Game Preview: Rockets in Red Deer Friday Night
The Kelowna Rockets will come up against a couple of the Western Hockey Leauge’s best players Friday night as it’s four game swing through the WHL Central division continues.
The Rockets (34-25-0-1) face the Central-leading Red Deer Rebels (42-14-3-4) Friday night in Red Deer in the third of four games against Central division opponents.
The Rebels boast Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, currently fourth in the WHL in scoring with 20-67-87 in 60 games along with netminder Darcy Kuemper, with 39 wins and a 1.91 goals against average.
“We have to be very aware of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins when he is on the ice,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “He’s a very dynamic player. We also have to do a good job of putting lots of shots at their goalie, he’s the best goalie in the league right now.”
The Rockets are 1-1 on the trip so far, winning 3-2 Wednesday night in Medicine Hat after dropping a 4-2 decision to Kootenay.
“We played very well against Medicine Hat,” said Huska. “I liked out effort for 60 minutes. Our players were committed to putting as much pressure on their defense as we could and we generated chances off of that.”
Friday night’s battle will be the second meeting of the season between Kelowna and Red Deer. The Rockets beat the Rebels 5-1 back in December.
The team will get a boost with the return of defenceman Colton Jobke, who has served a seven game suspension and will jump back into the line-up. Huska said the blueline faired well in his absence, but having Jobke back means a lot.
“I think our guys like MacKenzie Johnston and Damon Severson have done a great job playing a lot of minutes against the top lines in the league and I think it gives us more confidence as a coaching staff that we can roll six defenceman,” said Huska. “Colton is a good leader in the dressing room and he does a lot of good things for us.”
With Wednesday night’s win in Medicine Hat the Rockets took a two point lead over Vancouver in the race for first place in the WHL BC division. It is the Giants who now have a game in hand however with the Rockets playing two games mid-week while Vancouver was idle.
With the season heading towards its final month, points are at a premium.
“I think the way we played against Medicine Hat is the way we want to play the rest of the trip,” said Huska. “I think points are important. We have to be focused on doing things the right way so we can get points.”
The Giants are also in action Friday as they host the Chilliwack Bruins.
The Rockets will face Calgary on Saturday and will play in Kamloops next Wednesday before returning home March 4 to play Chilliwack.
