Malc
12-19-2008, 04:28 PM
By Warren Henderson
A bit of Santa Claus mixed with a small touch of The Grinch.
That’s about how charitable Bruce Hamilton feels in assessing his team’s performance through the first 34 games of the Western Hockey League season.
With a 20-14 record, the Kelowna Rockets head into the Christmas break in second spot in the B.C. Division, 19 points in arrears of the runaway Vancouver Giants.
“I don’t think I can really complain too much about where we’re at right now,” said Hamilton, the Rockets president and general manager.
“I think our goaltending maybe took five or six games away from us early on in the season. I think if those were wins, it would have made things a little more palatable than they are. All in all, we’ve been OK but things could have been better.”
Expectations—both from within and outside the organization—were high for the Rockets entering the 2008-09 campaign.
With 17 returnees coming to camp, including the likes of Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers, Jamie Benn and Colin Long, Kelowna looked like a safe bet to at least challenge for the Western Conference championship.
But the first bump on the road came early on when Schenn, the fifth overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft, landed a full-time job with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Whatever troubles we’ve had, we can’t blame it all on Luke Schenn being gone,” Hamilton said. “But when you lose a player like Luke there’s no question, it affects your team.
“Luke’s not coming back, the Leafs have made that official. It’s a real credit to him. It’s how we deal with it from here on in that matters.”
One way the Rockets plan to cope with Schenn’s absence is by trying to make a deal before the WHL’s Jan. 10 trade deadline.
Hamilton admits there are likely to be few candidates available, but the Rockets would like to get their hands on a veteran defenceman who can take on 20-plus minutes of ice time per night.
“We don’t know for sure yet what’s going to be out there and it’s not going to be easy to make a deal,” he said.
“But we know one thing, getting a guy like that will come with a price.”
As far as the blue line corps in concerned, Hamilton points to 17-year-old Tyson Barrie as the Rockets most consistent rearguard, while Myers has also played well.
More, however, will be expected after Christmas from overage blue liner Tysen Dowzak and Collin Bowman, 17.
Up front, Hamilton said the loss of Kyle St. Denis to a broken hand in October has had a lasting effect on the team’s offensive production.
After Benn, Long and Barrie—122 points combined—Kelowna’s offense has been inconsistent, at best.
“Our secondary scoring has been almost non existent,” said Hamilton. “The Bloodoffs, (Dylan) Hood, and Cody Almond all need to get going. I think Cody (13 goals) has been hurt some by St. Denis being gone. Cody’s been all right but we know he can be better.
“The teams that have three good lines going in this league are the ones that are going to win, and right now that’s what Vancouver, Tri-City and Spokane have. We need to get there, too.”
Between the pipes, Hamilton hopes 20-year-old Kris Lazaruk has left a shaky start behind for good.
The Edmonton native, who struggled over the first 20 games of the season, has lowered his goals against average from 4.15 at the end of October to 3.05 today.
Lazaruk has posted three shutouts during that span, including a 3-0 blanking of the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday night.
Rookie Adam Brown has been steady in a back-up role with a 10-3 record and a 2.12 goals against average.
“I thought Kris played very well in Calgary (a 4-3 loss) and I thought his best game all year was against Edmonton,” said Hamilton. “It looks like he’s turned the corner and hopefully that’s what we’ll see after Christmas.”
What the Rockets also saw in the Edmonton and Red Deer (1-0 loss) games was a glimpse of the future.
Forwards Shane McColgan (Manhattan Beach, Cal.) and Brett Bulmer (Prince George) made their WHL debuts, with McColgan notching his first WHL goal against the Oil Kings.
While Hamilton wasn’t impressed by his team’s play as a whole in Alberta, the two rookies more than held their own.
“Bulmer really played well and, with McColgan, he was darn near everything we thought he would be. Our fans have got a lot to look forward to with (Shane) and we’re going to get him into some games at home here sometime after Christmas.”
The Rockets were without five key players for the last two games of their Alberta trip: Jamie Benn and Tyler Myers (Canadian junior team) Stepan Novotny (Czech junior camp) Tyson Barrie (mild concussion), and Kyle St. Denis (broken hand, three weeks).
Kelowna isn’t expecting Benn and Myers back until Jan. 7 at the earliest.
“We’re going to need to get our game in order after Christmas and survive until all our guys get back,” Hamilton said. “We have a good split in our schedule with lots of home games early in the new year.”
The Rockets, who will play eight of their next nine games at Prospera Place, return to action Saturday, Dec. 27 at home to the Kamloops Blazers.
Rocket Shots…
Rockets defenceman Tyson Barrie was among the 40 players named to play in the CHL Top Prospects Game Jan. 14 in Oshawa. The game showcases major junior hockey’s best prospects for the 2009 NHL entry draft. Barrie, who has 31 points in 31 games, is ranked eighth among WHL skaters by the Central Scouting Bureau.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/sports/36447579.html
A bit of Santa Claus mixed with a small touch of The Grinch.
That’s about how charitable Bruce Hamilton feels in assessing his team’s performance through the first 34 games of the Western Hockey League season.
With a 20-14 record, the Kelowna Rockets head into the Christmas break in second spot in the B.C. Division, 19 points in arrears of the runaway Vancouver Giants.
“I don’t think I can really complain too much about where we’re at right now,” said Hamilton, the Rockets president and general manager.
“I think our goaltending maybe took five or six games away from us early on in the season. I think if those were wins, it would have made things a little more palatable than they are. All in all, we’ve been OK but things could have been better.”
Expectations—both from within and outside the organization—were high for the Rockets entering the 2008-09 campaign.
With 17 returnees coming to camp, including the likes of Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers, Jamie Benn and Colin Long, Kelowna looked like a safe bet to at least challenge for the Western Conference championship.
But the first bump on the road came early on when Schenn, the fifth overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft, landed a full-time job with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Whatever troubles we’ve had, we can’t blame it all on Luke Schenn being gone,” Hamilton said. “But when you lose a player like Luke there’s no question, it affects your team.
“Luke’s not coming back, the Leafs have made that official. It’s a real credit to him. It’s how we deal with it from here on in that matters.”
One way the Rockets plan to cope with Schenn’s absence is by trying to make a deal before the WHL’s Jan. 10 trade deadline.
Hamilton admits there are likely to be few candidates available, but the Rockets would like to get their hands on a veteran defenceman who can take on 20-plus minutes of ice time per night.
“We don’t know for sure yet what’s going to be out there and it’s not going to be easy to make a deal,” he said.
“But we know one thing, getting a guy like that will come with a price.”
As far as the blue line corps in concerned, Hamilton points to 17-year-old Tyson Barrie as the Rockets most consistent rearguard, while Myers has also played well.
More, however, will be expected after Christmas from overage blue liner Tysen Dowzak and Collin Bowman, 17.
Up front, Hamilton said the loss of Kyle St. Denis to a broken hand in October has had a lasting effect on the team’s offensive production.
After Benn, Long and Barrie—122 points combined—Kelowna’s offense has been inconsistent, at best.
“Our secondary scoring has been almost non existent,” said Hamilton. “The Bloodoffs, (Dylan) Hood, and Cody Almond all need to get going. I think Cody (13 goals) has been hurt some by St. Denis being gone. Cody’s been all right but we know he can be better.
“The teams that have three good lines going in this league are the ones that are going to win, and right now that’s what Vancouver, Tri-City and Spokane have. We need to get there, too.”
Between the pipes, Hamilton hopes 20-year-old Kris Lazaruk has left a shaky start behind for good.
The Edmonton native, who struggled over the first 20 games of the season, has lowered his goals against average from 4.15 at the end of October to 3.05 today.
Lazaruk has posted three shutouts during that span, including a 3-0 blanking of the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday night.
Rookie Adam Brown has been steady in a back-up role with a 10-3 record and a 2.12 goals against average.
“I thought Kris played very well in Calgary (a 4-3 loss) and I thought his best game all year was against Edmonton,” said Hamilton. “It looks like he’s turned the corner and hopefully that’s what we’ll see after Christmas.”
What the Rockets also saw in the Edmonton and Red Deer (1-0 loss) games was a glimpse of the future.
Forwards Shane McColgan (Manhattan Beach, Cal.) and Brett Bulmer (Prince George) made their WHL debuts, with McColgan notching his first WHL goal against the Oil Kings.
While Hamilton wasn’t impressed by his team’s play as a whole in Alberta, the two rookies more than held their own.
“Bulmer really played well and, with McColgan, he was darn near everything we thought he would be. Our fans have got a lot to look forward to with (Shane) and we’re going to get him into some games at home here sometime after Christmas.”
The Rockets were without five key players for the last two games of their Alberta trip: Jamie Benn and Tyler Myers (Canadian junior team) Stepan Novotny (Czech junior camp) Tyson Barrie (mild concussion), and Kyle St. Denis (broken hand, three weeks).
Kelowna isn’t expecting Benn and Myers back until Jan. 7 at the earliest.
“We’re going to need to get our game in order after Christmas and survive until all our guys get back,” Hamilton said. “We have a good split in our schedule with lots of home games early in the new year.”
The Rockets, who will play eight of their next nine games at Prospera Place, return to action Saturday, Dec. 27 at home to the Kamloops Blazers.
Rocket Shots…
Rockets defenceman Tyson Barrie was among the 40 players named to play in the CHL Top Prospects Game Jan. 14 in Oshawa. The game showcases major junior hockey’s best prospects for the 2009 NHL entry draft. Barrie, who has 31 points in 31 games, is ranked eighth among WHL skaters by the Central Scouting Bureau.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/sports/36447579.html