Healthy returns provide for tricky line juggling

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Mallette knows that with younger players, oftentimes less is more. That means rotating them in and out of the lineup.

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“The common fan sees the players out there and wonders why so-in-so isn’t playing,” he said. “It is our job to find the small intricacies in the game to find, in practice and games, the consistency that is needed to be at their best every night.

“We have a rotation on the back end with Jackson Gellespie, Landon Cowper, and Ismail Abougouche as an example. Getting them to play back-to-back is still a big thing for their young legs, so when people say you are a terrible coach and you don’t want to see them develop, nope, there is a method to the madness.”

You don’t often see that trio playing on back-to-back nights, especially when the team is relatively healthy.

“That is why the CHL is the best league to get guys ready for the NHL,” Mallette offered. “The travel, the schooling, and playing against hard competition, we are priming guys for a lot of load on their bodies. I know players want to play every game, but we see the drop-off. We see the inability to potentially win a battle in the corner, or even make a simple play.”

Abougouche is in his second full season in the WHL while Cowper and Gellespie are still considered rookies with only 52 regular season games combined. Those three enjoyed an increase in ice time early in the season when veteran Caden Price missed the opening six games with an undisclosed injury.

“It is hard for a 17-year-old to recognize that you are pretty special to be playing in the Western Hockey League at that age, and your time will come when you have no choice but to play more games, and when the time comes, be ready to go”, he said.

“This is just a small process that everyone in their career has had to go through.”

When it comes to the forward group, Mallette’s decision on who plays and who sits has been made easier with the team winning 11 of its past 16 games.

“It is hard to move guys in and out with the success that we’ve been having, but we are making slight adjustments day in and day out,” Mallette continued. “A lot of it has to do with the youth of our group up front in those bottom lines or the defensive core. It isn’t about how are you playing, but how mentally strong can you be and your physicality. Will my legs hold up? It isn’t as easy as you think.”

Leader of the pack

Blowing third-period leads is painful.

Rallying in the final 20 minutes to overtake the opposition can do wonders for the belief in the dressing room.

Thankfully this season, more times than not, the Kelowna Rockets have earned wins by playing a solid final period.

“When the guys on the bench see that we are playing well and within our structure, there is an extra energy within,” Mallette confessed. “They know when we are making poor decisions when we turn the puck over at the blueline or we try to force a play.”

The Rockets have scored 22 goals in their last five games, with 50 percent of them, or 11 goals coming in the third period.

“When we are down, the message is to win the period,” he continued. “We are a very confident driven team when things are going well, and that has to happen if we are going to have success.”

In the Western Conference, the Rockets have scored the third most third-period goals (49) with only Wenatchee (54) and Prince George better (63).

“We work these guys so hard through practice, we work these guys so hard in the gym, so when those times come, we may have a little bit more in the tank,” Mallette added.

“We are working them past the fatigue, and they may say they are tired but, no you are not. You are going to work through it, and the results thus far are paying off.”