Malc
10-21-2011, 01:39 PM
by Larry Fisher
Last night, Ryan Huska and Don Hay were on opposing benches, matching wits and trying to one-up each other to lead their respective WHL clubs out of losing skids.
This coaching battle turned out to be a mismatch, as Huska‘s Kelowna Rockets jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and doubled Hay‘s Vancouver Giants 6-3 at Prospera Place on Thursday night.
In doing so, the Rockets (4-5-1-0) snapped a six-game losing streak that dated to Oct. 5, while the Giants (4-6-0-1) dropped their third straight decision and fourth in five games.
"We had a good start to the game and a great start to the second period that allowed us to get a bit of a lead," said Huska, whose squad led 3-2 and 5-2 at the period breaks. "It was the night that we needed, and we needed some guys to feel good about their game.
"We can keep working now on the mistakes that are still causing us some problems. We just want to get everybody playing the right way and that‘s our big thing right now. Points are kind of secondary to the way we‘re asking guys to play."
"Hay is a mentor of mine, so I look up to him in a lot of ways," said Huska, who played junior for Hay with the Kamloops Blazers in the mid-1990s before joining the coaching fraternity. "I always enjoy getting a chance to coach against him, and he‘s a difficult guy to coach against because he‘s not really predictable with the lines he‘s putting on the ice sometimes. The (Brendan) Gallagher line we have to be careful with for sure, but he does a good job of making things difficult."
Huska had Hay behind the 8-ball thanks to Thursday‘s quick-strike offence that saw Kelowna chase Giants starter Adam Morrison by scoring three times before the midpoint of the first period.
"They came out really hard and took it to us early. It kind of put us back on our heels," Hay said. "They needed a win, we needed a win, but they seemed to be the hungrier team."
The Rockets got goals from six different players - Myles Bell, Zach Franko, Austin Ferguson, Colton Sissons, Spencer Main and Shane McColgan - while defenceman Damon Severson factored into five of them with a handful of helpers.
Of the half-dozen tallies, which included many for the highlight reels, two really stood out.
Ferguson made it 3-0 with his first career WHL goal at 9:47 on a strange sequence. Gallagher bowled over Rockets goalie Adam Brown at the other end of the rink and a four-man scrum ensued in the crease, involving Kelowna‘s Mitchell Chapman and Cody Chikie. Amid the chaos, the Rockets rushed the puck up ice and Ferguson banged in a rebound to bring an early end to Morrison‘s night.
Then, at 2:56 of the middle frame, Main stretched the score to 5-2 by sneaking behind Vancouver‘s defence on a perfectly timed line change to create a clear-cut breakaway. He finished the fortunate play by deking out replacement goalie Jackson Whistle, a Kelowna product and hard-luck loser in this contest.
"There were some bizarre goals being scored today," Hay said. "Both teams were giving up a lot of chances, so lots of poor defence or good offence and I‘m not sure what it is right now."
Matt Bellerive, with two goals, and Gallagher, with his team-leading eighth goal, replied for Vancouver. Jackson stopped 24 of 27 shots in relief, after Morrison yielded three goals on seven shots.
Brown made 31 saves, some of spectacular fashion, for Kelowna, which next hosts the Victoria Royals (6-5-0-0) on Saturday night before paying a return visit to Vancouver on Sunday evening.
The Rockets, already without Jessey Astles (upper body) and Tyrell Goulbourne (lower body), lost rookie Carter Rigby in the second period after he was levelled with what appeared to be a shot to the head by Giants Blake Orban who was handed a major penalty for interference.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=387079
Last night, Ryan Huska and Don Hay were on opposing benches, matching wits and trying to one-up each other to lead their respective WHL clubs out of losing skids.
This coaching battle turned out to be a mismatch, as Huska‘s Kelowna Rockets jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and doubled Hay‘s Vancouver Giants 6-3 at Prospera Place on Thursday night.
In doing so, the Rockets (4-5-1-0) snapped a six-game losing streak that dated to Oct. 5, while the Giants (4-6-0-1) dropped their third straight decision and fourth in five games.
"We had a good start to the game and a great start to the second period that allowed us to get a bit of a lead," said Huska, whose squad led 3-2 and 5-2 at the period breaks. "It was the night that we needed, and we needed some guys to feel good about their game.
"We can keep working now on the mistakes that are still causing us some problems. We just want to get everybody playing the right way and that‘s our big thing right now. Points are kind of secondary to the way we‘re asking guys to play."
"Hay is a mentor of mine, so I look up to him in a lot of ways," said Huska, who played junior for Hay with the Kamloops Blazers in the mid-1990s before joining the coaching fraternity. "I always enjoy getting a chance to coach against him, and he‘s a difficult guy to coach against because he‘s not really predictable with the lines he‘s putting on the ice sometimes. The (Brendan) Gallagher line we have to be careful with for sure, but he does a good job of making things difficult."
Huska had Hay behind the 8-ball thanks to Thursday‘s quick-strike offence that saw Kelowna chase Giants starter Adam Morrison by scoring three times before the midpoint of the first period.
"They came out really hard and took it to us early. It kind of put us back on our heels," Hay said. "They needed a win, we needed a win, but they seemed to be the hungrier team."
The Rockets got goals from six different players - Myles Bell, Zach Franko, Austin Ferguson, Colton Sissons, Spencer Main and Shane McColgan - while defenceman Damon Severson factored into five of them with a handful of helpers.
Of the half-dozen tallies, which included many for the highlight reels, two really stood out.
Ferguson made it 3-0 with his first career WHL goal at 9:47 on a strange sequence. Gallagher bowled over Rockets goalie Adam Brown at the other end of the rink and a four-man scrum ensued in the crease, involving Kelowna‘s Mitchell Chapman and Cody Chikie. Amid the chaos, the Rockets rushed the puck up ice and Ferguson banged in a rebound to bring an early end to Morrison‘s night.
Then, at 2:56 of the middle frame, Main stretched the score to 5-2 by sneaking behind Vancouver‘s defence on a perfectly timed line change to create a clear-cut breakaway. He finished the fortunate play by deking out replacement goalie Jackson Whistle, a Kelowna product and hard-luck loser in this contest.
"There were some bizarre goals being scored today," Hay said. "Both teams were giving up a lot of chances, so lots of poor defence or good offence and I‘m not sure what it is right now."
Matt Bellerive, with two goals, and Gallagher, with his team-leading eighth goal, replied for Vancouver. Jackson stopped 24 of 27 shots in relief, after Morrison yielded three goals on seven shots.
Brown made 31 saves, some of spectacular fashion, for Kelowna, which next hosts the Victoria Royals (6-5-0-0) on Saturday night before paying a return visit to Vancouver on Sunday evening.
The Rockets, already without Jessey Astles (upper body) and Tyrell Goulbourne (lower body), lost rookie Carter Rigby in the second period after he was levelled with what appeared to be a shot to the head by Giants Blake Orban who was handed a major penalty for interference.
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=387079