Malc
03-02-2009, 02:53 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
Call it an unbelievable win after an unbelievable loss.
At Calgary, Mark Guggenberger put in a 34-save performance for Kelowna as the Rockets defeated the Hitmen 2-1 in WHL action on Saturday night at the Pengrowth Saddle-dome. The win against the league‘s top team closed out a mostly successful three-game road trip through the Central Division.
However, on Friday, Kelowna lost 3-2 to the Red Deer Rebels, one of the league‘s weakest squads.
Asked to describe how his team turned its fortunes around in a 24-hour span, Rockets coach Ryan Huska couldn‘t offer a solid diagnosis.
“We‘re always having conversations with the guys,” said Huska, whose team was outshot 35-17. “Sometimes you say a few things to the older players and how they have to be better. We put a lot on them, and they mostly take care of it themselves.
“But they do have to figure out that they can‘t change the way they play based on their opponents. If you look at our losses lately, they‘re against teams that aren‘t making the playoffs. . . that‘s the frustrating part.”
Cody Almond, with his 32nd goal of the season, and Collin Bowman, with his third, a power-play marker five minutes into the third period that stood up as the winner, scored for Kelowna (40-21-1-3).
Tomas Karpov, with his seventh late in the second period to make it 1-1, replied for Calgary (55-8-3-1), which suffered just its fourth home loss of the season (32-3-1-0) and also had a 12-game winning streak come to an end.
Martin Jones made 15 saves for the Hitmen, whose No. 1-ranked power play was stifled due to heavy Kelowna pressure.
“It was a big game for us,” said Huska, whose squad closed out a busy seven-game stretch over 10 days. “That‘s a lot of hockey and we didn‘t have a lot left in the tank. Our penalty killing was outstanding, and, to be honest, our third period was our best. I find that surprising, based on how many games we‘ve played lately.
“Their power play, they generate a lot from their defence. They have four guys who can really shoot the puck if you give them time and space. So our goal was to not allow them much room to shoot, so you have to give our forwards and defence credit for that. That, and our goalie was our best penalty killer tonight.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were RW Kyle St. Denis (concussion, one week) and D Kyle Verdino... LW Jamie Benn returned to action after missing Friday‘s game because of the flu... Saturday‘s attendance was 16,690... Kelowna was 1-for-5 on the power play; Calgary was 0-for-6... The game‘s three stars were Almond, Karpov and Guggenberger.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=168302
Call it an unbelievable win after an unbelievable loss.
At Calgary, Mark Guggenberger put in a 34-save performance for Kelowna as the Rockets defeated the Hitmen 2-1 in WHL action on Saturday night at the Pengrowth Saddle-dome. The win against the league‘s top team closed out a mostly successful three-game road trip through the Central Division.
However, on Friday, Kelowna lost 3-2 to the Red Deer Rebels, one of the league‘s weakest squads.
Asked to describe how his team turned its fortunes around in a 24-hour span, Rockets coach Ryan Huska couldn‘t offer a solid diagnosis.
“We‘re always having conversations with the guys,” said Huska, whose team was outshot 35-17. “Sometimes you say a few things to the older players and how they have to be better. We put a lot on them, and they mostly take care of it themselves.
“But they do have to figure out that they can‘t change the way they play based on their opponents. If you look at our losses lately, they‘re against teams that aren‘t making the playoffs. . . that‘s the frustrating part.”
Cody Almond, with his 32nd goal of the season, and Collin Bowman, with his third, a power-play marker five minutes into the third period that stood up as the winner, scored for Kelowna (40-21-1-3).
Tomas Karpov, with his seventh late in the second period to make it 1-1, replied for Calgary (55-8-3-1), which suffered just its fourth home loss of the season (32-3-1-0) and also had a 12-game winning streak come to an end.
Martin Jones made 15 saves for the Hitmen, whose No. 1-ranked power play was stifled due to heavy Kelowna pressure.
“It was a big game for us,” said Huska, whose squad closed out a busy seven-game stretch over 10 days. “That‘s a lot of hockey and we didn‘t have a lot left in the tank. Our penalty killing was outstanding, and, to be honest, our third period was our best. I find that surprising, based on how many games we‘ve played lately.
“Their power play, they generate a lot from their defence. They have four guys who can really shoot the puck if you give them time and space. So our goal was to not allow them much room to shoot, so you have to give our forwards and defence credit for that. That, and our goalie was our best penalty killer tonight.”
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were RW Kyle St. Denis (concussion, one week) and D Kyle Verdino... LW Jamie Benn returned to action after missing Friday‘s game because of the flu... Saturday‘s attendance was 16,690... Kelowna was 1-for-5 on the power play; Calgary was 0-for-6... The game‘s three stars were Almond, Karpov and Guggenberger.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=168302