Are Memorial Cup host Rockets for real?

The Rockets finish up celebrating a goal Friday in Prince Albert.

    So are the Kelowna Rockets a contender or pretender?

    Since the start of the 2000-01 campaign, the Rockets have been one of premier franchises in the WHL. They’ve won the WHL title on four occasions on 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2015.

    The Rockets captured the Memorial Cup as CHL champions hosting the major junior hockey title tournament in 2004. During that 2003-04 campaign, the Rockets topped the WHL standings with a record of 47 wins, 21 losses and four ties.

    They advanced to the WHL Western Conference Championship series falling in a series deciding seventh game to the expansion Everett Silvertips.

Captain Nolan Foote comes up big in clutch moments for the Rockets.

    Kelowna made the Western Conference Championship series for four straight years from 2014 to 2017.

    The Rockets have only missed the playoffs twice since moving from Tacoma, Wash., to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-96 campaign.

    One of those playoff misses came last season, when the Rockets posted a 28-32-6-2 record. They played in a standings tiebreaker game to qualify for the WHL post-season but dropped a 5-1 decision to the Kamloops Blazers in that contest.

    The Rockets will host this season’s Memorial Cup slated to run from May 22 to 31 in the new year.

    Of course, there is always a lot of pressure for the Memorial Cup host to ice a strong squad, so some took notice of the fact the Rockets missed the playoffs last season.

    The Rockets started this season with a 9-8-1-1 record. They are currently riding a three-game winning streak and have seven wins and an extra time setback over their last eight games.

Former NHLer Adam Foote guides the Rockets as head coach.

    They currently boast a 16-8-1-2 record for 35 standings points to sit in a tie for eight to 10^th place in the overall standings with the Spokane Chiefs and Winnipeg Ice. The Rockets have a game in hand on the 16-9-3 Chiefs and two games in hand on the 17-11-1 Ice.

    Objectively at the moment, one would have to say the jury is still out on the Rockets, but they have to be encouraged about the wins they piled up over their last eight games.

    They have rediscovered an old Rockets trait in finding ways to win games. They are starting to string together a number of gutty wins too.

    At the start of their current six-game road trip through the WHL’s East Division, the Rockets showed how opportunistic they can be. 

Kaedan Korczak stars on the Rockets back end.

    They won the first two games of that swing, and they were outplayed in both of those contests.

    On Friday night in Prince Albert, the host Raiders, who are the defending WHL champions, and Rockets were locked in a 1-1 draw going into the final 10 minutes of the third period.

    The Rockets got some breaks on the penalty call front and found themselves scoring the winning goal on a two-man advantage with captain Nolan Foote netting the deciding goal in a 2-1 victory.

    On Saturday in Saskatoon, the host Blades led the Rockets 3-2 with three minutes remaining in the third. Foote fired a shot on goal, and his follow through clipped Blades overage defenceman Scott Walford.

    Walford went down in a heap between the two faceoff circles and visible blood came down on to the ice. The officials elected to let play continue, and Foote set up Trevor Wong for the equalizer that forced a 3-3 tie with 2:52 remaining in the third.

Matthew Wedman was a big trade pick up for the Rockets.

    The game went to a tiebreaking shootout, and Rockets 17-year-old right-winger Ethan Ernst scored the only goal in that draw breaking session. The Rockets took the shootout 1-0 and the contest 4-3.

Foote is legit good, and he will attend the main selection camp for Canada’s world junior team that starts today in Oakville, Ont.

    Yorkton, Sask., product Kaedan Korczak is a great all-around star defenceman, who is showing every night why he was selected in the second round and 41^st overall in last June’s NHL Entry Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights. He has appeared in all of the Rockets 27 regular season games posting three goals, 19 assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department.

    Overage power forward Matthew Wedman gives the Rockets a much needed a shot of toughness, which goes along with his skill. He arrived in a trade last Thursday with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Centre Jadon Joseph provides the Rockets with grit.

    Netminder Roman Basran was solid in Friday’s 2-1 victory over the Raiders making 26 saves. He allowed the Rockets to win that game and looks someone you can ride and rely on going into the post-season.

    The Rockets are down some key players too. Czech import forward Pavel Novak sat out the Rockets last eight games due to a league imposed suspension.

    Novak received the suspension for taking a checking from behind major penalty and a game misconduct during a Rockets 5-2 setback to the Blazers in Kamloops on Nov. 11. He drove Blazers forward Kyrell Sopotyk from behind into the boards, and Sopotyk isn’t expected to return action until after Christmas with a separated shoulder.

    Novak is slated to return to the Rockets next game on Tuesday against the Wheat Kings in Brandon.

Roman Basran is rounding into a star goalie.

    Star centre Kyle Topping is expected to be out eight to 14 weeks with a broken ankle and Liam Kindree is slated to be out three to five weeks with a shoulder injury.

    Dillon Hamaliuk missed the Rockets last two game due to illness.

    All four of those players are key contributors to the Rockets offence.

    While the Rockets are stringing together gutty wins right now, they have the potential to win in a more convincing style.

    Former NHL star defensive defenceman Adam Foote is showing to be the right fit as the Rockets head coach coming on board with the team on Oct. 23, 2018. Nolan Foote is the head coach’s son.

    Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets general manager, president, governor and owner, is likely eyeing up some moves to strengthen his team.

As Memorial Cup hosts, the Rockets want to keep their recent roll going.

    Hamilton has built a cult like sense of belonging with the Rockets, and he can be often seen bringing alums down to the dressing room to see the current team on road trips.

    The Rockets did a phenomenal job hosting the Memorial Cup in 2004, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them duplicate that this coming May.

    While the Rockets have had a good run in their last eight games, they still haven’t reached their potential of just winning games in gutty fashion. Considering the team’s pedigree, you have to expect they will get there.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Rockets, penalties do in Raiders

Habscheid disappointed with soft infraction calls

Nolan Foote reacts to scoring the winning goal for the Rockets.

    PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Marc Habscheid cut right to the chase.
    During his post-game media scrum, the Prince Albert Raiders head coach said he didn’t like the series of penalty calls given to his team after his squad forced a 1-1 tie in the third period of a WHL regular season clash with the Kelowna Rockets.

    The Raiders, who are the defending WHL champions, evened Friday’s game at the Art Hauser Centre on a power-play goal from 17-year-old centre Ozzy Wiesblatt at the 6:19 mark of the third.

    Over the final 8:07 of the third, the Raiders received four straight penalties. The first two calls resulted in the Raiders being down two men for 1:20.

    On that two-man advantage, Rockets centre Matthew Wedman, who was playing his first game with Kelowna after being acquired in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Thursday, set up Rockets captain Nolan Foote with a backdoor chance.

    Foote drilled the opportunity into the Raiders goal. 

Nolan Foote scored the winning goal for the Rockets on Friday.

    That tally held up as the different in a Rockets 2-1 victory before a standing room crowd of 2,825 spectators at the Raiders 2,580 seat home facility.

    “I don’t blame referees or anything, but there were three soft calls and they talked to him (Rockets head coach Adam Foote) all night,” said Habscheid. “I don’t know if they wanted to get his autograph, because he was a Stanley Cup champion or what, but it didn’t look good.

    “They talked to him all night, (and Foote) ran line changes. He did whatever he wanted, and he slowed the game down, and they just let him do it. I don’t know if they wanted his autograph or what the deal was.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored a highlight reel power-play goal for the Raiders.

    “That wasn’t good, because there were three soft calls there. You know our guys are accountable. Yeah, we lost, but that was not good.”

    Habscheid proceeded to add he was happy Kevin Muench, who is the WHL’s senior director of officiating, was in attendance for Friday’s contest.

    The first of the four straight penalties called against the Raiders in the final 8:07 of the third was a high-sticking infraction against rugged left-winger Justin Nachbaur. The Raiders went down two men 40 seconds later, when overage defenceman Jeremy Masella was given a cross-checking minor in a scrum along the boards.

    Foote, who won two Stanley Cup rings starring as a defenceman for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001, hinted his team might have been fortunate on the call on Masella’s infraction. The bench boss added it was important his son, Nolan Foote, netted the winner on that opportunity.

Dallon Wilton scored the Rockets first goal on Friday.

    “I didn’t see the penalty,” said Adam Foote, whose team improved to 15-8-1-2 with a second straight win. “I guess it was from behind.

    “The refs were pretty good all night, so I can’t even tell you what it was, because I didn’t see it. We have to score there for sure. If it is not, it is a huge momentum swing for them.”

    The Raiders came out with good jump in Friday’s contest outshooting the Rockets 10-3 over the opening 20 minutes.

    The Rockets got on the board at the 3:31 mark of the second via an unintended move by Raiders netminder Boston Bilous. Bilous stopped a shot from the right boards from Rockets centre Alex Swetlikoff.

    The rebound landed to the side of the Prince Albert puck stopper. Bilous tried to clear the puck but put it on the stick of Rockets left-winger Dallon Wilton.

    Wilton promptly buried the puck in the back of the Prince Albert net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

It looked like the Prince Albert side was going persevere past that misstep after evening the score at 1-1 on Wiesblatt’s highlight reel power-play goal in the third.

Spencer Moe jets into the offensive zone for the Raiders.

    During the four-on-three chance with the man advantage, Wiesblatt got the puck on the right wing, came in on Rockets netminder Roman Basran and deked the puck around the goalie into the Kelowna net.
    That set the stage for the drama in the final 8:07 of the third resulting in the Rockets going up 2-1. The Raiders pressed with the Bilous pulled with under two minutes to play, but they couldn’t final the equalizer.

    Habscheid liked how Wiesblatt played, but the veteran bench boss said he was hoping some of his older veterans would come through with a couple of clutch plays.

    “He (Wiesblatt) is a good skilled guy,” said Habscheid, whose team fell to 18-6-4-2. “He makes good plays, and the same with (Spencer) Moe.

Roman Basran deflects a shot out wide of the goal for the Rockets.

    “We need everybody contributing. He (Wiesblatt) is 17. We have guys that are 19-years-old that need to step up too.”

    Habscheid thought his side played fairly solid defensively.

    “We just played a good team game,” said Habscheid. “We played hard, and our structure was good defensively.

    “I thought our game was good. We had some lulls at key points. A couple of our older guys made a couple of mistakes.

    “That can’t happen.”

    The Raiders converted on 1-of-3 power-play chances on Friday, while the Rockets were 1-for-8 with the man advantage.

    Bilous made 13 stops to take the setback in goal for the Raiders. Basran turned away 26 shots to earn the win in net for the Rockets.

    Basran has won five out of his last six starts, and Foote has appreciated how the 18-year-old veteran goalie has come on.

The Rockets celebrate their win on Friday night.

    “He (Basran) has really picked it up lately,” said Foote, whose team will host the CHL championship tournament - the Memorial Cup - this coming May. “He is focusing on his game.

    “He is maturing. He gave us a chance tonight, especially early. We were trying to get our feet under us, get used to playing against that type of speed.”

    The Raiders return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the 9-15-1 Warriors (7 p.m., Mosaic Place). The Rockets travel to Saskatoon on Saturday to face the 14-13-1-1 Blades (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.