Malc
03-20-2011, 06:41 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
The Kelowna Rockets finished their regular season on a losing note. And, most likely, a suspendable low note as well.
In what was Kelowna’s regular-season finale, a tight, 4-3 loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants, Evan Bloodoff laid a high, leaping hit midway through the first period on Giants defenceman Joel Rogers along Vancouver’s end-boards. Rogers immediately collapsed and, following a lengthy delay, was stretchered off the ice.
Rogers was sent to hospital, and, according to the Giants, the 19-year-old rearguard is OK.
“(Rogers) suffered a concussion in early January, and he’s only been back probably five or six games. We’re obviously very concerned for him,” said Giants head coach Don Hay. “The medical staff from both teams and the doctors did a real good job of looking after him and transporting him.
“The first report we got is that he’s going to be OK, with the evaluations they did for neck-and-head injuries being negative, other than concussion-like symptoms.”
While medical staff attended to Rogers, Bloodoff was hit with a charging major and game misconduct. With the WHL clamping down this season on hits that cause injury, Bloodoff is likely looking at some sort of suspension.
“I’m not sure,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska when asked if Bloodoff will be suspended. “I can’t comment on that right now.”
Huska did say, however, that the hit “took a lot of air out of the game, to be honest. It’s difficult when you see someone on the ice for that length of time. You hope the young man is OK on the other side... I think after the first period, it got back to being normal hockey.”
Pacing Vancouver to victory, and earning a small measure of vengeance for a 3-1 loss to Kelowna on Friday night, was Andrej Stastny, who recorded a three-point effort with one goal and two assists.
“It was a better result than Friday,” said Stastny, the game’s first star. “We had a good (team) effort.”
Luke Fenske, Spencer Bennett, with his 35th goal of the season, and Connor Redmond, with his first, also scored for the Giants (34-32-1-4), who led 1-0 and 3-2 at the period breaks in the literal back-and-forth game.
Geordie Wudrick, with his 43rd goal of the season, Zach Franko, with his 22nd, and Colton Sissons, with his 17th, replied for Kelowna (43-2-0-1).
Adam Brown made 22 saves for the Rockets, who will play the Prince George Cougars in the first round of the playoffs, while Mark Segal turned aside 24 shots for the Giants, who stopped an eight-game losing slide.
“I thought it was a good effort from them. I thought ours was a little sub-par tonight, to be honest,” said Huska. “They did a lot of good things; they blocked a lot of shots tonight, and that’s the sign of a team that has a little more urgency to win than we did.”
Count Redmond as one of those players. Three minutes into the first shift, he blocked two painful shots, then was later rewarded with a tap-in goal.
“One blocked shot was on (Tyson) Barrie in our d-zone. He kinda got a step on me, so I had to stick the foot out there like a goalie,” said Redmond, an 18-year-old left-winger from Maple Ridge. “The second one, it was in the high slot, and it was a bit of a scoring chance, so I figured I might as well get in front of it. It didn’t feel too good, but it was worth it.”
Redmond was limping after blocking the first shot. Seconds later, after stopping another one with his body, he was almost hobbled. Yet, he found enough energy to finish the shift, then slowly skate to Vancouver’s bench.
“We were on a losing streak, and we needed to get back to our ways,” said Redmond, who has played in only 14 games this season following left-shoulder surgery in late August that needed almost five months to heal. “Today, we focused on moving our feet and staying above our options and checking guys. Obviously, checking was a big part of our game; when they scored, we’d reply with another one.”
In regards to his goal, Redmond was charging down the middle on an odd-man rush with Stastny holding the puck on the left side. When Redmond hit the slot, Stastny zipped over a quick pass, and with Brown sucked over to one side, it was an easy goal into an empty net.
“I faked Barrie and then I looked and saw Connor,” said Stastny, “and he was yelling ‘Andrej! Andrej! Andrej!’ So I passed.”
“(Stastny) almost faked me out; I had to reach behind me and put it into the net” said Redmond. “(Stastny) said he was going to shoot the whole time until he heard me scream for the puck. I’m glad I screamed and finally got one.”
Said Hay of Redmond: “Connor hasn’t had a lot of success this season. He was out for a long time and didn’t come back until the end of January. That was a big goal for him, and those blocked shots, that’s where guys really sacrificed and paid the price to get the win tonight.
“We haven’t had a win for a long time, so to get one before our last (regular-season) home game was very important for us. But I thought Kelowna played really well on Friday. They didn’t give us much of anything; they’re a really hard-working hockey team that checks well. If you’re not prepared to skate with them and work as hard as them, you’re not going to get much. Our play was much better tonight than on Friday.”
As for Bloodoff’s hit on Rogers, it appeared that the charging penalty wasn’t immediately called. However, while Rogers was being attended to, and after a replay of the hit was shown, a five-minute major penalty was put up on the scoreclock. Regardless if the call was delayed or not, Hay said the officials made the right call. He also said when it comes to banning head shots, it’s not an easy decision to make.
“I don’t think you can make it black or white. You can’t give a penalty for every shot to the head,” said Hay. “(Every play) has to be evaluated and I think the WHL is really looking into that situation and I think that there’ll be more discussion about that during the summer.
“I think the WHL and (vice-president) Rick Doerksen do a really good job in assessing each major penalty and looking out for the protection of the players.”
http://dubnation-news.blogspot.com/2011/03/rockets-fall-to-giants.html
The Kelowna Rockets finished their regular season on a losing note. And, most likely, a suspendable low note as well.
In what was Kelowna’s regular-season finale, a tight, 4-3 loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants, Evan Bloodoff laid a high, leaping hit midway through the first period on Giants defenceman Joel Rogers along Vancouver’s end-boards. Rogers immediately collapsed and, following a lengthy delay, was stretchered off the ice.
Rogers was sent to hospital, and, according to the Giants, the 19-year-old rearguard is OK.
“(Rogers) suffered a concussion in early January, and he’s only been back probably five or six games. We’re obviously very concerned for him,” said Giants head coach Don Hay. “The medical staff from both teams and the doctors did a real good job of looking after him and transporting him.
“The first report we got is that he’s going to be OK, with the evaluations they did for neck-and-head injuries being negative, other than concussion-like symptoms.”
While medical staff attended to Rogers, Bloodoff was hit with a charging major and game misconduct. With the WHL clamping down this season on hits that cause injury, Bloodoff is likely looking at some sort of suspension.
“I’m not sure,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska when asked if Bloodoff will be suspended. “I can’t comment on that right now.”
Huska did say, however, that the hit “took a lot of air out of the game, to be honest. It’s difficult when you see someone on the ice for that length of time. You hope the young man is OK on the other side... I think after the first period, it got back to being normal hockey.”
Pacing Vancouver to victory, and earning a small measure of vengeance for a 3-1 loss to Kelowna on Friday night, was Andrej Stastny, who recorded a three-point effort with one goal and two assists.
“It was a better result than Friday,” said Stastny, the game’s first star. “We had a good (team) effort.”
Luke Fenske, Spencer Bennett, with his 35th goal of the season, and Connor Redmond, with his first, also scored for the Giants (34-32-1-4), who led 1-0 and 3-2 at the period breaks in the literal back-and-forth game.
Geordie Wudrick, with his 43rd goal of the season, Zach Franko, with his 22nd, and Colton Sissons, with his 17th, replied for Kelowna (43-2-0-1).
Adam Brown made 22 saves for the Rockets, who will play the Prince George Cougars in the first round of the playoffs, while Mark Segal turned aside 24 shots for the Giants, who stopped an eight-game losing slide.
“I thought it was a good effort from them. I thought ours was a little sub-par tonight, to be honest,” said Huska. “They did a lot of good things; they blocked a lot of shots tonight, and that’s the sign of a team that has a little more urgency to win than we did.”
Count Redmond as one of those players. Three minutes into the first shift, he blocked two painful shots, then was later rewarded with a tap-in goal.
“One blocked shot was on (Tyson) Barrie in our d-zone. He kinda got a step on me, so I had to stick the foot out there like a goalie,” said Redmond, an 18-year-old left-winger from Maple Ridge. “The second one, it was in the high slot, and it was a bit of a scoring chance, so I figured I might as well get in front of it. It didn’t feel too good, but it was worth it.”
Redmond was limping after blocking the first shot. Seconds later, after stopping another one with his body, he was almost hobbled. Yet, he found enough energy to finish the shift, then slowly skate to Vancouver’s bench.
“We were on a losing streak, and we needed to get back to our ways,” said Redmond, who has played in only 14 games this season following left-shoulder surgery in late August that needed almost five months to heal. “Today, we focused on moving our feet and staying above our options and checking guys. Obviously, checking was a big part of our game; when they scored, we’d reply with another one.”
In regards to his goal, Redmond was charging down the middle on an odd-man rush with Stastny holding the puck on the left side. When Redmond hit the slot, Stastny zipped over a quick pass, and with Brown sucked over to one side, it was an easy goal into an empty net.
“I faked Barrie and then I looked and saw Connor,” said Stastny, “and he was yelling ‘Andrej! Andrej! Andrej!’ So I passed.”
“(Stastny) almost faked me out; I had to reach behind me and put it into the net” said Redmond. “(Stastny) said he was going to shoot the whole time until he heard me scream for the puck. I’m glad I screamed and finally got one.”
Said Hay of Redmond: “Connor hasn’t had a lot of success this season. He was out for a long time and didn’t come back until the end of January. That was a big goal for him, and those blocked shots, that’s where guys really sacrificed and paid the price to get the win tonight.
“We haven’t had a win for a long time, so to get one before our last (regular-season) home game was very important for us. But I thought Kelowna played really well on Friday. They didn’t give us much of anything; they’re a really hard-working hockey team that checks well. If you’re not prepared to skate with them and work as hard as them, you’re not going to get much. Our play was much better tonight than on Friday.”
As for Bloodoff’s hit on Rogers, it appeared that the charging penalty wasn’t immediately called. However, while Rogers was being attended to, and after a replay of the hit was shown, a five-minute major penalty was put up on the scoreclock. Regardless if the call was delayed or not, Hay said the officials made the right call. He also said when it comes to banning head shots, it’s not an easy decision to make.
“I don’t think you can make it black or white. You can’t give a penalty for every shot to the head,” said Hay. “(Every play) has to be evaluated and I think the WHL is really looking into that situation and I think that there’ll be more discussion about that during the summer.
“I think the WHL and (vice-president) Rick Doerksen do a really good job in assessing each major penalty and looking out for the protection of the players.”
http://dubnation-news.blogspot.com/2011/03/rockets-fall-to-giants.html