Casualties of War!

It was a sign of a battle, that a war had been waged between two teams that could potentially meet in the opening round of the W.H.L playoffs.

It was truly an odd sight as team buses sat side-by-side outside Kelowna General Hospital following the Vancouver Giants 4-1 victory at Prospera Place.

Both teams carrying the same type of cargo, both with a common goal before the night began, sitting peacefully in the darkness – together - waiting patiently for a wounded soldier.

The Rockets were waiting for forward Lucas Bloodoff who was taken to hospital for what he thought was a broken ankle.
The x-rays were negative.
If he can handle the pain, he’s been given the go-ahead to play.

While the eldest Bloodoff was given the green light from doctors, the same couldn’t be said for his counterpart Nolan Toigo of the Giants.
Toigo left last night’s game in the second period after a hit from Lucas Bloodoff.
The collision near the Rockets bench saw Toigo slamming into a padded bumper on the plexi glass that separates the two benches.
His season is over with a broken collarbone.

As for the game itself, the Rockets won the battle, but the Giants won the war.

The Rockets, for the first time in the seasonal series, dominated the physical play and didn’t look intimidated.
Lucas Bloodoff, Chris Ray and Luke Schenn led the charge physically and others followed.
The best example of the feisty mood the Rockets were in came from rookie Brandon McMillan who took an interference penalty late in the first on a hard hit in front of the Giants bench.
While it was illegal and was worthy of a two minute penalty, it was a minor that showed me that the Rockets wouldn’t be pushed around in this one.

The turning point you ask?

The Rockets did little wrong through the first 38 minutes of the game and had a textbook 1-0 lead until a brutal-brutal call by the two man referee system on defenseman Tyson Dowzak for tripping, that put the Rockets two men down.

The Giants would score a power play goal on the 5 on 3, tying the score late in the period, setting the stages for an exciting third.

In the final frame Giants forward Kenndal McArdle would be stymied by goaltender Torrie Jung on a breakaway effort after receiving a great long bomb pass from d-man Jonathon Blum, but moments later would rifle a shot over Jung’s shoulder to give the road team the 2-1 lead.
Eleven seconds after that Wacey Rabbit would score to make it 3-1, essentially putting the game away.

Yet the Rockets had one last chance after Giants d-man Cody Franson went from skilled defenseman to psycho after receiving a clean but solid hit from who else but Lucas Bloodoff.
With Bloodoff down on the ice after a small skirmish, Franson got back up, threw of his gloves and began throwing punches at the back of the head of an unsuspecting Bloodoff.

Franson would get the 5 minute major, and the Rockets were on the power play.
To aid the Rockets cause, Brendan Mikkelson would take a delay of game penalty and the Rockets had a 5 on 3 opportunity for a full 2 minutes.

But try as they might, the Rockets failed to find the back of the net, suffering not only its 40th loss of the season but falling 2 points back of Chillwack for the final playoff spot with 3 games left to play.

Bottom line in this game was the effort was there just not the result.
In October that would be acceptable but in early March it means little.

At this point of the season this team needs wins, not morale victories.

Regan’s Ramblings:

Cody Almond’s goal last night was his first point against the Giants in the seasonal series.
Almond had been shutout the previous six games, and was also a healthy scratch for one of the 8 games the Rockets faced the defending league champions.

The Rockets got a helping hand on a first period penalty kill, when a broken stick lying on the ice created headaches for several Giants players in the offensive zone. On two separate occasions Giants veteran Tim Kraus had to stickhandle through and around the debris eventually giving up the puck to a Rockets penalty killer.

The Rockets had so little puck luck in the game, it wasn’t even funny.
Team captain Chris Ray had an ideal chance at the side of the net on a late game power play but instead of depositing the puck into the yawning cage, the puck skipped over his stick and into the corner.

The Giants iced a healthy lineup with the exception being Garet Hunt.
Hunt is out for the season with a broken leg and is spending the rest of the season at his home rather than hanging around the hockey club.
As painful of the injury must have been, Hunt’s greatest pain will come from watching his teammates participate at the 2007 Memorial Cup while he sits on the sidelines.

With just three games left to play, the Rockets need some assistance from others to capture the final playoff spot.
Not only do the Rockets need to win their remaining 3 games, Chilliwack needs to drop a few.
The Rockets have three games left, the Bruins have four.
A loss tonight in Tri City, and a Bruin win in Seattle almost seals the Rockets fate.
If that happens, the Rockets won’t be eliminated, but it will be time for Rockets fans to start praying to the hockey Gods above.
Who knows, maybe they already have?

I don’t understand teenagers.
On the bus ride down to Tri City, Tyler Myers and Riley McIntosh end up sitting together and sleeping beside one another in the seated position.
Both are over 6’5, and you would think these two guys could find a better place to stretch out, rather than being crammed together in a bus that holds just 21 players?
One seat ahead of them is backup goaltender Jason Sands, who won’t see any playing time, is twice as small as the two lanky defenseman, yet Sands is living the good life with two seats to himself.

Speaking of Sands.
Up until now David Michaud and I have failed to mention his name on our radio broadcasts, after being told originally that he was simply brought up for emergency purposes as a backup to Torrie Jung.
We were asked by the Rockets not to mention his name in anyway because he technically is not on the teams 50 man protected list.
We understood, and were sworn to secrecy.

We’ll last night the Shaw TV broadcast takes a shot of Sands sitting on the Rockets bench with a concerned look on his face after Jung was involved in a collision with Giants leading scorer Milan Lucic.
There on our video monitor in big-bold letters under the picture of Sands reads – ‘Jason Sands’.David and I had no choice but to laugh.
Here we’ve been trying to keep this deep dark secret off our airwaves and now the cats out of the bag on Western Canadian television.
Let’s just say that being the home broadcaster has its disadvantages.