Malc
03-12-2009, 02:08 PM
By DOYLE POTENTEAU
Keith Hamilton knew he was in for a busy night. Turns out, he was right, and then some.
Mikael Backlund had a two-goal night for Kelowna, his 11th and 12th goals of the season, as the Rockets rung up the Portland Winter Hawks 6-2 in WHL action on Wednesday.
Yet, the tale of last night‘s tape wasn‘t the score. Rather, it was the shotclock, which saw Kelowna pepper Portland‘s net with 51 shots.
“I was a little surprised by the shot total,” said Hamilton, a 17-year-old rookie from Kelowna following his 45-save effort for the Hawks. “I knew they were a run-and-gun type team. They have a lot of talent.”
Hamilton found out early just how much talent Kelowna has, when Ian Duval almost converted an early rush just eight seconds into the game. Only a quick left pad save from Hamilton stopped Duval from scoring.
“That save put me into the game right off the bat,” said Hamilton, the game‘s third star and no relation to Rockets owner and general manager Bruce Hamilton. “It helped me a lot... but I am tired. I don‘t think I ever faced 51 shots before. It‘s been close before, 45 or so, but that was the most.”
Tyson Barrie, with his 12th goal of the season, Lucas Bloodoff, with his 20th, Jamie Benn, with his 44th, and Cody Almond, with his 33rd, also scored for Kelowna (44-21-1-3), which led 2-1 and 4-1 at the period breaks. With the win, the Rockets are 9-1-0-0 in their past 10 games.
Brad Ross, with his eight goal, and Chris Francis, with his 20th, replied for Portland (18-47-2-2), which put in a game effort, but was soundly outplayed.
At one point, during five-on-five play, the Rockets played nearly five minutes in the Hawks‘ end.
“That was a pretty good job by the guys, staying in their end for that long,” said Rockets captain Colin Long, who had a two-assist effort. “We always talk about how we want to change in the offensive zone and try to double shift guys if they‘re tired. We were able to do it three times, so that was pretty cool.
“It was a nice victory because Portland had our number. They had five out of the last six points against us, so that was something we wanted to address.”
Mark Guggenberger made 25 saves for the Rockets, who close out regular-season play this weekend with three games in three nights. Kelowna plays a home-and-home series with Kamloops that starts Friday in Kamloops, then plays its final regular-season game on Sunday in Spokane.
Afterwards, the Rockets agreed that Hamilton played a good game. However, Kelowna simply overwhelmed Portland with skill, and the final result was never in doubt.
“We had some bad penalties, but I thought we did a good job on the penalty kill,” said Backlund. “Then we came out and ended the game after that. We‘re on a roll right now, and things feel really good right now.”
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=170747
Keith Hamilton knew he was in for a busy night. Turns out, he was right, and then some.
Mikael Backlund had a two-goal night for Kelowna, his 11th and 12th goals of the season, as the Rockets rung up the Portland Winter Hawks 6-2 in WHL action on Wednesday.
Yet, the tale of last night‘s tape wasn‘t the score. Rather, it was the shotclock, which saw Kelowna pepper Portland‘s net with 51 shots.
“I was a little surprised by the shot total,” said Hamilton, a 17-year-old rookie from Kelowna following his 45-save effort for the Hawks. “I knew they were a run-and-gun type team. They have a lot of talent.”
Hamilton found out early just how much talent Kelowna has, when Ian Duval almost converted an early rush just eight seconds into the game. Only a quick left pad save from Hamilton stopped Duval from scoring.
“That save put me into the game right off the bat,” said Hamilton, the game‘s third star and no relation to Rockets owner and general manager Bruce Hamilton. “It helped me a lot... but I am tired. I don‘t think I ever faced 51 shots before. It‘s been close before, 45 or so, but that was the most.”
Tyson Barrie, with his 12th goal of the season, Lucas Bloodoff, with his 20th, Jamie Benn, with his 44th, and Cody Almond, with his 33rd, also scored for Kelowna (44-21-1-3), which led 2-1 and 4-1 at the period breaks. With the win, the Rockets are 9-1-0-0 in their past 10 games.
Brad Ross, with his eight goal, and Chris Francis, with his 20th, replied for Portland (18-47-2-2), which put in a game effort, but was soundly outplayed.
At one point, during five-on-five play, the Rockets played nearly five minutes in the Hawks‘ end.
“That was a pretty good job by the guys, staying in their end for that long,” said Rockets captain Colin Long, who had a two-assist effort. “We always talk about how we want to change in the offensive zone and try to double shift guys if they‘re tired. We were able to do it three times, so that was pretty cool.
“It was a nice victory because Portland had our number. They had five out of the last six points against us, so that was something we wanted to address.”
Mark Guggenberger made 25 saves for the Rockets, who close out regular-season play this weekend with three games in three nights. Kelowna plays a home-and-home series with Kamloops that starts Friday in Kamloops, then plays its final regular-season game on Sunday in Spokane.
Afterwards, the Rockets agreed that Hamilton played a good game. However, Kelowna simply overwhelmed Portland with skill, and the final result was never in doubt.
“We had some bad penalties, but I thought we did a good job on the penalty kill,” said Backlund. “Then we came out and ended the game after that. We‘re on a roll right now, and things feel really good right now.”
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=170747