Whistle of a win

By Doyle Potenteau

Jordon Cooke or Jackson Whistle?

Kelowna Rockets head coach Ryan Huska has quite the decision to make for Friday night's home game against the visiting Red Deer Rebels. Does he start his incumbent, Cooke, or does he go with his back-up, Whistle?

Either way, he can't go wrong, especially after Whistle put in a stellar effort against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday night, stopping 25 shots in helping the Rockets post a well-deserved 3-2 victory at Prospera Place.

"Jackson was great for us; he gave us a chance to win," Huska said of Kelowna's goaltender, who was clutch during a desperate Oil Kings flurry in the final minute. "And it was a tough spot for a young guy to go in against one of the best teams in the league. I thought he handled himself very well.

"And any time you get two goaltenders pushing each other, it's a good thing."

With Kelowna up 3-2, the Oil Kings pulled goalie Laurent Brossoit and pressed hard for the tying goal. Whistle, though, stood tall - actually, he held the fort down low during a lengthy goal-area scramble - and Kelowna won its fourth in a row.

"It wasn't too busy in the first and there were spurts of action in the second, but, at the end, they came on strong," said Whistle, who improved to a perfect 4-0-0-0 and was the game's first star. "I think the last play that happened was Curtis Lazar trying to go around the net for a wrap-around. I knew he was going to try and tuck it in because there wasn't much time on the clock, so I tried to stick my leg out and get a toe on it."

Whistle did that, and now the question is: Just how good are these Rockets? While Edmonton is certainly good - their skill is undeniable - the Rockets certainly pushed the defending league champions. Yet, according to Huska, Wednesday's game wasn't a memorable one, despite that memorable last minute and despite missing five regulars, including Cooke, who is out with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

"We want to keep playing the same way we've been playing recently," said Huska. "There were spurts against Edmonton where we played well, but there were other times where we struggled a little bit with their speed. But, in the end, we found a way with our sticks in our own zone to make it difficult for us to play against, and that's what we want to see.

"We did have some breakdowns tonight, and (goaltender Jackson Whistle) played very well for us."

Asked to judge his team's performance, Huska said "it was a bit of a struggle for us at times. The last two games we had here were better nights for our group. I think there's a lot for us to build on, for sure, but this wasn't one where I'd (rank highly)."

Tyson Baillie, Henrik Nyberg and rookie Rourke Chartier, with the game-winning goal at 3:04 of the third period, scored for Kelowna (11-6-1-1). Stephen Shmoorkoff, who opened the scoring at 4:38 of the first period, and Travis Ewanyk, at 24 seconds of the second, replied for Edmonton (11-5-1-2). Brossoit made 20 saves for the Oil Kings, who held a lengthy team meeting following the game.

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna's scratches were RW J.T. Barnett (knee, 1 week), G Jordon Cooke (undisclosed upper-body injury, 1 week), D Mitchell Chapman (ankle, 1 month), D MacKenzie Johnston (knee, 1 month), LW Carter Rigby (shoulder, 1-2 weeks), RW Austin Glover and C Cole Linaker.
Edmonton's scratches were D Martin Gernat, (shoulder, indefinite), LW Stephane Legault (lower-body, week to week), C Brett Pollock and D Dysin Mayo.

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