Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Rockets/Blazers rivalry heats up

Was the Blazers celebratory salute taken too far?

Jul 14, 2023 | 9:00 AM

This originally was written on March 5th, and is the 10th most-read post on RocketFAN since it was launched last September.

The Kelowna Rockets coaches and players quickly exited the ice Saturday night once the final buzzer sounded.

They had no idea what was happening in their house, on their turf, on their ice.

In Scott Parker’s day, it wouldn’t have gone without retribution, but the game is very much in a different place.

It wasn’t that long ago, though, when visiting teams used to tremble before entering Memorial Arena on Ellis Street in fear of a physical beatdown.

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Moving into Prospera Place in the fall of 2000, the Rockets would crush opponents into submission on the scoreboard.

Shea Weber, for added effect, or Tyrell Goulbourne just for fun, would flatten you at the blue line with an open-ice hit or punch you in the nose with a hard flurry of right fists by squaring off at centre ice.

Again, the game has evolved.

In a 7-2 home ice drubbing at the hands of the Kamloops Blazers, the majority of the 4,582 patrons likely didn’t even notice when the game ended.

Maybe some of them turned a blind eye?

Yet, if you are old school, and yes, many of us remain, you couldn’t help but be astonished by what you witnessed.

As the score clock reached 0:00, the Blazers poured off the bench and skated over to congratulate goaltender Dylan Ernst, which is customary in the game of hockey.

The Blazers had much to celebrate by clinching the BC Division regular season title and doing it on the ice of an arch-rival must have been extra satisfying.

Winning the pennant for a fourth straight season, a third if you exclude the so-called abbreviated Covid campaign where the five teams based in BC played games in two hubs, in Kelowna and Kamloops.

Proud of their accomplishments, and rightfully so, after patting Ernst on the head and congratulating teammates with hugs, several players pointed their sticks at the Kamloops faithful at the far end of the ice, who had made the trek to Kelowna to cheer them on to victory.

Even the Kamloops Blazers Booster Club was present, after chartering a 48-person bus to the Okanagan for the back end of a weekend series.

They were loud, proud and relished in the weekend sweep.

Owning the ice surface for most of the 60 minutes was one thing, but no less than five Blazer players were seen skating on the Rockets centre ice logo with a stick salute, something typically seen after a home team wins, which shows their appreciation of the fans that came to watch them play.

It is a luxury of the home team, not the visitors, or did I miss the memo?

Over-exuberance perhaps?

No slight intended?

The antics, for the old-school hockey crowd, would lean more toward a lack of respect.

How would it be received if the shoe was on the other foot?

No harm, no foul?

There are certain codes in hockey.

Older players (in junior hockey) don’t fight younger players.

Empty net goal celebrations are low-key.

You don’t shoot the puck after the whistle.

Don’t cross the redline during warmup.

Surely even veteran coach Don Hay, who is trying to adapt to the times, would have thought Saturday night’s celebration was slightly offside.

After outscoring the Rockets 15-3 in the two games on the weekend, while firing a combined 109 shots on net, maybe the Blazers felt they owned every aspect of the ice, including running the home team out of its own building, so skating over centre-ice, and atop the logo was warranted.

The Blazers were full marks for Saturday’s win, with six straight goals after Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall tied the score at one.

Using the WHL’s best power play to manufacture two goals, even the exploits of goaltender Jari Kykkanen, who again was at times terrific, couldn’t keep his team close.

The Blazers have now scored a league-leading 79 times with the man advantage and lead the Western Conference in power play chances with 254.

The Rockets had their four-game home-ice winning streak snapped while moving six points back of the Vancouver Giants, a 4-2 winner Saturday night over Victoria, in the fight for seventh in the Western Conference.

Thankfully, the Rockets remain 12 points up on the Victoria Royals for the final playoff spot, with the magic number now down to five.

The other positive?

The Rockets’ coaches nor its players bared to witness what happened at game’s end.

For the teams sake, let’s hope what is out of sight, is out of mind.