Photo credit: Steve Dunsmoor

By Regan Bartel

Playoff hockey is a different bred

Tight checking awaits high-flying Rockets’ forward

Mar 20, 2024 | 8:00 AM

When the Kelowna Rockets open a first-round playoff series against an undetermined opponent later this month, forward Andrew Cristall will be the focal point.

The 19-year-old is the offensive driver as the team’s best player with 39 goals and 106 points, fifth most of any player in the Western Hockey League.

Opposition teams will want to shut him down, stifling an offensive that has generated 239 goals this season, with the Washington Capitals second-round pick being in on 44.4 percent of every puck that enters the net.

“Andrew [Cristall] is a player that likes to slow the game down,” Rockets head coach Kris Mallette told RocketFAN. “You can beat one guy [with the puck], but against upper-echelon teams, you need to get through another guy.”

A good example of Cristall having a hard time having his way in the offensive zone came in a seasonal series against the Everett Silvertips, arguably the best checkers in the 22-team circuit. In three games, the slick-skating forward managed just one assist.

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“Their tracking is unbelievable,” Mallette added about the Tips’ commitment to defending, which didn’t allow Cristall to dominate like he typically does. “Their puck pursuit coming back into their zone is second to none. Yeah, you can beat one player, but there is going to be another jersey right there. He has to distribute the puck faster.”

Captain Gabriel Szturc had the most success against two of the top three teams in the Western Conference, scoring four times against the Tips’, and earning a team-high 11 points (3+8=11) against the high-flying Prince George George Cougars. A sixth or seventh-place finish has the Rockets facing one of those two teams or the Portland Winterhawks in the opening round.

With two regular season games left this weekend against the Vancouver Giants in a home-and-home series, the time to play with desperation starts now, not when the playoffs officially begin on March 29^th.

“We have some big bodies up front in [Hiroki] Gojsic, [Max] Graham, Gabriel Szturc who works extremely hard on both sides of the puck,” Mallette added about his team needing to play physical. “Tij Iginla, as the season has worn on, is a dog on a bone. He wants that puck on his stick. He wants it all the time.

“We need more out of Luke Schelter. We need more out of Dylan Wightman. We need more out of Ethan Neutens, where they are able to possess the puck. They are all big bodies, they are all heavier players, and should be able to work the corners and take it [the puck] to the greasy areas and get rewarded for it.”

While bad penalties haven’t been totally eliminated from the Rockets overall game, its been a work in progress, playing shorthanded 253 times this season. With two games left to go, its a significant improvement from the 314 times they were playing a man short during the 2022-2023 campaign.

“We want to wear teams down,’ Mallette added. “You also want to put some heat on their defensemen and finish checks, because that will slow a team down that wants to transition the puck up the ice.”

If the playoffs began tonight, the Rockets would face the Everett Silvertips, which is anything but ideal considering the U.S Division based team won all four meetings in the seasonal series.

With four more points up for grabs, avoiding Everett can be attained, but Mallette knows no one is an easy out at this time of the year.

“We know what we are, and we are an effective team when we grind,” he said.

“We can’t go chance for [scoring] chance. Sometimes we need to, not sit back, but get our chances to score when we’ve earned them.

“Trading scoring chances with the top teams is what we can’t do.”