Photo credit: Rob Wilton

By Regan Bartel

Falling short in Langley

Rockets struggle to match intensity after emotional week

Jan 12, 2025 | 7:00 AM

The emotional bubble burst for the Kelowna Rockets Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. 

After a week filled with off-ice distractions leading up to the looming trade deadline, farewells to familiar faces, and the arrival of four new players, it was clear that something had to give. Following a gritty 6-3 win over the Prince George Cougars on home ice Friday night, where raw emotions boiled over into a tremendous effort, the Rockets struggled to bring the same intensity in a road loss 24 hours later. 

“We were passengers for 35 minutes,” Rockets interim head coach Derrick Martin told RocketFAN. “We didn’t push out of the zone. We didn’t control pucks. We didn’t get pucks back. It wasn’t that we weren’t competing; we were competing, just playing harder than we needed to, and not smarter than we needed to.” 

The Rockets, a larger team after the deadline than before, found themselves spending more time in the penalty box—a familiar recipe for disaster. 

“We talked about it after the hockey game, the accountability has to start now with guys taking penalties and putting us down,” Martin continued. “There isn’t a team in the league that’s going to kill six penalties a night, so we have to set a benchmark and some goals as a group, empower the players to be a part of that, and as coaches, we have to police that.” 

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Nineteen-year-old forward Andrew Petruk, who made his debut after being acquired Thursday from the Everett Silvertips, spent time in the penalty box but was also eager to engage Giants players in fisticuffs. Though no one took him up on the challenge, he succeeded in getting defenseman Colton Roberts to take a penalty in the third period, in an effort to get his team back into the game. 

“I thought in the last five minutes of the second period, it was really good hockey,” Martin reflected, noting that his team scored three times in the final frame. “We did a lot of good things in the third period, and we didn’t quit.” 

Surrendering the opening goal just 1:03 into the game didn’t help, and a power play goal eight minutes later left the Rockets in a hole that they, unlike Friday, couldn’t dig themselves out of. Trailing 4-1 early in the third period, it looked like the game was decided, but Hiroki Gojsic’s shorthanded goal and rookie Kalder Varga’s 8th goal of the season brought the Rockets within a goal.

Despite the efforts, the Rockets couldn’t find the equalizer, though they got close, making it a one-goal game on two occasions. 

“I told the guys after the game, there are glimpses of genius in this group. It’s exciting for us because now the challenge is to show up Monday and teach, and for the players to show up and learn. We need to be hard on each other in practice physically, and we are going to get better by doing that.” 

Newcomer Will Sharpe, who scored in his Rockets debut Friday night against the Cougars, collected two assists in the loss, while Max Graham also earned two helpers on Jakub Stancl’s team-leading 15th goal and Varga’s rookie-leading eighth goal of the season. 

“What I was really proud of the group tonight was that the guys weren’t hanging their heads in the dressing room,” Martin said. “I see a group that is ready to get to work, and that shows signs of optimism.” 

After trading away their leading scorer, Andrew Cristall, to the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday, the Rockets now prepare to face Cristall when the U.S. Division-based team comes to Kelowna Wednesday night. 

“Right now, we aren’t getting ready for a single appointment,” Martin emphasized. “We’re getting ready to perform at our best. 

“This group has the ability to make opponents play to them, and we want to start doing that.”