Parity Projected in WHL West
r Rockets forward Kyle St. Denis works behind the Giants net in the Rockets season opener this weekend.
r
r
r By Warren Henderson – Kelowna Capital News
r
r Parity.
r
r In a word, that’s what the president and GM of the Kelowna Rockets expects will rule in the Western Hockey League’s B.C. Division this season.
r If it ends up turning into a five-team race, Bruce Hamilton says to look no further than the men behind the benches as the determining factor.
r
r “I think you just have to look at the coaching in this division to see why it’s going to be tight. You’ve added Marc Habscheid to Chilliwack and Dean Clark to Prince George, and those are high-end coaches that have had success,” said Hamilton. “You can have all the best players in the land, but if you don’t have the coaching who can make them better, you’re not going to win. You’ve got Don Hay in Vancouver and his record speaks for itself…then you’ve got Barry Smith, the junior guy in Kamloops who’s got a year under his belt and he’ll be a good coach this year also. It’ll be a battle.”
r
r Traditionally, the Rockets and Vancouver Giants have ruled the roost the within B.C. and have split the last seven division titles. But both clubs have undergone considerable changes in the off season, losing plenty of high-end talent. Gone from Kelowna are Jamie Benn, Mikael Backlund and Cody Almond, while Tyler Myers (Buffalo) is on the bubble and may not be back.
r
r Combined with the departures of Tyson Sexsmith, Jonathan Blum, Brent Regner, Casey Pierro-Zabotel and possibly Evander Kane from Vancouver, and the Giants and Rockets just may find themselves being pulled back to the pack.
r
r “I don’t think there’s any room for a night off,” said Hamilton. “I don’t think anybody’s going to get away like the Giants did last year and get the lead they did. On any given night anybody will be able to win, I believe.”
r
r Even with the turnover of new fewer than seven key players, the Rockets can still rely somewhat on the experience gained from last year’s run to a WHL championship.
r Still, Hamilton has learned to take nothing for granted when it comes to the uncertainty and cyclical nature of junior hockey.
r
r “We’re going to have some work to do, we’ll have to insert some new young guys in, you know similar to what we did three years ago,” said Hamilton. “I hope we don’t drop off much but it’ll hinge a lot on getting some guys back. You can’;t afford to do what we’ve done the last couple of years, losing Luke Schenn and now maybe Tyler Myers, you just don’t get over it that easily.” If Myers doesn’t return, the Rockets will look to the 18-year-old duo of Tyson Barrie and Collin Bowman to lead the defensive corps.
r
r Up front will seek more production from Kyle St. Denis, Brandon McMillan, Lucas Bloodoff and Stepan Novotny.
r
r
