Open your mouth Rockets fans, it's time to eat some humble pie.
For the first time since the team arrived in Kelowna in 1995, a span of 12 seasons, fans won't be rushing to Prospera Place to buy playoff tickets.
After dining on caviar and fine wine as one of the elite teams in the Western Hockey League in the new millennium, the Kelowna Rockets are no longer the toast of the league.
In fact they aren't even close, after learning last night that after it's final regular season game Saturday against Prince George, it will be time to pack their bags.
The season will be over!
Instead the expansion Chilliwack Bruins will head into the playoffs, earning the final playoff spot in the BC division, with a gutsy 5-3 win Wednesday over the Spokane Chiefs.
Why was the win by the Bruins so gutsy?
The Bruins trailed 2-1 heading into the third period, and like a desperate team not wanting to give the Rockets even the slightest room for optimism, scored four times in the final period to claim the final playoff spot, moving 5 points up on the Rockets with just two games remaining for both teams.
Even if the Rockets win their remaining two games this weekend, and the Bruins lose, hockey fans in the Fraser Valley will experience W.H.L playoff hockey for the very first time, while those in the Okanagan will have to find better things to do!
While the Bruins have been led all season by the teams top line of Mark Santorelli, Oscar Moller and Josh Aspenlind , it was a defensive forward who scored just 2 goals in 67 games heading into last night's contest that played the role of hero.
Seventeen year-old Matt Meropoulis would score with under 4 minutes to play in the third in the Bruins 23rd win of the season.
The game was put on ice by Cody Smuk with 26 seconds left in the game.
You have to hand it to the Bruins, who battled the Rockets from behind all season long.
Instead of flat-lining when the games got tougher in the second half of the season, Head Coach Jim Hiller and his gang found a second gear to get back in the race and eventually overtake the Rockets for 4th, a lead unlike the Rockets, they would never relinquish.
Top end talent paved the way for the first year team.
For the first time since the team arrived in Kelowna in 1995, a span of 12 seasons, fans won't be rushing to Prospera Place to buy playoff tickets.
After dining on caviar and fine wine as one of the elite teams in the Western Hockey League in the new millennium, the Kelowna Rockets are no longer the toast of the league.
In fact they aren't even close, after learning last night that after it's final regular season game Saturday against Prince George, it will be time to pack their bags.
The season will be over!
Instead the expansion Chilliwack Bruins will head into the playoffs, earning the final playoff spot in the BC division, with a gutsy 5-3 win Wednesday over the Spokane Chiefs.
Why was the win by the Bruins so gutsy?
The Bruins trailed 2-1 heading into the third period, and like a desperate team not wanting to give the Rockets even the slightest room for optimism, scored four times in the final period to claim the final playoff spot, moving 5 points up on the Rockets with just two games remaining for both teams.
Even if the Rockets win their remaining two games this weekend, and the Bruins lose, hockey fans in the Fraser Valley will experience W.H.L playoff hockey for the very first time, while those in the Okanagan will have to find better things to do!
While the Bruins have been led all season by the teams top line of Mark Santorelli, Oscar Moller and Josh Aspenlind , it was a defensive forward who scored just 2 goals in 67 games heading into last night's contest that played the role of hero.
Seventeen year-old Matt Meropoulis would score with under 4 minutes to play in the third in the Bruins 23rd win of the season.
The game was put on ice by Cody Smuk with 26 seconds left in the game.
You have to hand it to the Bruins, who battled the Rockets from behind all season long.
Instead of flat-lining when the games got tougher in the second half of the season, Head Coach Jim Hiller and his gang found a second gear to get back in the race and eventually overtake the Rockets for 4th, a lead unlike the Rockets, they would never relinquish.
Top end talent paved the way for the first year team.
Selecting Oscar Moller with the 2nd overall pick in the Canadian Hockey League European draft couldn't have worked out better.
Picking the smallish, yet young swede was a bold move, but the 17 year-old made an immediate impact and came to play when it really counted by scoring a goal and assisting on two others in the franchises biggest game of the season last night.
Moller has recorded 17 points in the last ten games, showing doubters that when the game is on the line Europeans don’t go dormant - they get dominant.
Mark Santorelli, Moller’s linemate, also made an impact all season long and especially when it counted in their quest of hunting down the Rockets.
Originally a bantam draft pick of the Tri City Americans, Santorelli put up lofty numbers as a rookie, with 77 points in 70 games.
And yes, when it really counted down the stretch when points were at a premium, Santorelli would put up 14 points in the teams final 10 games.
Bottom line was the Bruins best players were better than the Rockets down the stretch.
Cody Almond and Chris Ray tried to manufacture offense to match the Bruins dynamic duo, but unlike what happened in the 'Wack', the Rockets supporting cast just couldn’t come through.
Myles MacRae had just one goal in February and just another in March when the team needed him desperately.
Justin Bernhardt, a 22 goal man from two years ago went cold with just two goal’s in 14 games, and the writing for the Rockets was on the wall.
While the Bruins were scoring down the stretch, the Rockets were showing signs of ineptitude on offense.
Did the Bruins just want the final playoff spot more than the Rockets?
Statistically it showed.
Despite losing to the Rockets on December 27th by a 3-2 score, and then going on a streak where
they lost 8 of their next 9 games, something happened to them after returning from a disappointing 7 game road trip in late January where they had just 2 wins in those 7 games.
Hiller rallied his troops, as the Bruins would pick up points in 8 of their final 12 games.
Conversely the Rockets recorded points in 3 of their final 12.
That equates to 12 points for Chilliwack to Kelowna’s 6, a swing of six points and enough to capture the final playoff spot.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for a Rockets franchise that knows nothing of missing the playoffs since the team arrived on the scene as an expansion franchise in 1991 in the city of Tacoma.
In it's 16th season, the proud franchise is on the outside looking in now, eating a piece of humble pie that is simply tough to digest.
That equates to 12 points for Chilliwack to Kelowna’s 6, a swing of six points and enough to capture the final playoff spot.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for a Rockets franchise that knows nothing of missing the playoffs since the team arrived on the scene as an expansion franchise in 1991 in the city of Tacoma.
In it's 16th season, the proud franchise is on the outside looking in now, eating a piece of humble pie that is simply tough to digest.
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