Dumbing it down in the o-zone

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Unfortunately, the logo struck most often was the one in the middle of the chest of Wheat Kings goalie Carson Bjarnason.

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No less than six tremendous scoring chances were snuffed out when a forward or defenceman shot the puck right into the 17 -year-olds breadbasket.

Goalie coaches will say Bjarnason did a good job of staying square to the shooter, but picking corners are necessary to make life more difficult for a locked-in netminder, named the first star with a 29-save performance.

Even when the game was out of reach, and the Wheat Kings nursing a 3-0 lead, Andrew Cristall was robbed of a sure goal when he received a picture-perfect pass from teammate Caden Price. Cristall’s shot was destined for the back of the net, but Bjarnason’s glove got in the way.

The common theme from both coaches Kris Mallette and assistant Josh McNevin was the inability of the home team to get to the front of the net for second chances. Long range shots were commonplace with the want or need, where all goals are scored at the NHL level, sadly absent from their game.

While getting pucks on goal is fine and good, a chart of where those shots were delivered/taken towards the net would indicate the Rockets wanted to play an easy game and didn’t want to pay the price.

Let’s make it clear, the Rockets had scoring chances, but the finish wasn’t there. Adam Kydd, who hasn’t scored a goal in five games, was robbed once by Bjarnason’s left pad from the lip of the crease and just chipping a puck wide from the goal mouth. It was a clear indicator at that point that a greasy goal, not a picture-perfect passing play, would be needed to break the Brandon goalie.

Dylan Wightman also had a breakaway when the score was 3-0, yet he too found Bjarnason’s glove in an attempt to go to the backhand.

The Wheat Kings, who were frankly set up for failure after losing the night prior in Kamloops, enjoyed three consecutive power plays before finally opening the scoring with :29 seconds left in the first period.

The loss spoiled the 2022-2023 debut of 20-year-old Kelowna Rockets veteran goalie Talyn Boyko.

After returning to the WHL by the New York Rangers on Monday, Boyko was equally good early, making several solid saves when the Wheat Kings came out hard in the final game of a BC Division road trip.

Despite what you may have read, it was the first time – ever – since the Rockets moved into Prospera Place in the fall of 1999, that the Wheat Kings earned a shutout in Kelowna.

With a three-game losing streak, the Rockets close out a three-game home stand Saturday night against the best team in the WHL – the Winnipeg Ice.

The Ice are 9 and 1 this season and are coming off a 53-win campaign a year ago.

Between now and then, it’s best the Rockets shooters fine-tune their game, knowing full well they will face a team this weekend that often owns the puck while having surrendered a league-low (2.00) 20 goals against in their opening 10 games.