Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Are You As Confused As I Am?

  • This Kelowna Rockets team has confused me all season long. When push comes to shove they find a way to win, yet when it's not a back against the wall situation this team just doesn't push themselves. It was evident Tuesday night in a 2-1 round robin loss to Windsor. The Rockets were given 4 power play chances in the second period alone, but managed just 7 shots on goal. From my vantage point it looked as though the Western Hockey League champions were content on closing out the round robin with a record of 2 and 1 and were just thrilled to be headed to Sunday's championship final.
  • While Windsor should have been the more desperate team, how does it feel to be skating away with just a one goal win against a team that clearly lacked urgency in their game? If I was Windsor I'd be concerned, not celebrating the fact that I have a chance to play in a tie breaker game on Thursday.
  • Cody Almond was one of few Rockets that appeared to want to win the game and head into Sunday's final with a record of 3-0. The best shift of the game came when Almond blocked four shots on a Windsor 5 on 3 power play. Almond took two shots off the glove, one off the head and another in the ribs as he got in the way of every shooting lane possible.
  • Where has Mikael Backlund gone? After making his mark in the WHL playoffs with some terrific efforts, Backlund has no goals to show in the first three games of the Memorial Cup. In a match up of the Calgary Flames first round picks, Windsor forward Greg Nemisz clear outplayed Backlund. Nemisz, a first round pick of the Flames from 2008, was a threat to score while Backlund, a first round pick of the Flames in 2007, didn't even have a shot on goal. A world class player like Backlund can't be a passenger in a tournament of this magnitude.
  • Who was the best Rocket? Mark Guggenberger gets my vote. Another tremendous effort by the 20 year-old goaltender who surely needs to get a serious look by some NHL team. Wouldn't you want to bring this guy in on a tryout? Guggenberger was the main reason why the Rockets lost the game by just a single goal. After allowing two 'softies' against Drummondville, Guggenberger could have easily earned the third star in Tuesday's game.
  • Tyson Barrie will have little time off following the Memorial Cup. Barrie told me before the game he is off to the NHL combine following the 10 day tournament. The combine is for North American players expected to be selected in the first two round of this summers NHL draft.
  • The Rockets will take the day off before preparing for Sunday's final against one of three teams. Tonight it's an all Quebec match up as host Rimouski faces Quebec champion Drummondville. One of those teams will finish the round robin at 1 and 2, meaning a date with 1 and 2 Windsor Thursday night in a tie breaker.
  • Just before we left our hotel this afternoon several fire trucks, with lights flashing, surrounded the building. As it turned out an ammonia leak took place in one of the beer fridges on the 3rd floor of the hotel. The fridge in question belonged to a room housing two referee's for the tournament. I was told one of the them was taken to hospital for observation.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

i agree with all the points you raised but maybe the adrenalin was not flowing 100% . the fact they knew they were in the final dance no matter what played a part i am sure.Now get ready to rock sunday should be a good one .

rocketman said...

I totally agree with all your comments, Regan... Is Backlund hurting from Stones big hit on him?Is he tired? I was wondering whether the coach might sit him, in a mean nothing game, and put our future out ther instead... Shane could have added some jump out there...for that matter it probably would have been a good game to let Spencer and Aaron and Kyle and Adam get some valuable experience... especially the way the boys played last night... oh well it's easy to coach from the couch in my livingroom!
But Backlund's effort does confuse me... you would think this is the stage he's been wanting to be on... he should be dominating out there... a player with his talent and skillset and in three games I can't think of one time where he looked dangerous at all...a little disappointing to be honest!

rocketman said...

... another thought... maybe losing last night was a good thing in that it forces a tie breaker game which translates into wear and tear and fatigue for the remaining teams, not to mention the possiblity of injury in what I would expect to be some fairly intense hockey! Rockets "should" be able to roll over whoever remains standing in the next 4 days!

g.k said...

Hey Regan hope your enjoying your time in Quebec. I thought I heard the fans booing at the game last night? Were they booing our poor effort on the ice or the Spits!! Your right on about the effort last night, it looked exactly the same as game five of the Hitmen series, lets hope the Spits don't come back to face us in the final, they would have momentum for sure but I would think fatique will be a factor no matter who we play.

Regan Bartel said...

I think they were booing the effort of the Rockets considering they couldn't even get the puck out of the zone to pull Guggenberger for the extra attacker. I spoke to several fans after the game, and despite the language barrier, they thought the Rockets played poorly.

Anonymous said...

Regan, thats a comlete 180 to what you said about the booing on Sportstalk last night.
Did you have a change of heart?
Rockets decided to throw in the towel rather than pull Geuggenberger?

Regan Bartel said...

In talking to other media, that was what they believed the booing was about.

grinder said...

By the looks of Backlund's performances clearly Sutter has not been in attendance... and I guess the GM of Dallas left early.