Underway: Rockets and Blazers in Kelowna
By Kevin Parnell
Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown stood tall and the Rockets offense got rolling in the second half of the game as the Rockets steamrolled Kamloops 7-1 in its final game of 2010.
Brown turned in a scintillating performance in recording his 17th win of the season, shutting down a Kamloops team that came out strong in the second period but couldn’t score. The native of Yorba Linda, California nearly turned in his second straight shutout until Chase Schaber scored with under five minutes to play in the game. That goal snapped a shutout string of 154:53, dating back to the Rockets last game before Christmas.
“Brownie was good again, what can you say the guys on a roll,” assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert said on the AM 1150 post game show. “He’s seeing everything. He’s been great for us and we’ve come to expect that he is going to give us that every night.”
After a scoreless first period Kamloops came out strong in the second period, firing 10 shots at Brown in the first 10 minutes of the period. But Brown wouldn’t bend and when Cody Chikie scored eight minutes into the period to give Kelowna a 1-0 lead, the floodgates opened.
Chikie would score his second before the end of the period and Geordie Wudrick scored the first of two on the night as Kelowna took a 3-0 lead after two.
In the third it was all Kelowna as Shane McColgan scored twice, Wudrick added his second and team leading 19th of the season and Brett Bulmer put the icing on the cake in what was a 7-1 win.
All that was left to be decided was Brown’s shutout bid. The 19-year-old brought Kelowna fans to their feet in the third with back to back stops on Austin Madaisky and Tyler Hansen but couldn’t stop Schaber’s shot that went off the post and in. Brown was named the game’s first star.
Kelowna returns to action Saturday Jan. 1 at Prospera Place when they host Spokane at 7:05.
Notes:
Prior to the game Geordie Wudrick was named the McDermott’s players’ player of the month
Starting Goalies:
Kelowna – Adam Brown
Kamloops – Jeff Bosch
Scratches:
Kelowna – Tyson Barrie, Damon Severson, Jason Siebert, Andreas Stene, Mitchell Callahan, Colton Heffley
Kamloops – Logan McVeigh, Dalibor Bortnak, Bernhard Keil, Josh Caron, Brady Gaudet
