GAME DAY: Rockets hosting Vancouver
By Doyle Potenteau – Kelowna Daily Courier
When the Portland Winterhawks started pushing on Saturday night, there was no response, no pushing back, from the Kelowna Rockets.
Ryan Huska doesn‘t want to see that again.
“I liked our first period,” said Huska, referring to Kelowna‘s strong start in what was a 5-1 loss to the visiting Winterhawks.
In that frame, the Rockets held the edge in play despite playing a much bigger, offensively superior opponent. In the second, though, Portland regrouped, turned the tables and began dictating play. In the third, it was much of the same.
While it would have taken an extraordinary effort to beat the highly skilled Winterhawks, what was disconcerting about the loss was Kelowna‘s lack of fight. In fact, only one Rocket showed fortitude, that being Mitchell Callahan, who constantly challenged Port-land‘s defence and goaltender Mac Carruth.
“I agree that Mitchell was our best, most hard-working forward that night,” said Huska, whose Rockets (3-6-0-0) host the Vancouver Giants (5-5-1-1) tonight, 7 p.m. at Prospera Place.
“But it seemed like as soon as we faced a little bit of adversity, that was kind of it. You had a sense that the group was waiting for something bad to happen, and they didn‘t really have a push back from there.
“We have to learn how to be resilient. Things don‘t go your way all the time and you have to be consistent with your effort,
no matter how things are going.”
Tonight‘s game against the B.C. Division-leading Giants will be interesting, if only to see how Kelowna responds when faced with adversity. The Giants currently sport a six-point lead over last-place Kelowna, but in this division, parity is king, and only one team has a winning record, that being the third-place Chilliwack Bruins (5-4-0-0).
For proof of parity, look no further than this past weekend. The Bruins lost 4-3 to the Rockets on Friday, then beat the Giants 6-3 on Saturday. While those results might add up to a Rockets win, consider this: Kelowna is just 1-4 at home this season while the Giants are 3-3 on the road.
“We‘re looking forward to getting better at home. That‘s our first challenge, whether or not it‘s Vancouver or another B.C. Division team,” said Huska. “We have to take more pride in how we‘re playing at home.
“I would agree on parity, where just about every team in our division has four to six losses right now, so nobody‘s really running away with things. We look at that as a positive. We‘ve had a tougher start as a group, but we‘re still kinda right there, so once we get that consistency going, that work ethic going, then we still have an opportunity.”
In other news, the Giants found out Monday that they‘ll be without import left-winger Marek Tvrdon, who will be out two-to-six weeks with a dislocated shoulder. He was hurt in Saturday‘s loss to Chilliwack.
The injury is the latest in a rash of hurt players for Vancouver. Tvrdon joins fellow left-wingers Brett Lyon (wrist), Nathan Burns (knee surgery) and Connor Redmond (shoulder surgery) in the infirmary.
Other patients include right-winger Randy McNaught (ankle) and blue-liners Zach Hodder (shoulder) and Tyler Hart (ankle). Hart is apparently ready to go tonight against the Rockets, but he doesn‘t play left wing.
“We‘re going to have to bring in a priest to bless our dressing room,” Bonner jokingly told Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun. “That‘s going to be the next step around here.”
The Giants have won just one of their last five games (1-2-1-1) and lost three straight.
“We had seven guys at the our team doctor (Monday morning),” said Bonner, now in his 10th season as the Giants‘ GM. “We‘ve never had this many injuries, not even close. And we‘ve never had so many long-term injuries. It‘s crippling. I feel bad for Don. What‘s made him a good coach is that he wants four lines and we haven‘t been able to give him that.”
ICE CHIPS: Tonight‘s game is the second of eight between Kelowna and Vancouver. The Giants won the first one, 4-1 at home on Oct. 8. . . . Leading scorers: Kelowna: LW Zach Franko (3-4-7), RW Shane McColgan (1-6-7), LW Brett Bulmer (4-1-5), RW Mitchell Callahan (2-3-5) and LW Evan Bloodoff (2-2-4). Vancouver: C Craig Cunningham (league-leading 6-16-22), RW Brendan Gallagher (10-9-19), D Neil Manning (2-10-12), LW James Henry (6-5-11) and Tvrdon (6-5-11). . . . The Rockets will be without D Mitchell Chapman, who was suspended six games for a kneeing major on RW Dylen McKinlay and game misconduct in the win at Chilliwack. . . . Also likely out will be D Tyson Barrie (hamstring), who is listed as questionable. Barrie, the Rockets‘ captain, has played in only two games this season: Kelowna‘s season-opening game on Sept. 25, a 6-2 to Prince George, and in that loss to Vancouver 12 days ago.
