in sixth, will play the No. 3 seed, that being either Portland or Tri-City. In either case, the Rockets will play Games 1 and 2 on the road March 23 and 24. If it’s Portland, then the Winterhawks will play out of Memorial Coliseum, and not the Rose Garden.

ICE CHIPS: D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body injury suffered in Spokane) will likely miss Kelowna’s final three regular-season games, then be ready to go for the playoffs. . . . The Rockets are 2-1 against the Tips this season, including a 3-2 loss at Prospera Place in their most recent meeting, on Jan. 15. . . . Both teams are 5-4-1-0 in their past 10 games. Kelowna is on a two-game losing streak, while Everett is 1-0-1-0 in its past two games, including a 3-0 win over Victoria on Sunday. . . . The Rockets are 14-18-0-2 at home, while the Silvertips are 7-20-2-4 on the road. . . . The Rockets are 12-4-1-3 and 18-2-1-3 when respectively leading after the first and second periods. The Silvertips are 11-5-1-2 and 15-2-0-3. Conversely, Kelowna is 8-15-0-1 and 3-24-0-1 when trailing after the first and second, while Everett is 4-24-0-2 and 4-32-1-3.

Rockets hoping to fix case of up-down blues

By Larry Fisher

The Daily Courier

It’s a weekend Ryan Huska surely didn’t want to talk about, but one that coffee row will be sure to discuss in dissecting what ails the Kelowna Rockets now.

After a brief impressive stretch of three straight wins over top WHL teams, the Rockets fell flat by falling to two bottom feeders battling for their playoff lives.

Kelowna, which beat the B.C. Division-leading Kamloops Blazers twice the previous weekend and also scored a 3-2 shootout victory over the fifth-place Spokane Chiefs last Wednesday, was abysmal in front of its home fans in losing listless 3-1 decisions to the Victoria Royals and Prince George Cougars on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The result was the same and so was Kelowna’s effort, which was lacking and a far cry from the performances put forth against Kamloops and Spokane that had the Rockets being touted as live underdogs heading into the playoffs. But heading into the final week of the regular season, which has sixth-place Kelowna (29-31-3-6) hosting the seventh-place Everett Silvertips (21-38-2-8) on Wednesday, then finishing with a home-and-home set against the fourth-place Vancouver Giants (39-26-2-3), there’s once again more questions than answers surrounding the Rockets.

“We have a couple good games here and there and then it seems we feel like we’re on top of the world, nobody can touch us and we don’t have to try. Then we come out with efforts like (Friday) or tonight and that just can’t happen,” said Rockets goaltender Adam Brown, the team’s best player in both weekend outings, making 34 and 29 saves in losing causes. “Both games I felt pretty good, but I feel like there’s more that I could’ve done too. We came out on the wrong end and we didn’t get the efforts we wanted this weekend.”

Huska said much of the same, while refuting whether Kelowna played down to its competition. Based on the standings, second-place Kamloops, with 97 points, and Spokane, with 81, should be almost twice as good as eighth-place Victoria, with 51, and 10th-and-last-place Prince George, with 46.

And the Rockets, with 67 points, should certainly be better too, which is a cause of concern for Kelowna’s coach.

“You have to do that every night, no matter who you are playing against,” Huska said when asked if he takes solace in his team’s ability to raise its level against the league’s elite. “That’s the tough part . . . it’s disappointing.”

Fortunately for the Rockets, they are locked in as the Western Conference’s sixth seed and will open the playoffs on the road against a better, third-ranked team — be it the Tri-City Americans (49-17-1-2) or Portland Winterhawks (48-17-3-1), who are battling for the U.S. Division pennant and top spot overall.

For the time being, though, Kelowna’s focus needs to be on Everett, and rebounding when the puck drops Wednesday, 7 p.m. at Prospera Place.

Saturday was essentially a continuation of Friday’s lacklustre effort. The Rockets lacked urgency and intensity in the early stages, aside from enforcer Jessey Astles who engaged in a marathon fight against Prince George tough-guy Campbell Elyniuk that lasted almost as long as the Beastie Boys’ song Fight For Your Right. That scrap seemed to spark Kelowna, which fired a few shots on the ensuing shift, but Prince George struck first about two minutes later.

With Brown out of position after stopping Caleb Belter’s scoring chance, the puck rebounded to Cougars blue-liner Ricard Blidstrand in the high slot and he slapped it into a gaping net to open the scoring at 9:20 of the first period.

In a scoreless second period, the Rockets were dominated by a determined Prince George club, at even strength and on the man advantage, where the Cougars generated many quality chances but couldn’t beat Brown. The closest call came off a back-door one-timer by Chase Witala, who took a power-play feed from Jake Mykitiuk but couldn’t lift the puck over a sprawled Brown.

Prince George’s power play finally clicked on its fourth attempt, with Troy Bourke roofing a rebound over Brown at 15:42 of the final frame for a 2-0 lead. But Kelowna responded 19 seconds later on a nice individual effort by converted forward Myles Bell, who cut to the middle after crossing the blue-line and fired a wrister over the glove of Cougars goalie Drew Owsley.

The Rockets pushed for the equalizer, suddenly playing with passion that had been absent for 55-plus minutes, but Bourke’s second of the night into an empty net with 38 seconds left gave the Cougars a well-deserved, desperately-needed two points. Had Kelowna won, Prince George would have been all-but mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture.

Back-to-back bad nights for Kelowna

By Larry Fisher

The Okanagan Sunday

An elated Troy Bourke said his team was hungrier. Adam Brown lamented his teammates for not being hungry enough.

The end result proved both viewpoints prophetic, after Bourke potted three points to void another valiant effort by Brown as the Prince George Cougars kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 win over the host Kelowna Rockets in WHL action at Prospera Place on Saturday night. It was the second straight home-ice loss for Kelowna, which also dropped a listless 3-1 decision on Friday night to the equally desperate Victoria Royals (22-41-2-4), who are clinging to the Western Conference’s final playoff spot — four points up on the Cougars (22-44-0-2).

“That’s when we need to play harder,” Brown said of Kelowna’s inability to match the intensity of teams battling for playoff berths. “When a team’s on the mat, you gotta put them down and take them out, but that’s just not the way we’re playing right now. They outworked us in every aspect of the game. It was a terrible effort on our part; that’s nowhere close to where we need to be heading into playoffs. We have a lot to address before Wednesday (home game against seventh-place Everett).”

Bourke scored twice in the third period, tallying the eventual winner on a power play and adding an empty-netter with 38 seconds left, after earlier assisting on the game’s opening goal, by Ricard Blidstrand, in the first period.

“We knew we had to get the win tonight, and if we didn’t, we’d be in some tough water,” said Bourke, the Cougars’ leading scorer with 16 goals and 52 points. “The boys came out with a good effort; we just kept it simple and played pretty relaxed out there and got the job done.”

Myles Bell, who again bounced back and forth from defence to forward during Saturday’s contest, replied for the sixth-place Rockets (29-31-3-6), who wasted 34- and 29-save performances by Brown in weekend losses that followed a three-game winning streak against top teams. Kelowna swept a home-and-home set with the B.C. Division-leading Kamloops Blazers last weekend, then scored a 3-2 shootout win over the fifth-place Chiefs in Spokane on Wednesday prior to their latest letdown.

“It’s getting old, especially at home here,” said a dejected Ryan Huska, Kelowna’s head coach. “They played the way they usually do, but I don’t think we were any good. We didn’t give them much competition tonight. It was two terrible games, at home, and that’s the tough part about it all.”

Drew Owsley made 24 saves for Prince George, which despite having a game in hand on Victoria has its work cut out with four games left — two against third-place Tri-City before finishing with two against Kamloops. The Cougars, with 46 points, are tied for ninth with the Seattle Thunderbirds (22-43-1-1), who hold a game in hand on Prince George. Victoria has 50 points, one fewer than Everett (21-38-1-8) among the bubble teams.

“We can’t really worry about what they do because we have no control over that,” Bourke said. “We just have to worry about what we do and come out every game and try to get wins, and tonight was a big start.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were C Colton Sissons (concussion), D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body), C Spencer Main (concussion), RW Tanner Moar. The Cougars scratched D Daniel Gibb (lower-body), D Shane Pilling (upper-body), C Brock Hirsche (upper-body), RW Daulton Siwak (lower-body), LW John Odgers. . . . Kelowna’s import forward Filip Vasko played his second game since returning to the lineup from a knee injury sustained Feb. 8 against Seattle that sidelined him for 13 games.

Lacklustre effort by Rockets in loss to Royals

Just when it appeared the Kelowna Rockets were getting their act together, along comes a comedy of errors.

Logan Nelson sparked a third-period rally for Victoria, as the Royals scored three unanswered goals in a span of five minutes to overcome a 1-0 deficit and defeat the Rockets 3-1 at Prospera Place on Friday night.

While losing by two goals may not seem bad, the end result was misleading — the Rockets were flat, while the Royals were the constant aggressors and could have won by more had it not been for a solid, but losing result, by Adam Brown.

“(Victoria) came to play. I don’t think we did. It wasn’t a good effort,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose young defence committed a litany of turnovers. “I thought (Victoria) played hard. They competed and they found a way to get their goals when they needed them. We just didn’t have any push-back of our own tonight. It’s a little disappointing after the last three games we had.”

Myles Bell, with his 14th goal of the season, scored for Kelowna (29-30-3-6), which had a modest three-game winning streak come to a close. Those three wins were against Kamloops and Spokane, two teams which have locked down playoff spots. Friday’s result was against a team that’s in a three-way fight for the final two Western Conference playoff berths.

Jamie Crooks, with his team-leading 35th goal of the season, and Brett Cote, with his first WHL goal, also scored for Victoria (22-40-2-4), which trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes. Nelson levelled the score at 1:42 of the third, and his goal was followed by Crooks at 6:22, then Cote at 6:57.

Adam Brown made 34 stops for the Rockets, who host the Prince George Cougars (21-44-0-2) on Saturday.

“We talk about our goaltending all the time,” said Huska, “and they’re consistently the guys that are always there for us. It’s tough when you see some nights like this, when the guys in front of him let him down. You don’t like to see that, but there’s been a few too many occasions where that’s happened.”

Keith Hamilton made 26 saves for the Royals, who are 1-1 on a four-game road trip that continues Saturday in Everett, then ends Sunday in Vancouver. On Wednesday, Victoria lost 3-2 in Everett.

“I liked our push, right from the beginning,” said Royals GM/head coach Marc Habscheid. “Right from the beginning, it was good, especially in the offensive zone. We pushed the pace and that’s what we wanted to do. As the game went on, I thought we got better. But we also got a bit frustrated; we couldn’t score. We weren’t as good on our finish and we could have been a little better that way, been a little hungrier for those loose pucks. In the third, we were, and that goal by Nelson helped us, because we broke that goose egg, got little belief and we were able to ramp it up even more from there.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were D Mitchell Chapman (upper-body injury), C Colton Sissons (concussion), C Spencer Main (concussion) and RW Austin Ferguson. Victoria’s scratches were D Zach Habscheid (lower-body injury), D Kade Pilton, RW Lukas Kralik and LW Taylor Crunk.

Royals 3 at Rockets 1

KELOWNA — WHL on Friday night:

First Period

No Scoring.

Penalties — Carroll Vic, Heffley Kel (fighting) 12:36, Bench minor Kel (too many men, penalty served by Baillie) 16:16, Rintoul Vic (checking from behind) 19:38.

Second Period

1. Kelowna, Bell 14 (Johnston) 9:51

Penalties — Zgraggen Vic (fighting), Astles Kel (charging, fighting, extra penalty served by Moar) 6:27, Bulmer Kel (boarding, unsportsmanlike conduct) 16:25, Soudek Vic (boarding) 17:55, McColgan Kel (holding) 18:48.

Third Period

1. Victoria, Nelson 22 (Carroll) 1:42

2. Victoria, Crooks 35 6:22

3. Victoria, Cote 1 6:37

Penalties — Carroll Vic (holding) 4:07, McColgan Kel (checking from behind) 7:24, Soudek Vic (slashing) 7:45, Soudek Vic, Rigby Kel (fighting)

19:57.

Shots on goal by

Victoria 7  17  13  — 37

Kelowna 11  7  9  — 27

Goal — Victoria: Hamilton (W, 18-30-1-4); Kelowna: Brown (21-23-1-3).

Referees — Steve Papp, Derek Zalaski. Linesmen — Ron Dietterle, Tim Digby.

Power plays (goals-chances) — Victoria: 0-6; Kelowna: 0-3.

Attendance — 6,037.