Habscheid Hex

• Is the 'Habschied Hex' real? It makes you wonder, considering the Kamloops Blazers have not won a playoff series since 1999, the year that Marc Habscheid was behind the Blazers bench. Habscheid was surprisingly relieved of his duties following a tremendous season and successful playoff run to the WHL final. A few years later he landed the coaching job with the hated Kelowna Rockets, and led them to a Memorial Cup.
• I am not suggesting Habscheid has put any type of hex on his former team, but can you explain why the Blazers have failed to make it out of the first round since his departure? The hockey god's obviously did not approve of his dismissal. Some Blazer fans agree.
• Colin Long is again making his mark with the Kelowna Rockets franchise. Long became just the second player in franchise history to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons. The only other player to match that feat was Allan Egeland, who won back-to-back team scoring titles in 1992-93 and again in 1993-94.
• Name the last team the Rockets beat in the playoffs? Answer - Kootenay Ice. The Rockets beat the Ice in an opening round playoff series in 2006.
• I don't get an overconfident vibe from the Rockets players heading into game one tomorrow night. I do feel a quiet confidence, but the players are well aware that the playoffs are a totally different season. Everyone starts at zero and its a clean slate. Past successes or follies can be erased in just seven short games.
• Mikael Backlund and Kyle St. Denis did not skate with the team Thursday, giving you the feeling those two players are game time decisions. I anticipate those two seeing action in this series, but you'll have to be in the building to see if they are taking the pre-game skate Friday night.
• About a thousand tickets are available for game one and two of the opening round playoff series between the Rockets and Blazers. Often times fringe hockey fans stay away in the hopes that better times are ahead, and will opt out in watching the first round, in the hope for a more entertaining match-up in rounds two or three. In Kelowna, the slow ticket sales are often the snowbirds that are spending the winter South of the border in a hot climate. Some of these hockey fans are Rockets season ticket holders who won't be returning to the Okanagan until their winter vacation is over in April.
• The four radio broadcasters from the BC Division competing in the WHL playoffs were part of Dan Russell's radio program last night. Russell asked all four of us who we thought would win the opening round playoff series between the Rockets and Blazers. Three of the four picked Kelowna. The exception? Blazers radio caller Kirk Fraser. I think it was a good call on Fraser's behalf. As the broadcaster of the team you represent, do you not believe they have a chance to win every night, no matter who the opponent? I know I do.