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Thread: Rockets playing the waiting game

  1. #1

    Post Rockets playing the waiting game

    by Wayne Moore

    Kelowna Rockets can do nothing more than practice, prepare and wait.

    The Rockets won't know until at least Saturday night who their opponent will be for round two of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

    Kelowna, which dispatched of the Kamloops Blazers in four straight in round one Wednesday, will face Tri-City, Spokane or Seattle in the second round.

    Tri-City lead their series with Everett 2-1 with games four and five Friday and Saturday. Spokane leads Seattle 3-1 in the other series.

    The Rockets will face Tri-City should the Americans win or the Spokane-Seattle winner if Everett were to come back and upset Tri-City.

    While he has no preference one way or the other, Rockets head coach Ryan Huska admits he would prefer to have home ice advantage in round two, something which could only happen if Everett were to be victorious against Tri-City.

    The Rockets will move into round two on a 12 game winning streak, having won eight straight to close out the regular season before winning all four against the Blazers.

    More important than winning, Huska says is how the club has been winning.

    "The thing we liked is that we were winning in different ways, we weren't relying on one part of our game to win. I thought our goal tending was very good, the next night our five-on-five play was very good and we had different individuals contributing for our club."

    Huska says game three in Kamloops was a pivotal game in learning what the team is all about.

    He says they really believe in themselves and believe they can accomplish something special.

    "That third game in Kamloops, we were behind 2-0 and there was no quit, we found a way to come back and you almost had a sense on the bench that we had to keep going because it was going to come. The mentality was we were not going to lose that game. I think that was a big step for our hockey club."

    Despite the good things that came out of the series, Huska says the team has got to use the time off between series to re-discover the power-play.

    The Rockets went just 4-33 with the man advantage against the Blazers.
    That included an 0-21 stretch.

    Huska says the Blazers did a good job of changing things on their penalty kill, but says they weren't as sharp or as focused as they needed to be.

    "We'll have to be that much more intense and focused on our power-play in the next round."

    Part of the success of the power-play in the next round could centre around the health of forward Mikael Backlund.

    The 20-year-old, who missed the opening two games of the Kamloops series with an upper body injury, left Wednesday's deciding game in the first period with what Huska describes as a lower body injury.

    "We're going to try and get him back and hopefully he'll be ready for the start of the second series."

    Huska says Kyle St. Denis, who has missed the last 17 games after suffering a concussion February 18 against Chilliwack, likely will not be ready for the start of the next round.

    The Rockets took Thursday off and Huska says he'll likely give the team another day away from the rink next week.

  2. #2

    Post Who's Next?

    Tri-City, Spokane or Seattle?
    By Ryan Watters

    After sweeping the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night, the Kelowna Rockets move onto the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. However the Rockets next opponent is still yet to be determined. The Rockets are the Third seed in the Western Conference and could play one of three teams, the Tri-City Americans (2), the Spokane Chiefs (4) or the Seattle Thunderbirds (5).

    If the Tri-City Americans finish off the Everett Silvertips (7) the Ams would host the Rockets for Games One and Two of the second round on Friday April 3rd & 4th and would have home ice advantage. The Americans currently hold a 2-1 lead on the Tips, with Game four of that series on Friday night. The Rockets would then host Games Three and Four Tuesday April 7th and Wednesday April 8th.

    If the Silvertips are able to come back and beat the Americans, the Rockets would have home ice advantage in the second round and would play the winner of the Chiefs/Thunderbirds series. The Chiefs currently hold a 3-1 series lead.

    Who would you rather play in round two of the WHL playoffs? Here is how the Rockets matched up with their three potential opponents during the regular season.

    Rockets vs. Americans – Seasonal series 2-2.

    Each team won their games on home ice during the 2008-2009 season. The Americans outscored the Rockets 12-9. Kelowna winning at home 3-2 and 3-1, while the Ams held their own in Kennewick 4-1 and 5-2.

    Rockets vs. Chiefs – Seasonal series – Kelowna 4-0

    The Rockets won all four meetings against the defending Memorial Cup Champs. Winning 4-1 and 3-0 on home ice and 1-0 and 2-1 in Spokane, outscoring them 10-2. Memorial Cup MVP, goalie Dustin Tokarski played in three of the four match ups.

    Rockets vs. Thunderbirds – Seasonal series – Kelowna 3-1

    After the T-Birds eliminated the Rockets in seven games last year in the WHL playoffs; the Rockets got a measure of revenge in the regular season outscoring them 16-9. The Rockets beat the Thunderbirds 7-3 and 5-2 on home ice, while splitting the two match ups in Seattle, winning 3-2 and suffering a 2-1 loss.

    Overall the Rockets are 4-2 the second round of the WHL playoffs. They have played each of their potential second round opponents in the past. During the 2003-2004 season the Rockets beat Tri-City in seven games. In 2004-2005 the Rockets eliminated Seattle, also in seven games. The Rockets and Chiefs have met twice in the second round of the playoffs; in 2001-2002 the Rockets beat the Chiefs 4-1 and in 2002-2003 the Rockets were victorious 4-0. So who would you rather play?

    http://www.kelownarockets.com/Story.aspx?ID=553

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