Getting Wacked in the Wack

• The good news in Sundays 3-1 loss in Chilliwack is that overage goaltender Kristofer Westblom showed up to play. The bad news? Few if any of his teammates did. Westblom made two tremendous saves in the first period alone, one off of WHL leading goal scorer Oscar Moller, to keep the score respectable after one period. The Rockets were badly outplayed in the opening period, and were badly out-shot 15-2. Had Westblom been napping like his teammates, the Bruins would have taken a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after the opening session.
• With a bad opening period behind them, the Rockets admittedly did get marginally better as the game wore on. Yet it was the Bruins power play that struck for two goals in less than 2 minutes in the second period which gave the home team a 3-0 advantage. It was the usual suspects at it again for the Bruins as Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller scored back-to-back goals.
• I have only seen the Bruins play three times this season, but despite the theory that they are more than just a one line team has me scratching my head. The other lines serve a role or purpose, but its Moller and Santorelli that find themselves on the score sheet. While one line will win you games during the regular season, will that be enough to vault them into the second round when the playoffs begin? The Rockets may find that out first hand. If the playoffs began today, these two teams would meet in round one!
• Colin Long had his team leading 14th goal of the season to cut into the Bruins 3-0 lead, on a great three way passing play with Brady Leavold and Jamie Benn. But that one nifty play just wasn’t duplicated by the other existing three lines. In my opinion Bruins goaltender Matt Esposito had an easy night. For a team that has scored over 100 goals this season, it looked anything but on this night.
• The Rockets played without Kyle St. Denis (concussion), James McEwan (concussion) and Tysen Dowzak (neck). Dowzak jammed his neck in the late stages of the first period in Saturday’s 4-2 win over Portland and was sent to hospital for x-rays. The good news is no long term damage, but Dowzak won’t see action until the Eastern road swing at the earliest.
• The smallish crowd at Prospera Centre was the result of a heavy dump of snow in the area. It looked like an exhibition game between the two teams as empty seats far outweighed those with bums in them. Essentially the die-harts were at this game watching the Bruins move within a point of the Rockets for 2nd place in the BC division.
• I have to complement Rockets Director of Transportation Roger Von Dach for doing a tremendous job getting us to and from Chilliwack safely. The road conditions were less than ideal after some rain fell following the conclusion of the game. The Rockets bus could have skated home, yet Von Dach was slow and steady in his approach. The bus driver often gets little credit for his work over the course of a hockey season, but on this road trip he was the #1 star.
• Rockets majority owner Bruce Hamilton also has to be commended for his efforts in keeping the players safe. Hamilton didn’t hesitate in giving approval for a system which automatically engages chains on the wheels of the Rockets bus. Most semi trailers are required to stop at the side of the road where the driver manually puts on chains during slippery conditions, like the ones experienced by the team Sunday night while heading back to Kelowna. Thanks to the new system (it was added to the bus last season technically) just a flick of a switch has the chains engaged and traction is restored.