March Madness

Colton Dach looking loose in pre-game warmup

• Lots to unpack here. Where to start?  Let's go with the number 7. Did you know in both Eastern and Western cultures, the number seven is considered magical? Think about it. There are seven wonders of the world, seven continents, seven colours of the rainbow and seven days in the week. Heck, Snow White has seven dwarfs. Slot machines pay out good money for sevens don't they? So, was it any wonder the Kelowna Rockets, riding a season high seven game losing streak (0-5-0-2), were able to dig themselves out of a massive hole Saturday night with a 5-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. In the final meeting of the season, which featured 14 intense games, the Rockets were considered good candidates for another thorough beating. Heck, the Blazers had shut them out the night prior (6-0), and to make matters worse, sickness (non COVID related) was making it's rounds. Confidence was low. How could it not have been? Second guessing the system may have been in play, but home ice pride prevailed. In front of the biggest crowd (4,836) of the season, the Rockets were not about to let the Blazers celebrate the clinching of a BC Divisional title on the Prospera Place ice surface. Instead, a four goal second period prohibited that from happening in the teams 35th win of the season. 
• The Rockets played this game with just four defencemen. Four! Jackson DeSousa dressed, but was ill and didn't see the ice surface. Rookie Caden Price couldn't play either, so John Babcock, Noah Dorey, Tyson Feist and Jake Lee had to log huge minutes. When you are playing your 6th game in 9 nights, that's an awfully big ask. That group was anything but flawless, but under the circumstances against a very good team, that 'Fantastic Four' were able to keep their heads above water.    

• 

  Pavel Novak's facial expression tells it all 

  Thankfully, seven game losing streaks are a rarity in these parts, so that's what made this slide so hard to accept. Plus, this was a terrible time to go into a free fall. You don't want to lose your mojo when the playoffs are essentially three weekends away. Here is my theory. The Rockets lost confidence when they ended up losing back-to-back shootout losses on home ice to the Blazers. Those were damaging - psychologically. Those were games they should have won, but ended up losing. Not only were they losses, it also saw the window of the teams aspirations of catching the Blazers for first place - end. All that rolled into one resulted in two losses in Victoria and a 6-0 loss Friday in Kamloops. In case you are wondering, the last time the team had this long of a losing skid was in the 2009-2010 campaign when it also took seven games before finally earning a 'W'.
• Puck luck. The Rockets had very little of that during the seven game losing skid.That's why I want you to pay attention to Colton Dach's opening goal last night as a sign that some luck and persistence returned. Teammate John Babcock's shot from the point is blocked by Blazers defender Kaden Hammell. The puck goes off Hammell's skate right to Dach, who rips home his 22nd goal of the season.
• Adam Kydd has the luxury of playing in the teams top six. He deserves that spot with
  soft hands and the ability to chase down loose pucks. With a goal and two assists, Kydd delivered in the clutch, and being in a top 6 role, you have too. He's 19. Pavel Novak is 19. You can't be bystanders. Kydd elevated as did Novak, who reached the back of the net for the first time in 8 games and scored his first career goal against the Blazers after 16 matches in his career where he was unable to find pay-dirt behind a Blazers goalie. 
• Heading into the weekend doubleheader, Kamloops media, not all but some, where pushing the narrative that the Rockets were going to come into Friday's game wanting to stir the pot. The belief was there would be carryover/fireworks from a jawing match between Rockets head coach Kris Mallette and Blazers assistant Chris Murray the weekend prior. While it's the sexy narrative, with the media almost yearning for more antics, my sense going into the two games this weekend was the Rockets were more concerned about themselves, not settling any score with the opponent who had beaten them 5 straight times. In fact, I will go as far to suggest it would have been dangerous for the Rockets to even approach the games that way. What would it accomplish? More trips to the penalty box? Yep. More humiliation on the scoreboard? Hello! More losing? Bingo! More self doubt? Oh ya. Playing physical, hard nosed hockey and staying close to the script that has brought them success was the right route to take. It was the intelligent option. Even in the 6-0 loss Friday, I credit Mallette and the players for keeping composed and not going off the rails. In my opinion, that approach Friday paved the way for a win one night later.
• What else? Oh, watch Pavel Novak's stick as he defends a one goal lead with the Blazers goaltender pulled for the extra attacker. Novak was paying extra attention to Logan Stankoven at the right faceoff circle and deflected a pass away from the skilled forward with time ticking down. You need to cheat to Stankoven's side of the ice in that situation. How can you not be aware of a player with 35+ goals - who has eaten you alive while spitting out bones with 7 goals in his last four games against you?  Stankoven has the most shots on goal of any player in the WHL! Teammates are going to try to get him the puck. Novak played it perfectly and his unselfish play in handing the puck off to Dach for the empty net hattrick goal was just another sign of why Novak is such a likable player and a quiet leader on this team. 
• Face it, the Blazers will win the BC Division banner. That ship has sailed. One more win or a Rockets loss and it's a done deal. Realistically, the fact that the 2021-2022 edition of the Kelowna Rockets were even in the conversation is mind-blowing for me. Before the puck dropped, a 4th place finish in the BC Division was the likely destination with 28 to 30 wins. Kamloops was clearly better. So was Vancouver. Prince George was young, but heck, look at all that skill. They were easily a third place finisher. Victoria was expected to be in the basement, which now looking back, was one of only two predictions that actually came out right. The first one was the Blazers winning the BC Division with little to no trouble. 
• If the Rockets can reach 40 wins - that would be an amazing regular season. 
• The Rockets end the seasonal series with the Blazers going 8-4-0-2 in 14 games. Five of those losses came in a span of 28 days. So for argument sake, let's say the Rockets struggled for a month before finally bumping the slump. It wasn't fun seeing the team struggle, but it was rewarding to witnessing them beat a Blazers team that caused them so much angst.