Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

"We will start to find our groove"

Rockets leading scorer isn’t pushing panic button

Jan 16, 2023 | 6:00 AM

Andrew Cristall has never missed three consecutive hockey games with an injury.

Not in junior hockey. Not in minor hockey. Never!

The leading scorer for the Kelowna Rockets was nicked up in a game against the Kamloops Blazers back on January 7th.

With the team struggling to win games, the 17-year-old would like nothing more than to return to the lineup to help his teammates.

That could happen shortly, as he and fellow teammate Carson Golder are threats to score every time they have the puck on their stick.

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The power play, which struck three times in a loss Saturday night in Victoria, would welcome both of them back with open arms.

“Our power play was definitely hot”, Cristall told RocketFAN when reflecting on its early season success. “Gabby [Gabriel Szturc] went to world juniors and Kydder [Adam Kydd) going out with his injury took a big toll out of our power play. We will start to find our groove here. Sometimes you don’t get the bounces you usually get and hopefully that will come soon.”

Cristall leads the team with eight power-play goals, one better than forward Gabriel Szturc.

“Mally [Head Coach Kris Mallette] trusts us out there to make the plays and see what the defense gives us, and he trusts us to take advantage of that,” Cristall added. “We have a couple of set plays and then it is basically trusting the players to go out there and do our thing.”

The Rockets’ best forward in back-to-back games on the weekend was Gabriel Szturc, who recently made NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings, as the 181st North American skater eligible for June’s draft in Nashville.

“I thought he was a world-class player when he joined us last year”, Cristall says. “Obviously this year compared to last year, he has gotten off to a great start. He gained a lot of confidence from the world junior tournament the last two years.”

Cristall added, “he played extremely well and helped his country to a silver medal, which they haven’t done in a while. Coming back here, he looks good on his edges and is controlling the play real well,  so he is looking world class to me.”

With 39 points in just 29 games, the likable 19-year-old is just two points shy of the 41 points (16+25=41) he put up in his rookie season.

“He has a great balance to it,” Cristall said when speaking about Szturc’s likability in the dressing room and laser like focus on the ice.

“He is in the gym after the game and after practices, rolling out and stretching and making sure he is healthy. On the ice, he is a pretty serious guy and dialed in, but in the room he also keeps it positive and keeps it light. He is always smiling and a pretty bubbly guy, so he is like a pro and is great to have in the locker room to help everyone out and show others how its done.”

Szturc will play in his 100th career WHL game, when the Rockets face the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre on January 27th.

With Cristall, the Western Conference leading scorer back in the lineup, possibly as early as this weekend, look for the team’s metrics to improve substantially in terms of puck possession, time spent in zone, scoring chances and goal production.

“Once we have everyone in the lineup, I am excited to see what we can do.”