Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Rockets open with convincing win

  1. #1

    Post Rockets open with convincing win

    By Kevin Parnell

    Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Kelowna Rockets during the opening game of the 2009 Memorial Cup in Rimouski.

    The Rockets dominated the Rimouski Oceanic in every facet of the game: Stifling the host club with a forecheck the Quebec team couldn’t handle en route to a 4-1 win.

    Right from the first shift, Kelowna took the play to the Oceanic, a team that lost just twice in the final 30 games of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s regular season but hadn’t played in three weeks.

    It was only the incredible play of Oceanic netminder Maxime Gougeon that kept the score respectable as the Rockets poured it on all night with quality scoring chance after quality scoring chance, outshooting the Oceanic 42-20.

    After nearly seven minutes of sustained pressure off the start of the game Tyler Myers opened the scoring with a long wrist shot that eluded Gougeon, who couldn’t see through several bodies in front.

    That seemed to spark Rimouski who finally had a good chance on Rockets netminder Mark Guggenberger after the Myers goal. Guggenberger shut the door, then later made two nice saves on a 5-on-3 Rimouski power play that the Rockets killed off.

    The Rockets killed off two lengthy 5-on-3’s and both coaches thought it was the turning point in the game.

    “I think that really was the biggest part of the game,” said Rockets coach Ryan Huska. “If Rimouski scores early it’s a different game. A lot of the time with 5-on-3’s it comes down to being fortunate to get some bounces and I thought we had that puck luck tonight”

    Rimouski coach Clement Jodoin agreed.

    “We had the 5-on-3 early and I would say if we would have scored the momentum of the game, with the energy of the crowd, would have been different.”

    Oceanic goaltender Gougeon was brilliant as he kept Rimouski in the game throughout. Gougeon made a trio of game-saving stops in the first, turning aside Ian Duval, Mikael Backlund and Jamie Benn to keep the score 1-0 after the first period as Kelowna fired 17 shots on the Oceanic net.

    Benn made it 2-0 with an easy tap in on an early second period power play when a Myers point blast caromed off a defender’s skate to a wide open Benn at the side of the Rimouski net.

    The sweetest effort of the night came from Ian Duval, who showed deft hands when he picked up a nice saucer pass from Mikael Backlund with one hand on his stick. Duval went in on Gougeon and put a perfect shot into the top corner to make the score 3-0. Lucas Bloodoff tipped in a point shot from Tyson Barrie to make the score 4-0 early in the third period.

    Despite what appeared to be a dominant effort Huska said his team could be more consistent.

    “I don’t think we were consistent,” he said. “I thought we had spurts where we played very well and we had spurts where we allowed Rimouski too much room in the neutral zone. If we continue down that path we’re going to have a hard time. We have to do a better job of tightening things up defensively if we hope to have long term success in the tournament.”

    A lively Rimouski crowd that began cheering 10 minutes before the teams took the ice had little to cheer about until late in the third period when the Oceanic got on the scoreboard. Philippe Cornet grabbed a loose puck out of a face-off scramble and zipped a low wrister past Guggenberger to make the score 4-1 and send the crowd of 4,695 into a frenzy.

    The atmosphere was electric in the building to open the 2009 Memorial Cup with a jam-packed crowd clapping in unison and rocking all night long despite the one-sided game.

    “It was great,” said Colin Long of the atmosphere. “It’s a small rink with a low roof and it seems like it echoes off that roof. It’s fun playing in places like this. Getting the win was big. We wanted to come out with a strong effort. We wanted to get a good start and I thought we did that. I think everyone knows we can play better for a full 60 minutes.”

    The Rockets are now off until Monday when they play Drummondville.

    Scoring summary
    First Period
    1. Kelowna Tyler Myers (1) (Benn, Dowzac) 6:33

    Second Period
    2. Kelowns Jamie Benn (1) (Myers Backlund) 4:33
    3. Kelowna Ian Duval (1) (Backlund) 5:52
    4. Kelowna Lucas Bloodoff (1) (Barrie, Benn) 1:29

    Third Period
    5. Rimouski Philippe Cornet (1) (Veilleux, Fortier)

    Shots on goal
    Kelowna 17-15-10 42
    Rimouski 8-4-8 20

    Power plays
    Kelowna 1 for 3
    Rimouski 0 for 5

    http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_.../45188177.html

  2. #2

    Post Rockets Keep Rollin'

    The Kelowna Rockets couldn't silence the roaring Colisee de Rimouski crowd, but they kept the home town Oceanic quiet on the ice.

    Tyler Myers and Jamie Benn each had a goal and two assists as the Rockets opened the 91st MasterCard Memorial Cup with a dominant 4-1 victory over Rimouski on Friday night.

    The Oceanic, battling a gastro-interitis bug in their dressing room and rusty from inactivity since they were ousted from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey league playoffs on April 22, could barely get the puck out of their zone in the opening 10 minutes against an intense Kelowna forecheck.

    And the outcome was all-but decided when Kelowna killed off a two-man advantage in each of the first and second periods.

    "You always want to have a good start and that's what we did," said the towering Myers, a Buffalo draft pick who signed a three-year contract with the NHL club this week. "We have to keep doing that, but also make sure we play a full 60 minutes.

    "Our power play was good, but I was more impressed with our penalty killing, especially 5-on 3. But we've got to be more disciplined."

    Ian Duval and Lucas Bloodoff also scored for the Rockets, who outshot the Oceanic 42-20.

    Philippe Cornet ended Mark Guggenberger's shutout bid with a goal at 13:04 of the third period, rewarding the 4,695 fans who did not stop cheering and banging their noisemakers all night, even as the Rockets overpowered the Oceanic with high-paced, physical hockey.

    Rimouski coach Clement Jodoin said that veteran defencemen Maxime Ouimet and Ryan Kavanagh were both sent to hospital with gastro -- he said Kavanagh was particularly ill -- over the past two days and both were missed by a team that, even if it had its skating legs, was in tough against the Western Hockey League champions.

    "Using two young defencemen wasn't easy, but that's not an excuse," said Jodoin. "We were lucky it was only 1-0 after the first period.

    "It's a question of momentum and energy. We had a 5-on-3 and we had chances. If we had scored, the energy would have been different. But we had a second 5-on-3 and didn't come close to having a chance. But I give credit to the other team and how they played."

    The Rockets were led by Myers and Benn, both members of the Canadian team that won gold at the world junior championship in Ottawa in January.

    While they and their teammates peppered Maxime Gougeon, who was outstanding in goal for Rimouski despite the defeat, Guggenberger did stretching exercises during stoppages to keep himself ready.

    "I have to stay focused when the play's in the other end and with this team, that's more often than not," he said. "So I have to stay ready and wait my turn."

    Kelowna coach Ryan Huska liked how his team started the game, but decried their inconsistency. He said the Rockets "played well in spurts, but other times we allowed too much room in the neutral zone.

    "Down the line, we'll need to tighten that up."

    The Oceanic next play Sunday against Windsor, while the Rockets have two days off before meeting Drummondville on Monday and Windsor on Tuesday.

    "We've just got to win the next one," said Rimouski centre Patrice Cormier. "We talked a lot about being ready and we came out flat.

    "Next game we can't use the excuse that our legs weren't there. We've got game shape now. We have to get back at it."

    Gougeon kept his team in the contest in the opening period, as Kelowna outshot the hosts 17-8. He allowed only the rangy six-foot-eight Myers' goal on off-wing shot from the top of the left circle that appeared to go in off a defenceman 6:33 into the game.

    Benn banged Myers' rebound into an open side on a power play 4:33 into the second frame and Myers also picked up an assist on Duval's goal at 5:52.

    Only 1:29 into the third, draft-eligible Tyson Barrie's shot went in off Bloodoff to make it 4-0.

    The Rockets may have let up late in the game, as Jordan Caron tipped a shot just over the cross bar just before Keven Veilleux won a draw in the Kelowna end and got the puck to Cornet in the slot for Rimouski's only goal.

    http://www.kelownarockets.com/Story.aspx?ID=602

  3. #3

    Post Rockets make initial splash

    By Doyle Potenteau

    They were loud, proud and ready to roar. By game‘s end, though, the hometown fans had little to cheer for.

    The Kelowna Rockets opened the 2009 Memorial Cup with a big statement, posting a one-sided 4-1 victory over the host Rimouski Oceanic on Friday night. Entering the tournament, the Rockets were considered underdogs.

    Not anymore. Not after outshooting Rimouski more than two-to-one before a sellout crowd. Not after dominating a contest in which the numbers didn‘t tell the entire story.

    “It was a good start, but a lot of times that first win is the toughest one to win,” Rockets bench boss Ryan Huska said after earning his first Memorial Cup victory as a head coach. “We did a good job, especially coming out from the opening faceoff in the first period. I thought we did a good job of letting them know that we‘re here to play.

    “There were a few lapses in our game at times, but, overall, we did a good job of responding, especially in tough situations.”

    The Rockets had a pair of tough situations against Rimouski, specifically a pair of long five-on-three power plays for the Oceanic, the first coming late in the first period and the second late in the second. However, with a mix of puck luck and blocking shooting lanes, Kelowna came away unscathed.

    “Those were really big (kills),” said Huska, who is competing in his seventh Memorial Cup. “You never want to see yourself in those situations, especially lengthy five-on-threes. The first one, (goalie Mark Guggenberger) did a very good job of making saves for us, and the second one, our penalty killers did a great job with their sticks deflecting a lot of pucks away.

    “We really didn‘t give them a lot of opportunities on that second one. Those were very, very important in tonight‘s game, and they could have had a larger impact on the game the other way.”

    Tyler Myers, Jamie Benn, Ian Duval, with a highlight-reel goal, and Lucas Bloodoff scored for Kelowna, which led 1-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks. Both Benn and Myers had three-point nights, each adding two assists. Midway through the third, Philippe Cornet replied for Rimouski, which was outshot 42-20, including 17-8 and 32-12 after 20 and 40 minutes, respectively.

    Guggenberger made 19 saves, while Maxim Gougeon put in a good effort for Rimouski with 38 stops.

    The Rockets don‘t play again until Monday, when they take on the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs. Today, at 1:30 p.m. PT, the Volts battle the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires, the consensus No. 1 seed in this four-team event.

    One surprising aspect of Friday‘s contest was how Rimouski collapsed in its zone, and allowed Kelowna to almost cycle at will.

    “Our guys did a great job of playing in the other zone, and I think that really showed in the shots,” said Guggenberger, who, at times, went minutes without seeing a puck. “We came here to win, and I think we proved it right there.”

    “We talked a lot about getting that first win,” said Rockets captain Colin Long. “(Huska‘s) been here before, and he said that first win is important so we can get into the semis. But, honestly, we feel we didn‘t play the way we can, especially for a full 60 minutes. Everyone knows we can be better.”

    Myers opened the scoring six minutes into the first period, wristing home a screened shot from the high slot after nearly five consecutive minutes of pressure in Rimouski‘s end. The shot was Kelowna‘s eighth on net as the Rockets jumped out to an 8-0 shot lead.

    Rimouski‘s first five-on-three of the night came eight minutes later, when Cody Almond was hit for hooking at 13:57, then Collin Bowman for delay of game at 14:08 after firing the puck over this arena‘s low glass. The glass in Rimouski is untraditionally short, with panes measuring five feet along the endboards and four feet along the side. In the WHL, panes measure eight feet and six feet.

    In the second, Benn made it 2-0 at 4:33 with a power-play goal, pouncing on a rebound from the right post following a Myers one-timer from the left blue-line. One minute later, Duval made it 3-0 with a standout goal, and the game was effectively over. After taking a high saucer pass from centre ice and controlling it with one hand while breaking in over Rimouski‘s blue-line, Duval found himself on a brief breakaway and converted it, going far side from the left faceoff circle.

    “It was a great pass by (Mikael Backlund),” said Duval. “I just knocked it down, and I guess I was kinda lucky there. I saw a little bit of the top of the net, so I buried my head and shot it as hard and as high as I could.

    “They were a new team to us, and we didn‘t know what to expect. They totally play a different style than we do in the Western League; it‘s more of a run-and-gun style instead of structural hockey, but we had a good effort tonight. It‘s good to get the first win in the first game.”

    In the third, Bloodoff, one of four bodies in front of Gougeon, pushed Kelowna‘s lead to 4-0 by redirecting a Tyson Barrie screened wrist shot from the left faceoff circle. Cornet closed out the scoring at 13:04 with a wrister from above the hashmarks.

    ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches for Friday‘s game were D Aaron Borejko, RW Spencer Main and RW Shane McColgan... Kelowna was 1-for-3 on the power play; Rimouski was 0-for-5... The Memorial Cup was first presented in 1919 as a memorial to Canadian service personnel killed during World War 1... For the game, the Oceanic wore commemorative jerseys honouring the Canadian armed forces, light and dark blue sweaters with an image of the HMCS Rimouski. The ship, a corvette, escorted convoys during World War II. The one-time jerseys were to be auctioned off.

    If first impressions are worth anything, the Kelowna Rockets couldn‘t wait to play in le Colisee de Rimouski.

    An old building, the 43-year-old home of the Rimouski Oceanic is a mix of three WHL barns: Medicine Hat, with its wraparound seating; Prince Albert, with its wooden beams; and Moose Jaw, with its steep steps. Maybe because of this strange familiarity, or maybe because they were excited to be playing in the Memorial Cup, the Rockets were anxious to step on the ice.

    http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/st....php?id=186270

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •