Courier: Wheaties spoil road run
r By Doyle Potenteau – Kelowna Daily Courier
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r Mark Guggenberger‘s first start of the season didn‘t go as well as hoped. It didn‘t last long, either.
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r At Brandon, Man., centre Jay Fehr scored four goals for the Wheat Kings as the hometown team rallied from an early 2-0 deficit for an 8-4 win over the Kelowna Rockets in WHL action on Friday night.
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r The game marked the return of Guggenberger in goal after suffering groin injuries in last season‘s playoffs. The game also marked the second straight time Guggenberger was pulled.
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r The 20-year-old from Richfield, Minn., lasted just 26 minutes 59 seconds when Rockets head coach Ryan Huska pulled his No. 1 goalie after Brandon forward Scott Glennie made it 5-3 Wheat Kings on their 12th shot of the night. In Guggenberger‘s last start, a 4-1 loss to the OHL‘s Windsor Spitfires in the 2009 Memorial Cup championship game, the 6-foot-2 ‘keeper was pulled after the Spits made it 3-0 on three shots.
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r “We had another good start,” said Huska, whose team fell to 2-1 on its six-game Prairie road trip, including a wild 9-5 win in Regina on Wednesday night.
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r “But, tonight, the guys weren‘t ready to play a defensive game for the second time in a row. There were a lot of shortcuts on the ice, and that‘s what led to eight goals against.”
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r Specifically, Huska said Guggenberger “was OK. A lot of the goals weren‘t his fault. (We pulled him) to shake up the team more than anything else.”
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r Jesse Sinatynski, Michael Ferland and Mark Schneider also scored for the Wheat Kings (22-11-0-2), who moved into a tie with Saskatoon for first place in the East Division. Max Adolph, Brett Bulmer, Spencer Main and Shane McColgan replied for Kelowna (17-16-1-0), who had a five-game road winning streak snapped.
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r Jacob De Serres made 26 saves for Brandon, while Adam Brown made 15 saves on 18 shots.
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r Tonight, the Rockets will visit the Moose Jaw Warriors (17-13-1-1), who posted a lopsided 11-2 home-ice win on Friday night against the struggling Edmonton Oil Kings (8-18-4-4).
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r Asked if Guggenberger will start tonight against the Warriors, who are 11-5-1-1 on home ice, Huska said the team hadn‘t decided yet.
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r “We‘re going to have to rebound tomorrow,” he said. “We‘re going to have to play simple in our own zone . . . it‘s going to be defence first and try not to play just offence.”
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r ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were LW Lucas Bloodoff (knee, 4 weeks), Evan Bloodoff (knee, 3 months), RW Kyle St. Denis (concussion, indefinite), D Kyle Verdino, D Tyler Matheson and G Chad Ketting. . . . Brandon was 0-for-3 on the power play; Kelowna was 2-for-6.
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