Things that make me go hmm..

Nov 19, 2024 | 7:00 AM

One game may not change everything, but a late rally against an elite opponent can certainly shift the momentum for a team. In a game they deserved to win, without late-game heroics, the Rockets’ 5-4 victory over the Prince George Cougars Saturday night showed what this team can do. But talk is cheap. You have to go out and physically do it to prove to yourself and others that you are dangerous. The roster’s composition should throw up a caution flag that if the Kelowna Rockets come to play, and don’t rest on their laurels, they can beat anyone at any time.
I’d go as far as to suggest the Rockets were the better team in both games this past weekend in Prince George. Out-shooting the Cougars in back-to-back games was a first this season, and had it not been for the stellar goaltending of Joshua Ravensbergen Friday night in a 4-3 Prince George win, the Rockets would have left the CN Centre with four points. The Rockets were that good!
Saturday’s win was especially impressive, considering the challenges the Rockets faced. They had to play without defenseman Carter Kowalyk, who was injured Friday after getting his skate blade stuck in a rut. The 19-year-old is now day-to-day with a right leg injury, forcing newcomer Nate Corbet into a much larger role. Corbet, who was acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers just days earlier, didn’t even have a full practice with the team before being thrown into the fire. Yet, the 18-year-old managed to contribute an assist and was on the ice for the game-winning goal by Andrew Cristall late in the third period.
The Cougars also faced their own injury challenges, playing both games without forward Riley Heidt. The 19-year-old was seen in the press box with a surgical mask on. Prince George GM and Head Coach Mark Lamb, whom I respect, said on radio that the marquee forward underwent surgery after being hit by a stick in a game last weekend against the visiting Vancouver Giants. Heidt lost some teeth and the dentist noticed his jaw was fractured as a result.
A high-five to rookie Kanjyu Gojsic for not being an innocent bystander this past weekend. The 16-year-old scored the team’s opening goal Friday night, and then got into a tussle with fellow-16-year-old Cougars forward Kayden Lemire a night later.
Meantime, older brother Hiroki Gojsic is on pace to score the exact same number of goals as he did last season. 21! With four goals in 12 games to start the season, if the Nashville Predators draft pick can pick up the pace, one-goal games will be few and far between. In Saturday’s win, as dominant as the Rockets were, Gojsic didn’t have a shot on net. In a perfect world, that can’t happen for a player who has a cannon of a shot, if he chooses to use it. If and when the team loses players to the world juniors, Hiroki Gojsic has to drive the offense or this team will struggle.
I met Mark Lamb’s wife Saturday night while walking through the Prince George Cougars souvenir store – better known as the ‘Cougars Den’. I never knew Tanya Lamb was the manager of merchandise. It’s amazing what you learn when you stroll around arena’s and speak to the locals, rather than sitting in the broadcast booth looking down at the patrons below.
Speaking of locals, I chatted up two gentleman sitting in the CN Centre seats peculiarly early before Friday nights game. I had to ask why? Both were setting up booths in the concourse of the building and were having a pre-game drink together. Well played!
I sure like when trades are completed, and the player dealt away lands in a spot that seems like a good fit for both he and his family. It happened twice last week where Ethan Neutens was sent to Medicine Hat while Ethan Mittelsteadt was dealt to the Vancouver Giants. Neutens is from Cochrane, Alberta while Mittelsteadt calls Victoria home.
I was asked a fun question over the weekend: if you could have a beer with one opposing coach in the WHL, who would it be? My pick is Mark Lamb of the Prince George Cougars. Why? Because he’s a straight shooter. Lamb isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, and that transparency makes him one of the most genuine and respected coaches in the league. Coaches like Lamb who speak candidly, without trying to mislead, offer the kind of conversation I’d want to be a part of.
Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone. Rookie Levi Benson did that Saturday night by throwing a perfectly timed hip-check in the first period against Cougars forward Aiden Foster. Remember, Benson is the shortest player in the WHL and one of the lightest.
Did you know Michael Cicek is one goal shy of his career nine goals he scored last season? The biggest goal he has scored wearing Kelowna Rockets colours came Saturday night when he tied the game thanks to a lovely give-and-go with line-mate Tij Iginla. Why is the 20-year-old scoring at a great pace this season than last? Shooting the puck. Cicek has 46 shots on goal, which is fourth highest on the team. Last season, with nine goals, he was 11th on the team in shots on goal with 88.
To be honest, I like Iginla and Andrew Cristall playing apart as opposed to paired together. I think it makes the team more dangerous. I like Jakub Stancl on the unit with Cristall and Max Graham. My only concern now is Kayden Longley, who was off to a terrific start, not being as impactful with Stancl by his side.
It looked a little odd when Nate Corbet came out of the Kelowna Rockets dressing room wearing sweater number 22. That is the number fashioned by forward Gabriel Szturc over the last three seasons. In 14 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, Szturc has yet to score his first professional goal. The last d-man to wear those digits (#22) was Lachlan Staniforth, who now plays with the Chilliwack Jets.
This weekend also got me thinking about the past, particularly the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft. The Rockets selected American forward Luke Moffatt with the second overall pick. Moffatt chose the NCAA route, opting to play for the University of Michigan instead of joining major junior. Now retired, it’s fun to wonder if Moffatt’s career would have played out differently had he chosen the WHL route. Would his pro career have landed him in the NHL full-time? We’ll never know.
If there was any question about Caden Price being an elite player in the WHL, that question has been answered after just 17 games. The 19-year-old looks like a defender who could easily wear Canadian colours at Christmas. In fact, I’d go as far as to suggest of the big three (Price/Cristall/Iginla), Price looks like the surest bet. Dominant with the puck, even when he loses it, he is able to recover and get it back. Remember, even if he bobbles the puck every once and a while, it is going to happen to players that are always around it.
Price’s best hit of his career came in the third period Saturday night when he stepped up on Aiden Foster and drove him to the ice with a stiff check at the Rockets blueline. Price doesn’t often do it, nor should he, but it shows he can. Price was booed every time he touched the puck Saturday night after he received a four-minute minor for boarding on Cougars forward Terik Parascak. The hit was worthy of two minutes at best, even though Parascak was seen face down on the ice for an extended period of time. What’s laughable is fans in the building thought the hit was suspendable. If it indeed was, the WHL head office in Calgary would be handing out supplemental discipline left-right and centre.
The Rockets have had their ups and downs over the years, but there was a time when four points from a two-game trip to Prince George was considered a given. How things have changed. The Cougars, once a team to feast on, have turned into a powerhouse in their own right, and games in their rink are no longer a walk in the park. The Rockets leaving PG with at least two points from the weekend is a win in itself, and it’s a testament to the growth of both teams.
I ran into longtime Prince George Citizen sports writer Ted Clarke on the weekend. He told me about an interesting story he did this past week with former NHL goalie/broadcaster Corey Hirsch. https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/local-news/ex-nhl-goalie-corey-hirsch-considers-psychologists-diagnosis-his-best-ever-save-9812120
At 1,472 words, it’s time to shut the barn doors. Just remember, Prince George and Edmonton are neck-and-neck for the most northerly cities in the WHL, with Prince George sitting at 53.9 degrees north and Edmonton at 53.5 degrees.

Things that make me go hmm..

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