Monday, October 17, 2011

No puck luck at all

  • When things are going right, pucks seem to find the back of the net. When things are going wrong, like they are with the Kelowna Rockets right now, scoring goals is extremely difficult.The Rockets winless streak reached six games (0-5-1-0) last night with a 3-2 loss in Kamloops. The Blazers, winners of seven of their last eight, scored two of three goals that had a bit of an odor to it while the Rockets couldn't find a favorable bounce with the pucks they directed towards Blazers goaltender Cole Cheveldave. As an example, Colin Smith's goal in the first period hits Rockets defenceman MacKenzie Johnston and goes in and Brendan Ranford losses control of the puck on his back hand in the second period and it goes through the legs of Rockets goaltender Adam Brown. You earn your breaks, no question, but the Rockets aren't getting many right now.
  • Considering the Rockets were playing their fourth game in five night's with a significant day of travel thrown into the mix, the effort for the most part was there. Sure, they experienced a letdown in the second period when they were out-scored 2-0 and out-shot 16-4, but they showed some good urgency in the third period as they attempted to battle back from a two goal deficit. Damon Severson made it a one goal game halfway through the third period but they were unable to find the equalizing goal. A shot that rang off the goal post by Carter Rigby was as close as the Rockets would come.
  • Everyone see's the game differently, but for my money Rockets defenceman Myles Bell had a solid game. He came out of no-where to knock away a good scoring chance in the third period and made a terrific pass from the side of his own net and hit an awaiting Shane McColgan at centre ice in the same period. The 18 year-old also had some good scoring chances.
  • Despite Adam Brown's bad luck, he did manage to make some solid saves including a desperation stop when he somehow got one of his pads on a second period goal mouth scramble and cooly and calmly secured the puck in his catching glove. Only on video replay could you enjoy the true magnitude of the save.
  • Defenceman Kevin Smith was expected to be reevaluated by team doctors after suffering an upper body injury in warm up in Friday night's loss to the Victoria Royals. Smith did not play in either of the three games.
  • The only disappointment, outside of the loss, was the crowd. While the paid attendance was just over 35 hundred, the number of blue seats was significant. It appears no matter how well the Blazers play, fans won't believe in this team until they get past the first round of this springs playoffs. Maybe not even a +45 win season will get jaded junior hockey fans back in the seats. Fortunately for the Blazers, deep pocketed owners can absorb the smallish crowds as the backlash continues .This sure wouldn't go over well if this was a community owned team.

No comments: