Rockets season ends abruptly

The final regular season game in junior hockey offers 20-year-olds on each team the chance to leave the league for the last time. Unfortunately for Rockets overagers Michael Cicek and captain Max Graham, both watched from the sidelines due to season-ending injuries.

“I told our guys after the game, when we show up next season, we are 25 years older as a group because everybody has that experience,” Martin added. “Unfortunately, we know that whole group, as it stands today, won’t be all together next season.”

Jakub Stancl is one player who won’t return. The rookie forward, who is a signed prospect with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, led the team in scoring with 23 goals, 23 assists, and 57 points in 58 games.

“We always worked hard, but at times we didn’t work smart,” Martin said about his team, which ended March with just one win in 10 games. “Maybe two times I can think of where we weren’t very good, or we lacked a little bit of energy or enthusiasm, but they flipped the script and got it right back on track. It’s a young group, and as much as it sucks, they will be better off living through some of these things. They worked every day. We pushed them hard in practice, and we experienced it with the injuries we saw.”

Out of the 18 wins this season, the fewest in franchise history, the team won 9 games on home ice and 9 on the road.

“When we have a chance to reflect on the season, we had a lot of positive times too,” Martin added. “Sometimes that’s the piece that gets lost. You have to remember relationships and the fun times you had. The times on the road. This group didn’t need me to motivate them. I couldn’t be more proud of them because of that. It speaks to the incredible character inside that dressing room.”

So, what’s next for this group now that the season has ended so abruptly?

“We will have exit meetings. It’s a chance for coaches and management to meet with the players and get feedback,” Martin said. “It’s important for an organization to allow players to tell you what was good and where you can make improvements. We will do the same with our players. We will tell them what went well and what they need to continue to work on. Their strengths—and we won’t call them weaknesses, but areas of improvement and focus for the summer—because we care for these men and want them to strive for greatness.”

One of the hardest parts of breaking for the off-season is saying goodbye not just to teammates but also to billet families who open their homes to the players for nearly 8 months over the winter.

“The tough conversations for these guys aren’t done yet,” Martin said, offering a different perspective on the situation for the players as they head home for the summer. “We are really lucky in Kelowna. We have some of the best billets I’ve ever experienced in junior hockey.”

With the Western Hockey League playoffs starting Friday, Martin admits he’ll be watching closely.

“As a coach, you’d like to be learning trial by fire by playing in the post-season,” he confessed. “Probably more than any other year, I’ll be really invested in what’s going on. How teams are playing and what adjustments they are making.

“I’ll be paying attention to the Memorial Cup and the differences between the leagues and trying to get a feel for what makes everybody tick,” Martin added.

“The teams we’re hoping to meet next season—not only in the playoffs but to pass them as well—so we have a lot of work to do, and a lot of that falls on what we do in that coaches’ room.”

by Regan Bartel

Rockets season ends abruptly

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