Photo credit: RocketFAN

By Regan Bartel

3-5-0-1 after 9 games

Rockets stumble twice against US Division opponents

Oct 20, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Kelowna is still searching for daylight in a tough stretch. The winless streak is now at five games after a 3–1 loss to the Tri-City Americans on Sunday, coming right after a close 3–2 defeat to Everett the night before. But this skid is not about effort. The work ethic is there. The compete is real. The finish just has not followed yet.

The Rockets outshot Tri-City, created chances, and kept pushing. The puck just would not go.

“We are really struggling to score,” Associate Coach Don Hay told RocketFAN. “When we made it 2 1, I thought that would be the life. It’s really a fine line right now between getting frustrated because you’re not scoring and just playing a good solid team game.”

There was one clear bright spot. The goaltending.

“I thought Harrison Boettinger was really good for us tonight in goal,” Hay said. “I thought he was our best player and their goalie was probably their best player. So both goalies performed really well.”

The lost art of true sports storytelling

Why athlete stories should never fade

Jul 22, 2025

One call, one commitment

Luke Schenn's call, Mazden Leslie's answer

Jul 19, 2025

Is the NCAA grass really greener?

WHL's grit and grind is unmatched

Jul 10, 2025

Penalties tilted the ice. Kelowna was shorthanded seven times, which meant more defending and less momentum.

“We spend a lot of time on the penalty kill, a lot of energy,” Hay said. “That takes away from your 5 on 5 play and momentum. We have to find a way to work through that and play a really strong team game and find a way to score goals off your shin pads, off the seat of your pants in front of the net. We had that 3 on 2, and it just went right by our stick. That was a really good open net to score. We’re just not getting a lot of 2nd and 3rd chances in front of the goalie.”

The message from the bench staff was clear. They need more from everyone.

“I think we need more… our top guys need to lead the way to make good plays. Mazden Leslie’s in there, Will Sharpe’s in there. They have to make passes from me to you to somebody else to in the net. If it gets interrupted, it’s hard to finish it off. Secondary guys have got to provide energy, find time in the offensive zone wearing people down.”

There were positives in the depth group too.

“I thought again Jackson Kehrig, Connor Pankratz and Kanjyu Gojsic played really well as our 4th energy type line.”

Faceoffs were another hurdle. Tri-City won them 34 to 21.

“That’s one of my pet peeves,” Hay said. “We need to do better in faceoffs, especially on the penalty kill. If you have a couple good faceoff guys winning 50 to 55 percent of draws, you start with the puck and can make plays that lead to shots or opportunities.”

The weight of last season still lingers.

“It is concerning. It’s concerning to the Hamilton’s. It’s concerning to Derrick Martin. It’s concerning to all the staff. We’ve got to find a way to work through that. This group at practice works hard. We’ve been stalled a little bit. If it’s a mental thing, we have to get over that. Bruce Hamilton made good moves over the summer bringing in Carson Wetsch, Mazden Leslie, Tomas Poletin… they’ve had success, but it’s in the back of your mind, here we go again type of thing instead of just saying heck with this, we’re going to push our way through it.”

Up next is a test in Victoria on Wednesday against a team off to a strong start.

“They’ve made a lot of changes in Victoria,” Hay said. “James Patrick and his group have done a really good job filling in for lost top end guys. They play a safe game, are in good position, and play a quick game. They’re doing something right. They work and take advantage of their opportunity and probably get good goaltending.”

Effort is not the problem. Finish, timing, and goals are what will make the difference.

Kelowna gets its next chances to turn momentum around this week against the Victoria Royals and Medicine Hat Tigers.