By Regan Bartel

Rockets look to take another step

‘We have to get back to playing hard’ – Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton

Sep 10, 2023 | 7:00 PM

The Kelowna Rockets are about to begin their 29^th season in the Okanagan.

Bruce Hamilton has been at the helm as general manager the entire way, winning four WHL championships [2003-2005-2009-2015] and capturing the 2004 Memorial Cup.

“We are going in the right direction”, Hamilton told RocketFAN. “Coming out of the Memorial Cup [in 2020] and not adding to our team really hurt us. I think we’ve made some great strides and I am excited about our team, and I think our coaches will do a great job. It is a good challenge for them.”

The organization hasn’t had a first-round pick in four of the last five WHL Prospect Drafts, so stopping the bleeding hasn’t been easy.

“This past May we had a great draft”, Hamilton continued. “The eight players we are confident can play for us, so that’s a great feeling.”

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Director of Player Personnel Terry McFaul selected forward Eli Barrett with the 26th overall selection in round two before dialing in on forward Kanjyu Gojsic with the 48th pick in round three.

“Getting Hiroki Gojsic and Tij Iginla [via trade] solidifies a big hole we had, and we will probably look at adding somebody else in that age bracket that is a more quality player than what we have,” Hamilton said.

Gojsic was acquired from the Victoria Royals, while Iginla was obtained in a summer deal with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Iginla has been arguably the best forward in the pre-season, which isn’t shocking considering he was the 9^th player chosen in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.

Behind the bench, head coach Kris Mallette enters his third full season, a fourth if you include the somewhat debatable bubble campaign when the team played only 16 games.

“Kris was with the under-18 team, they got a gold medal, so he has something going for him with that. We’ve got to get the players to understand that we have to get back to playing hard. We have got to play Rocket hockey.”

After a 42-win season in year two at the helm, good enough for fourth place in the Western Conference, Mallette guided the hockey club to 27 victories, which placed the team eighth, draw the heavily favoured and eventual WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds in the opening round.

“I really want Kris to push these guys”, Hamilton quipped. “The tendency right now is to back off, and be careful, but these guys [players] have been around long enough, you have to earn your keep here.

“You have to be pushed to get better. Athletes today are pretty content to be along for the ride. We have two years of that under our belt.”

While veteran 19-year-old goaltender Jari Kykkanen will get the bulk of the workload this season, RocketFAN had to ask about who will be his backup.

“We may make a move to get a guy with a little experience”, Hamilton said without batting an eye. “We are really excited about Nathan Kam, he is going to be an excellent goalie for us, but the last thing we want to do is put a 16-year-old in here and have him sit on the bench and not develop.”

With two more pre-season home games this weekend, at home, against Victoria and Vancouver, Hamilton is optimistic that the team will be better than a year ago.

“We are going to be young on defence to start. I think we are going to be fine there. I would like one older forward to give us a bit more depth. I think Cicek [Michael] will help us, but it would be nice to have one more player up there to help us.

“We are all tied for first place. I am looking forward to the new season.”

(Part two of RocketFAN’s conversation with Hamilton will appear on this platform later this week.)