Eastern Promises - Chipper Rockets Hit the Road

[Malc]

By Dana Soleski

There’s something about the lure of a road trip…

A loaded up set of wheels and a never-ending stretch of asphalt can churn the juices and bring thoughts of freshness, a new start.

So, when the Rockets piled aboard the big blue, shiny new bus on Monday, they had to be feeling carefree. And, they were bounding around more freely and easily than they were just a few days ago.

The team is off to Calgary, where they’ll set up a temporary home base for games in Medicine Hat (Wednesday), Red Deer (Friday) and Calgary (Sunday).

Last Friday, a daunting, three-games-in-three-nights stretch faced them as they trekked to Vancouver on the heels of a pair of disappointing losses to Portland and Chilliwack. But, low and behold, the club ripped off 3 victories to erase the bad memories and set the table nicely for this week’s travels.

Kelowna started the weekend by thumping the Vancouver Giants 6-2 at the Pacific Coliseum – handing the powerhouse Giants just their second regulation time loss on home ice in 29 games on the year.

The Rockets followed up with victories in Everett (3-2) and Chilliwack (4-1) to complete the weekend sweep.

Cody Almond paced the scoring attack on Friday with his third hat trick of the season and added an assist. But, Tyler Myers’ big, open-ice hit on Evander Kane in the early going energized the Rockets, who successfully killed 6 Vancouver power plays in the game behind the strong goaltending of Mark Guggenberger.

Myers earned first star honours for his performance on Friday while chipping in with an assist on Kelwona’s opening goal. On Saturday, he scored both the tying and winning goals in Everett and, again, was named the first star. The Team Canada World Junior standout now has 37 points and a +19 rating in his 47 games on the season.

Adam Brown was called to the rescue of Guggenberger on Saturday after the latter allowed 2 quick goals on just 5 shots to start the game. Brown emulated the performance of Chilliwack’s, Mark Friesen, who stopped all 32 shots he faced after taking over with the Rockets’ leading 3-0 last Wednesday. Brown was perfect in turning aside 24 shots to afford his club a satisfying come-from-behind win.

Brown got the start on Sunday and played strongly in the early going while his team mates got things in gear. The Rockets struggled at times but eventually rolled up a 4-0 lead before settling for a 4-1 win.

“We had a sluggish start against Chilliwack, and it was nice that Adam played a great game,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “He kept us in the game until we got our legs under us.”

“Playing three-in-three in less than 48 hours, it‘s hard on the body,” said Huska. “Sometimes we expect a lot out of these kids, to work, work, work, to go, go, go, and that‘s tough. So it‘s important in games like these that we‘re able to have good, strong mental starts, where we‘re able to avoid (physical) mistakes.”

Heading into this week’s action, the Rockets are firmly entrenched in 4th place in the Western Conference, 16 points ahead of Seattle, against whom they’d open the first round if the playoffs began today.

Kelowna is a point behind 3rd place Spokane with the Chiefs holding 2 games in hand. The Rockets will get a crack at the Chiefs in their next home game, set for March 4th at Prospera Place.

http://www.kelownarockets.com/Story.aspx?ID=521

[Malc]

By Warren Henderson

Ryan Huska has a pretty good hunch the Medicine Hat Tigers haven’t forgotten about Jan. 30.

A 10-1 humbling at the hands of the Kelowna Rockets nearly four weeks ago at Prospera Place should be fresh in the minds of the Tigers when the teams face off in WHL action tonight in the southern Alberta city.

“Things like that don’t happen very often, nothing went their way that night, and absolutely everything we did seemed to work,” said Huska, the Rockets’ head coach. “The Tigers are a very good hockey team and we haven’t had a lot of success in that building, and I suspect they’ll want to get even with us. We’ll have to be ready for them.”

Both teams head into tonight’s contest with some momentum on their sides. Medicine Hat has won four of its last five games, while the Rockets are coming off three consecutive road wins in as many nights.

The Rockets (38-20-1-3) recovered from losses to bottom-dwellers Portland and Chilliwack last week to stun the hometown Vancouver Giants 6-2 on Friday night. Kelowna then followed up with a 3-2 win over Everett Saturday, and a 4-1 verdict over the Bruins on Sunday.

Huska was encouraged by his team’s ability to rebound from two of their poorest efforts of the campaign.

“That weekend was a good one for us, when you can get six points in three games you have to be happy,” he said. “I thought we had really good jump in the first two games and played very well. I thought in Chilliwack we had a tougher time getting going, but once we got our legs under us, it was good. The guys committed to making sure they were going to win that game, even though they were tired.”

Rookie goaltender Adam Brown replaced veteran Mark Guggenberger Saturday in Everett after the latter gave up two goals on just five shots. Brown, 17, shut the door the rest of the way, then a night later in Everett came within 61 seconds of posting his third shutout of the season.

“Adam has been very good for us, he competes hard for every shot and he’s excited when he gets the chance to play,” Huska said. “As for Mark, he’s been good against the good teams, and has struggled against the lesser teams. We’d like to see him to be more consistent.”

One player the Rockets are seeing more consistency from is defenceman Tyler Myers. The 6-foot-7-plus blue liner scored twice in Saturday’s win in Everett, then added another goal in Everett for a four-point weekend.

“To me this is the best Tyler has played since he’s been here,” Huska said. “He’s playing with a ton of confidence with and without the puck and for stretches in those last three games, he was the best player out there.”

The Rockets road trip continues Friday in Red Deer and wraps up on Saturday in Calgary vs. the Hitmen.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/sports/40273448.html

[Malc]

By Doyle Potenteau

Bruce Hamilton calls ‘em as he sees ‘em. So, what does Kelowna‘s president and general manager see when he looks at his team now?

The Rockets have been rolling for the past month, piling up a 12-1-1-2 record in that span. On Monday, Kelowna rolled east into Alberta for a three-game Central Division road trip that starts tonight in Medicine Hat.

“They seem to be going all right,” said Hamilton, with his team about to play the good (Tigers), not so good (Red Deer) and unbelievably good (Calgary) on their six-day trek. “They‘re starting to grasp what it takes to win. But I‘m not convinced this team is where it needs to be just yet.

“Consistency is a huge part of winning... we have enough horses to play with the good teams, but they‘re going to have to play as a whole team consistently.”

Hamilton‘s point of view is how the Rockets performed last week: Dropping two games to the Western Conference‘s poorest teams, Portland and Chilliwack, then reeling off three victories in a row, including a 6-2 win in Vancouver on Friday night. That victory was just the second time this season a visiting team won in regulation time at Pacific Coliseum. The Giants‘ record at home is an astounding 25-2-0-2.

Like the Giants, the Tigers also have a good home record at 20-7-1-1. Further, the Rockets have had a miserable time the last five seasons at The Arena, with a winless 0-6-0-1 record.

“We don‘t have a great record in Medicine Hat lately,” said Hamilton, whose team beat the Tigers 10-1 at Prospera Place on Jan. 30.

The last time Kelowna won in Medicine Hat was 8-2 on Feb. 12, 2003 – a season which saw the Rockets forge a new identity in the second half en route to winning the team‘s first WHL championship. From Jan. 1 to regular-season‘s end, the Rockets were 31-3-1.

Asked if there are any parallels between that team and this season‘s crop of Rockets, Hamilton said yes, particularly when it comes to offence.

“That line of Jesse Schultz, Kiel McLeod and Tyler Mosienko controlled games,” Hamilton said of Kelowna‘s top unit in 2003. “We don‘t have a line like that yet, but that team had four good lines and so does this one.

“You have to give credit to the fourth line (comprised of Mitchell Callahan, Curt Gogol and Evan Bloodoff or Spencer Main) because those guys are understanding their roles. How disciplined they are will determine how much ice time they‘re going to get.”

Game time between Kelowna (38-20-1-3) and Medicine Hat (33-23-4-3) is 6 p.m., with Friday‘s game in Red Deer (19-33-1-9) featuring a 6:30 p.m. start. On Saturday, the Rockets end their journey at 6 p.m. against the WHL‘s top team in Calgary (54-7-3-1), a squad which has won 15 of its past 16 games (15-0-1-0).

For the Rockets, Saturday‘s contest against the Hitmen should be the trip‘s highlight. Not only does Calgary lead the league in points (112), but the game should be a barometer of how the Rockets stack up against the Eastern Conference‘s best.

That said, however, Kelowna will be in an uphill battle: The game will be the Rockets‘ third in four nights, while Calgary should be rested. The Hitmen host Regina tonight, then don‘t play again until Saturday.

“We‘re looking forward to that game, but, at the same time, can‘t put too much stock into it because of where we‘ll be at that point in time,” said Hamilton, whose team, once this road trip is over, will have played six games in nine nights over two time zones. “I‘m not trying to make excuses, but the team is not only playing a lot of games but also travelling a lot of miles as well.”

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna will likely scratch RW Kyle St. Denis (concussion) for a fourth-straight game since he was hurt in a 4-3 shootout loss on home ice to Chilliwack on Feb. 18... Medicine Hat‘s leading scorers are C Tyler Ennis (35-36-71), RW Linden Vey (22-41-63), C Sean Ringrose (24-29-53) and C Brennan Bosch (19-33-52)... The Tigers are 5-4-1-0 in their past 10 games, while the Rockets are 8-1-0-1... The Tigers have three B.C. players, all defencemen: Jace Coyle of Cranbrook (8-16-24), Cody Carlson of Victoria (3-13-16) and Abbotsford‘s Mark Isherwood (17-22-39).

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=167377

[Malc]

The Kelowna Rockets recorded the knockout early in this one.

Scoring on their first three shots of Wednesday‘s Western Hockey League contest, the Rockets buried the host Medicine Hat Tigers 6-1 before a sellout crowd of 4,006 fans at The Arena.

For a while, it looked like the Rockets could potentially hit double-digits on the scoreboard again.

The Rockets opened up a 5-1 first-period lead, reminiscent of the previous time these two clubs met. In that encounter, the Rockets bombed the Tigers 10-1 in Kelowna on Jan. 30.

Willie Desjardins, the Tigers head coach and general manager, was hoping his club would have a better outing this time around, and he couldn‘t believe how things shook down.

“They were certainly finding the net,” said Desjardins, whose club fell to 33-24-4-3 with the loss. “Sometimes things like that happen.

“It was just tough. We wanted to go, but everything we were doing was going bad. They are a good hockey team. They are hard to play against.”

The game was Kelowna‘s 999th regular-season contest since moving from Tacoma in the summer of 1995.

On Friday, the Rockets, who are on a three-game road trip through the Central Division, will play Game No. 1,000 against the Red Deer Rebels (19-34-1-9). On Saturday, Kelowna closes out its six-day journey with game 1,001 against the Calgary Hitmen (55-7-3-1).

Wednesday‘s win also leapfrogged Kelowna into third place in Western Conference standings with 82 points, one more than the fourth-place Spokane Chiefs (39-19-0-3). However, the Chiefs have two games in hand on the Rockets.

If the playoffs were to start today, Kelowna would play sixth-place Kamloops (28-29-2-4), while Spokane would play fifth-place Seattle (30-29-1-3).

Mitchell Callahan, with two goals, Stepan Novotny, Cody Almond, Evan Bloodoff and Spencer Main, with his first WHL goal, scored for the Rockets (39-20-1-3). Travis Dunstall replied for the Tigers.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=167662

[Malc]

By Regan Bartel

When the Kelowna Rockets went into battle Wednesday night with the Medicine Hat Tigers, it wasn't the stealth bomber-like offense led by Jamie Benn, Colin Long and Mikael Backlund that helped the visitors earn their 39th win of the season, it was the foot soldiers that do the grunt work that enabled the Rockets to earn their 4th consecutive victory. Mitchell Callahan scored twice, Evan Bloodoff had a goal and two helpers, and Spencer Main scored his first WHL goal. Of the Rockets top 8 point getters, only Cody Almond was able to register a goal.

Callahan not only scored twice - snapping a 12 game goalless drought - but the feisty forward also got involved in two scraps. The most impressive was when 20 year-old Mark Isherwood asked Rockets 16 year-old forward Spencer Main if he wanted to fight after the two began pushing in front of the Tigers bench. Main wasn't interested, but Callahan quickly came into the scene and said 'hey - hey' and the two started trading punches.

My general impression is Callahan loves to scrap. He shows no fear and no hesitation to back up a teammate. When you are as good as he is at it, why not take your frustrations out on the opposition physically.

Look out Ryley Grantham, Callahan is making a move up the fighting standings. Callahan's two scraps Wednesday night gives him 15 on the season - one behind Grantham's 16.

Curt Gogol couldn't be outdone, getting into a tilt with Tigers defenseman Thomas Carr. It's Gogol's willingness to get involved that forces the coaches hands to play him.

In some respects I was glad Grantham never engaged with Tigers tough guy Matt McCue once the Rockets built up a 5-1 first period lead. The Tigers showed little bite in their game other than an early flurry in the second period that had the visitors back on their heels. McCue was playing a quiet game and wasn't getting his nose dirty in any way. An accumulation of misconducts may have McCue taking a more passive approach unless he is forced into action by an opponent taking liberties on a teammate.

It was nice to see Spencer Main get his first WHL goal. Sure it took him 54 games to finally get it, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Who's next on the list of players looking for their first WHL goal? Kyle Verdino. Verdino has gone 87 games without scoring his first WHL goal.

Another one of the 'foot shoulders' that impressed Wednesday night was Evan Bloodoff. Often in the shadows of Benn, Long, Almond and Backund, the youngest Bloodoff had a career matching three point game. Bloodoff also had a goal and two assists last January in a win over Prince George.

Despite the lopsided score, goaltender Mark Guggenberger was tested several times in this one. It was a good bounce back game for the veteran goaltender, who looked comfortable between the pipes.

Tyler Ennis again had a quiet game for the Tigers, but much of that was do to the solid defensive effort of Rockets d-man Tyler Myers. Myers made sure he was on the ice every time Ennis jumped over the boards. The two will likely be teammates in the near future considering both are drafted by the Buffalo Sabres.

Credit the Rockets defense for two long stretch passes that sent forwards in on clear cut breakaways. Collin Bowman's long pass to Cody Almond enabled the 19 year-old to score his 31st goal of the season while Myers also sent a long bomb to Jamie Benn, who failed in his breakaway attempt to earn his 40th goal of the season.

The ugly stat of the night was Mikael Backlund, Ian Duval and Lucas Bloodoff all being a -1 in a game that ended up 6-1.

http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/2009/02/foot-soldiers-deserve-credit-in-road.html