Rockets swept by Hawks

By Warren Henderson

In the end, the firepower of the Portland Winterhawks simply proved too much for the Kelowna Rockets.

Ty Rattie scored four times and Sven Baertschi added two assists as the 'Hawks downed the Rockets 5-3 Thursday night at Prospera Place to sweep the best-of-seven WHL Western Conference quarterfinal series in four straight games.

Brett Bulmer, Madison Bowey and Myles Bell scored for the Rockets who were swept in a playoff series for just the second time in franchise history.

Kelowna had no answer for the ultra-skilled duo of Rattie and Baertschi who combined for 24 points in the series—Rattie had 10 goals and 13 points, while Baertschi racked up 11 points on two goals and nine assists.

Two nights earlier, in Game 3, the two 19-year-old forwards combined for eight points in a 6-3 Winterhawks' win.

Still, aside from the dominance of Portland's top two players and a number of tell-tale miscues by the Rockets, head coach Ryan Huska had few complaints with his young club's effort in the last two games of the series.

"I liked the way we worked in both games here," said Huska. "It was the mistakes we would make really that got magnified when we talk about Rattie and Baertschi, when they were on the ice, they capitalized on us a lot.

"But I thought our effort was good. In tougher situations and facing some adversity, I saw us push and that was the most important thing," Huska said. "We had a chance to win, we just weren't able to get it done."

The Winterhawks, who finished 30 points ahead of the Rockets during the regular season, were the heavy first-round favourites, and for good reason.

Kelowna was among the WHL's youngest teams in 2011-12, a situation exacerbated in the post-season by the absence of injured veterans Mitchell Chapman (upper body) and Spencer Main (concussion).

Huska said Chapman, 19, was sorely missed on what was largely a young and inexperienced, albeit promising, defensive corps.

"You need your older guys this time of the year," Huska said. "They're the guys that are physically able to handle the heavier minutes. (Mitchell) is also one of those guys who I would have been willing to bet would have got a few good hits on those two guys (Rattie and Baertschi) over the course of this series. It's difficult when you lose your older, most experienced defenceman."

At least four players appeared in their last games in a Rockets uniform Thursday.

Forward Brett Bulmer, who returned from a one-game suspension to play in Game 4, was solid in his WHL finale with a goal and two assists.

Bulmer, a second round draft pick of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, is likely to play pro next season.

Over-age forwards Brett Lyon and Cody Chikie played their final games with the Rockets while goaltender Adam Brown capped off his four-year career in Kelowna with a 31-save effort in Game 4.

For the team's all-time leader in victories (107) it was a bittersweet end to the California native's major junior career.

"One day you're a 17-year-old rookie, you're learning the ropes, and then you blink and then next thing you know it's over," said Brown. "It was a heck of a ride and I can't thank the Kelowna Rockets organization enough for what they've done for me. It's been the best four years of my life."

http://www.kelownacapnews.com/sports...145060555.html

With Regan Bartel:

What would you pin point the series loss to?

"We had a hard time with the line (Bartschi - Rattie - Noebels). No matter what we tried we had a hard time matching up against that line. Some of the decisions that we made while we were out there against them were not the smartest decisions when you are playing up against a line like that. That line did about 90 percent of their goal scoring in this series and we didn't have an answer for them in regards to shutting them down. We do a pretty good job against them and then we make one little mental mistake and they kill you."

What will this do for your young defensive core? What won't kill them will make them stronger?

"I think that is the strength of our team, our back end right now. When you look at our group, it was 16 and 17 year-olds on the back end and Myles Bell and MacKenzie Johnston are 18. I think they are the most intelligent players on our team. They make good decisions as to when to jump into the play. I think they are smart enough to allows us to be more active with our back end next year and I really think those will be the guys that are going to generate, or help generate, a lot of offense for us. They have good instincts and good hockey sense and once they grow a little bit more and mature, and use some of the lessons they learned in this series, I think they are going to be very good - as a group - in the future."

Talk about the loss of Mitchell Chapman. Your oldest player didn't play a game in the series?

"Everyone talks about 19 or 20 year old players. You need your older guys at this time of the year. They are the guys that are able, or are physically able to handle the heavier minutes. Mitchell (Chapman) is also one of those guys, I am willing to bet, would have gotten a few good hits on one of those two guys over the course of the series, so it is difficult to lose your older most experienced defenceman."

What did you say to the players after the loss?

"We go in there after every game. It is tough after the game because you have that pit in your stomach. You see the guys. The eyes of some of the older players, they know what happens at this time of the year that everybody goes their separate way. I told them that I thought they competed at the end. I thought it was good that they didn't roll over these last couple of games here at home against a very good team."

What was it like to coach this group, the youngest team ever in Rockets history?

"This was the hardest year for me for sure, by far. Maybe I underestimated even the youth...the amount of youth in regards to our practices. I think there were times over the course of the year that they froze a few times and didn't play the way I feel they were capable of. That is a learning experience for me and a challenge finding the fine line between really pushing hard and getting a player to lose his confidence. I think in the five years I have been a head coach here there has been something different every year that we have had to deal with. You become a better coach for it."

Brett Bulmer played his final game in a Rockets uniform and he ended his career on a high note?

"He skated hard. I thought he was physical. He was able to keep his focus with him. That is the thing with Brett. When he wants to play the game he is a dangerous and special player. When he sometimes lets his emotions or his frustrations get the best of him, that's when he struggles and that's what we saw in game two when he ended up taking that suspension. He is a special player when he going and playing the way he is capable of. He skated very well, he has great size and he can do a lot of good things on the ice".

Outside of the obvious player graduations, do you expect this team to look differently next season?

"That's really Bruce (Hamilton) and Lorne's (Frey) call. As coaches it is our responsibility to make them into players and get this team to perform well. Bruce and Lorne always get us the people that we need to work with. I think as always there is going to be some movement. We are disappointed in the season we had in regards to where we finished the regular season. I think we could have had five to seven more wins over the course of the regular season and we would have maybe not faced Portland in the first round. I think you look at things in every area and if there are things that we want to make changes in, then some things will be addressed over the summer. I know one concern that Bruce (Hamilton) has is the size of our team. The size of our group is still small. I think at this time of the year it is hard for the smaller guys to play through. You look at the bigger teams, they are typically the ones that move on and have a lot of success. I'm not saying that a smaller guy can't do it, but those smaller players have to be very tenacious".

http://reganbartel.blogspot.ca/2012/...ries-loss.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malc

Brett Bulmer played his final game in a Rockets uniform and he ended his career on a high note?

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The Minnesota Wild announced Friday that Everett Silvertips D Josh Caron and Kelowna Rockets F Brett Bulmer will join the AHL’s Houston Aeros.

F Shane McColgan will be joining the Connecticut Whale, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers. He was a fifth-round selection by the Rangers in the 2011 NHL draft.