Courier: Defense First For Rockets
r By Doyle Potenteau – Kelowna Daily Courier
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r When it comes to describing this season‘s Kelowna Rockets, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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r Of the 22 teams in the Western Hockey League, only the Rockets had a defenceman who led them in scoring during the regular season, that being Tyson Barrie with 19 goals and 72 points. Yet, despite not having the offensive depth that other teams sport, the Rockets are into the second round.
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r As to why, look no further than Kelowna‘s combination of hot goaltending from Mark Guggenberger and steady defensive play.
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r Expectedly, Barrie is offensively leading Kelowna‘s defence, with two goals and 10 points, good for third overall in team playoff scoring, one point behind co-leaders Geordie Wudrick (9-2-11) and Brandon McMillan (2-9-11). Yet, defensively, it‘s Collin Bowman who‘s standing out with, strangely, nondescript play.
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r The third-year blue-liner, who is ninth in team scoring with one goal and four points, is playing simple hockey by chipping pucks out and rubbing out opposing forwards. Flashy it‘s not, but Bowman‘s actions are proving effective. It‘s also quite the turnaround since September, when he complicated his game by doing a bit of everything.
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r “At the beginning of the season, he was almost mixed up into what makes him a good defenceman,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of Bowman, 18. “But, lately, he‘s gotten back to being very solid defensively, where he‘s playing with good gaps (against opposing forwards) and has been hard to play against.
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r “That‘s what make Collin Bowman a very good defenceman, and over the last little while, you‘re seeing him return to that and you‘re seeing his play improve as a result.”
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r Bowman‘s 2009-10 regular season underscored his attempt to try everything. In 65 games, he had four goals and 20 points, a falloff of six points from the three goals and 26 points in 70 games he had in 2008-09. In junior hockey, the goal is to steadily improve, and not to stagnate or fall back.
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r That said, Bowman‘s modest four points in nine games in these playoffs have equalled the three points (all assists) he had in 22 playoff games last season.
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r The turnaround, say the Rockets, took place on Feb. 24 in a 3-2 shootout road loss against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
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r “It‘s always a process and Collin is like any other player,” said Huska. “Players always want to play in all sorts of roles, and, at times, they tend to forget what makes them a good player. Sometimes, players need to be reminded about what their strengths are, and since that game in Leth-bridge, Collin has been steady and really good for us. He‘s playing the way he needs to play to have success.”
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r Rockets assistant coach Dan Lambert, a former WHL blue-liner with Swift Current (1986-90) who on to a 19-year pro career in North America and Europe, says Bowman‘s back-to-basics move is paying dividends.
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r “At the start of the season, I think he was thinking he needed to put up big numbers to be effective. He wanted to be more of an offensive guy,” Lambert said on Monday. “But, realistically, there‘s a lot of defencemen who stay back and keep their game simple, and there‘s a lot of guys who make a lot of money doing that.
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r “That‘s one thing Collin has figured out: That he can still have success in the game of hockey if he plays that way.”
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r Lambert also added that Bowman probably “didn‘t like what he was hearing, but then he started understanding his strength is how well he plays in his own zone.
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r “Our team is a lot better when he plays within himself, as with any other player.”
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