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View Full Version : Injuries adding up for reeling Rockets



Malc
12-29-2009, 02:55 PM
By Doyle Potenteau

Just when things couldn‘t get worse for the Kelowna Rockets, they did on Sunday night.

Already reeling with three of their better players out with injuries, the Rockets lost four more bodies in Sunday night‘s 7-3 drubbing at the hands of the visiting Vancouver Giants. Now with seven players out of the lineup – eight, including Brandon McMillan, who‘s away at the world junior championship – Kelowna‘s chances of challenging front-running Vancouver for the B.C. Division pennant seems unlikely.

Unlikely because with the season now past the halfway point, nearly all of Kelowna‘s injuries are pegged at being at least two weeks in length. With the Rockets 12 points in arrears of the Giants, trying to catch a team with two-thirds of a roster in a short time span is a tall task.

“I‘ve never seen anything like this,” said Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton, whose team lost forwards Geordie Wudrick (separated shoulder) and Codey Ito (shoulder) plus defencemen Collin Bowman (ankle) and Mitchell Chapman (fractured ribs) in Sunday night‘s wipeout. “And these aren‘t just nicks and bruises we‘re dealing with.”

All four were shipped to hospital, with their out-of-action diagnoses ranging from two to four weeks. They now join captain Lucas Bloodoff (knee, 2 weeks), Evan Bloodoff (knee, 2 months) and Kyle St. Denis (concussion, indefinite) on the Rockets‘ injury list, which has been littered with bodies this season.

“We don‘t (normally) believe in bringing up 15-year-olds,” said Hamilton, who is calling up a pair of midgets in forwards Colton Heffley (Swift Current) and Tyrell Goulbourne (Edmonton). Both were selected in last spring‘s bantam draft.

“Historically, we don‘t do this, and I think the only 15s we‘ve used over the years were Scott Hannan, Luke Schenn, Tyler Myers, Tyson (Barrie) and Shane McColgan. But we‘re in a state where we have 15 skaters.”

Now with eight players off the roster, the Rockets are having to readjust their plans from chase mode to survival mode.

“Our goaltenders are going to have to step up and help us out,” said Hamilton, whose team has yet to play with a fully healthy lineup this season. “We‘re going to be a young, young team until we get some of our guys back. Once we get back the guys that are missing... if it wasn‘t a bunch of veterans hurt, we‘d be in a different scenario. What we got coming back, when we get them, this team will change quite a bit. But, until then, it‘s going to be tough.”

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=233190

Rocketsfan
01-01-2010, 12:52 PM
We played only 4 d-men last night - Jobke, Barrie, Corbin, and Johnston. Anyone know if Gogol's injured now too?

Malc
01-02-2010, 01:06 PM
We played only 4 d-men last night - Jobke, Barrie, Corbin, and Johnston. Anyone know if Gogol's injured now too?

Gogol was a healthy scratch. Regan B. said that it was a "Rockets internal issue".

Malc
01-02-2010, 01:09 PM
We played only 4 d-men last night - Jobke, Barrie, Corbin, and Johnston. Anyone know if Gogol's injured now too?

Verdino also played D (and got his first point in 40+ games), as did Colton Heffley.

Rocketsfan
01-02-2010, 06:49 PM
oh ok, at least we were playing 6 D-men. I have a bad feeling about Gogol. He got a 5 game suspension last month and now there's an internal issue. Wonder what could happen to him in the next week if anything

Flathead
01-03-2010, 09:32 AM
Wudrick seperated his shoulder? Was his purse to heavy? Haha, seriously though, how did this happen?

apsco17
01-03-2010, 01:03 PM
Wudrick seperated his shoulder? Was his purse to heavy? Haha, seriously though, how did this happen?

He was injured when hit by Lance Bouma.

Rocketsfan
01-04-2010, 12:35 PM
Now Gogol's been sent home by Kelowna because he didn't like the situation there and his role, so hopefully we can trade him before the deadline

Malc
01-04-2010, 02:58 PM
The Rockets‘ roster took yet another beating, with the team announcing that defenceman Curt Gogol is home in Calgary, waiting to be traded.

Ironically, the news came one week after Kelowna lost four players in last Sunday‘s 7-3 home-ice loss to Vancouver, which upped the Rockets‘ injury list. Forward Spencer Main (concussion) was then hurt in a 4-3 loss to Chilliwack on New Year‘s Eve, Codey Ito returned, but with top forward Brandon McMillan away playing for Canada at the world junior hockey champion-ship, Gogol‘s departure pushes Kelowna‘s MIA list to an eye-popping nine.

Asked why the 18-year-old and team penalty-minute leader is home instead of in the Okanagan, Rockets president and GM Bruce Hamilton called it personal differences.

“He was having some issues with the coaching staff on the route we were going,” Hamilton said from Saskatoon, where he‘s attending the WJHC. “He felt he wasn‘t being used in the way he wanted to be, which is disappointing for us because guys like him are hard to find.

“It‘s a loss to our team, but, at the same time, it was starting to be a distraction to our team and that‘s not what we wanted. If we get to the point where we can make a deal that works for the Kelowna Rockets, that‘s what we‘ll be worrying about.”

Sunday‘s contest was the third straight game Gogol was scratched, meaning these differences have been going on since New Year‘s Eve, if not earlier. A six-foot sophomore who piled up no goals and six points plus 120 penalty minutes this season, Gogol also missed that New Year‘s Eve loss plus Saturday‘s 2-1 home win over Chilliwack.

“It‘s been going on for a while and now it‘s been dealt with and we‘re trying to move on,” said Hamilton. “Not many guys leave our organization, and it‘s disappointing.”

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=234205

Rocketsfan
01-06-2010, 09:37 PM
Just making a quick update that Curt Gogol is back with the Rockets for at least the time being and dressed for tonight's game against the Everett Silvertips playing defence

EDIT: He's not, it was just a lineup mistake for their game against Everett

Malc
01-07-2010, 03:02 PM
Kelowna‘s coach Ryan Huska said that the team‘s three midget call-ups – Colton Heffley, Damon Severson and Tyrell Goulbourne – are being returned to their respective club teams.

By Regan Bartel:
- Lucas Bloodoff, Mitchell Chapman and Brandon McMillan are all good bets to play against the Blazers in a huge weekend series.
- I spoke to Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton during the second intermission of last night's game. Hamilton has spent the last eleven days at the World Juniors in Saskatoon. Hamilton admits "lots of people have inquired about him" in reference to forward Brandon McMillan.
- Hamilton says the deal would have to be "exceptional" if he were to trade McMillan and he would only be dealt to a contending team.
- Hamilton says Tyson Barrie is "untouchable" when it comes to a trade. Hamilton says he will be a Kelowna Rocket until he turns pro.

http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/2010/01/tips-put-in-gold-medal-effort.html

Malc
01-07-2010, 06:01 PM
Just making a quick update that Curt Gogol is back with the Rockets for at least the time being and dressed for tonight's game against the Everett Silvertips playing defence

No he isn't and no he didn't.

Rocketsfan
01-08-2010, 12:49 AM
No he isn't and no he didn't.

yeah, I heard that after the fact. I just saw his name in the lineup card on whl.ca for the Tips game. http://whl.ca/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1006595 - His name's on the active roster here but it was a lineup mistake

Malc
01-11-2010, 03:00 PM
By Regan Bartel

Kelowna Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton confirmed this morning that 19 year-old forward Kyle St. Denis' season is over. St. Denis suffered his 4th concussion of his career in early December after receiving a high hit in Swift Current. St. Denis has played just 48 games over the last two seasons.

http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/2010/01/st-denis-season-is-over.html

Malc
02-10-2010, 03:07 PM
Evan Bloodoff is practicing with the team, contact included. The 19 year-old forward underwent knee surgery this fall and appears to be on the mend. If everything goes according to plan, Bloodoff could be back in the lineup in three weeks.

http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/2010/02/playoff-preview.html

Malc
02-24-2010, 03:05 PM
Evan Bloodoff is expected to play for the Rockets for the first time since the Memorial Cup final last season in Lethbridge. Evan Bloodoff has missed the team's first 63 games after undergoing knee surgery. He is expected to play on a line with Brett Bulmer and Mitchell Callahan.

Defenceman Dallas Jackson, who hasn’t played since Feb. 3 due to an ankle injury, could also return to the lineup against the Hurricanes.

http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/2010/02/thank-heaven-forevan.html