By Doyle Potenteau – Kelowna Daily Courier

The Kelowna Rockets have lost two in a row and 10 of their last 12 games. Tonight and Saturday, they play one of the league’s toughest teams, and arguably most talented, the Portland Winterhawks.

Sounds like a one-sided recipe for disaster, right? Maybe, but maybe not.

The Rockets appear to be a new team with the arrival of Brett Bulmer, who was reassigned from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild on Monday.  The 6-foot-3 power forward has put a spark in Kelowna’s sagging roster, which is better than what its current record (5-9-1-0) suggests.

“Brett is back. He’s had three practices under his belt and he’ll be playing both games,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said following practice on Thursday afternoon. “Hopefully he’s feeling good and ready to go (Friday night).”

Generally, when an NHL-calibre player is returned to junior, two things happen: Said player needs time to readjust, more mentally than physically; and his new teammates stop competing at times to watch their star play. Having seen this movie before, the Rockets are well aware of those pitfalls. 

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Our mood has changed with Brett back, and that’s natural, as our players look at him as a quality player,” said Huska. “Our challenge is two-fold. One is to make sure Brett doesn’t feel like he has to do too much. The other is with our team to make sure they don’t sit back and think Brett will do everything. So we have to make sure we’re ready to go as a group this weekend.”

Game times against Portland (9-7-1-1) at Prospera Place are 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night. This will be the Winterhawks’ only appearance in the Okanagan this season. Kelowna will visit Portland for back-to-back games Jan. 11 and 13. Last season, the Winterhawks eliminated the Rockets in the second round of the playoffs, winning the best-of-seven series 4-2.

In related news, Huska will be wearing two hats this weekend: One as Kelowna’s head coach, the other as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship this December and January in Calgary and Edmonton.

In September, Portland sent an unheard of 15 players to NHL training camps. In fact, the Winterhawks sent so many players that they had to cancel two pre-season games due to a lack of bodies. Normally, a team is considered to have done well in sending five players to NHL training camps — let alone 15.

Team Canada’s roster will be comprised mostly of 1992-born players, which means players like Bulmer plus Portland defenceman Joe Morrow (2011 NHL draft pick, first round, 23rd overall by Pittsburgh) will get looks of deliberation by Huska. Through 13 games this season, Morrow, a 6-foot-1, 206-pound rearguard from Sherwood Park, Alta., has three goals and 12 points.

“There’s a few guys on Portland’s team who would be in consideration, for sure” said Huska. “But during the game, you really do focus your attention on your team. Then, when you’re watching video after, you’re able to pay attention to some of the other guys.”

One Winterhawk who should be a lock to play in the WJHC is Sven Bartschi. The 5-10 left-winger from Switzerland and Calgary Flames draft pick played for his nation at last year’s tournament, along with then-Portland teammate Nino Niederreiter (who is now with the New York Islanders). At the WJHC, Bartschi had a goal and assist as an 18-year-old. With Portland, he recorded 34 goals and 85 points in 66 regular-season games. In the playoffs, he had 10 goals and 27 points in nine games.

This season, Bartschi, selected by Calgary 13th overall in June, has six goals and 20 points in nine games. In August, he signed a three-year contract with the Flames.

All in all, fans who attend this weekend’s double-dip should be treated to an ice-full of talented players.

“Portland has a solid group of players who have a good skill set,” said Huska. “They’re an entertaining team to watch, for sure, and we feel we have a couple of quality players as well. They should be entertaining games to watch.”

That Portland sent 15 players to NHL training camps is, well, astounding. Huska said those numbers weren’t seen even during his days during the heydays of the Kamloops Blazers, when they won three Memorial Cups in four seasons.

“Not to that extent,” recalled Huska. “Fifteen is a huge number, when you consider you typically carry 24 (players on a roster). So a lot of those players, you’d consider quality players, where you’d not only draft them, but invite them to camp, as well. I think a lot of that has to do with winning, and that’s something they’ve done a lot of over the last few years.

“(Back with Kamloops), we had a lot of guys drafted, but, at that time, you didn’t see a lot of guys getting invites as free-agents because they didn’t have all these rookie camps that they have now. We had a fair amount of drafted guys who would go for short periods of times for NHL camps, but other than that, it wasn’t quite as significant because there were no rookie camps at that time.”

ICE CHIPS: In other news on Thursday, the WHL announced roster additions for the Subway Super Series against Russia in Moose Jaw and Regina later this month. The Subway Super Series is a six-game affair featuring a touring Russian side that will play two games each against the QMJHL, OHL and WHL (Wed., Nov. 16 in Regina; Thursday, Nov. 17 in Regina). . . . Added to Team WHL’s roster were forwards Zach Franko of the Rockets and Colin Smith of the Blazers plus defenceman Griffin Reinhart of the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Reinhart is replacing Everett Silvertips rearguard Ryan Murray, who suffered a high-ankle sprain in an 8-2 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Oct. 19. Murray is expected to be out of action for another five weeks. . . .  For the Nov. 17 game in Moose Jaw, Michael St. Croix of the Oil Kings and Cody Beach of the host Moose Jaw Warriors were added to the roster. . . . The WHL’s roster now consists of two goalies, 11 defencemen and 21 forwards. Rockets captain Colton Sissons was named to the roster last week. . . . According to the CHL, the Super Series is an integral part of the evaluation process prior to Team Canada’s final selection camp in December. Huska will be at both games as an assistant coach to head coach Don Hay (Vancouver Giants). . . .  Portland had four players drafted in 2011 (Morrow; Bartschi; RW Ty Rattie, second round, 32nd overall, St. Louis; and D Tyler Wotherspoon, second round, 46th overall, Calgary) and eight selected in 2010.