Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Kelowna vs. Prince George in round two

‘As a group, I am proud of everybody’ – Rockets AC Josh MacNevin

Apr 8, 2024 | 7:00 AM

“It has been a while.”

No truer words spoken by Kelowna Rockets Assistant Coach Josh MacNevin on his team advancing to the second-round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

“We obviously haven’t had a lot of success at this time of the year,” he added after the Rockets eliminated the Wenatchee Wild with a 4-2-win Sunday afternoon, eliminating the newest team in the U.S Division in six games. “It is good for the group. It is good for the guys leaving, the guys returning as it gives us that experience.”

It marked the first time since 2017 that the team was able to get out of the opening-round after losing in four straight games to Seattle last year, in five games in 2022 to the T-Birds, and falling to Tri-City in 2018. There were no playoffs in 2019, 2020 nor 2021.

“Guys are going to see what it is like. It [second-round] ramps up,” MacNevin added about his team facing the Prince George Cougars in the semi-finals, the top seed in the Western Conference during the regular season. “That was a tough game to win [game six], and that is a good team over there. Anytime you are backed into a corner you work your tail off to try to extend your season. Good on them, they pushed and we bent but we didn’t break.”

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Andrew Cristall scored twice in the win, with Tij Iginla and Max Graham scoring singles. Iginla’s goal was his 8^th of the series, tying a franchise record for goals in one playoff, a mark set by Geordie Wudrick in the 2010 post-season against the Everett Silvertips.

“Tij does what Tij does,” MacNevin added. “He is a goal scorer. There were times when he put us on his back and just willed it to happen. Eight goals in one playoff series aren’t easy. He is determined. For a young guy like that to come in, you looked at him in training camp and you said, ‘this kid is unreal’.

“He hunts pucks. Hey, he isn’t perfect, nobody is but eight goals is pretty close.”

RocketFAN asked MacNevin bluntly why his team was able to win four of the six games in the series.

“Jari Kykkanen was amazing,” he said without hesitation. “You need that type of goaltending at this time of year. We got some secondary scoring. Early in the series, a lot of guys were contributing. You need minutes and quality minutes out of your depth players. Give those guys credit. It is tough to stay in those games when there are so many power plays, but they did.”

Kykkanen ends the first-round with a goals against average of 2.86, a save percentage of .911 and has now chewed up the most minutes played of any goalie in the WHL. The 19-year-old was a star in four of the six games, being named the first star a staggering three times.

“At this time of year, you need your goalie doing what goalies do,” MacNevin added. “It hasn’t been an easy season for anyone in that dressing room. He did a really solid job of calming things down and making big timely saves. Is it surprising? No. It is there. He did it all year, really, but we as a group let him down.”

The Rockets scored a eye-popping 13 goals in the first period in the six game series, while the Wild found the back of the net only four times in the opening 20 minutes.

“This is realistically the real part that matters,” MacNevin said about going through the highs and lows of a 68-game regular season to get to this point. “You need adversity during the season, and we had our fair share. At times we were broken, during the season as a group, but as that happened, we hardened as a team. We came together.”

Now one of four teams in the Western Conference that are off to the second-round, after being a favourite against Wenatchee, the tables will be turned as the underdog against a Cougars team that disposed of the Spokane Chiefs in four quick games.

“This group has got some jam,” MacNevin said with pride.

“If we play our best, we can hang with anybody.”