Winning while waiting on leading scorer/MVP

“Consistency is key”.

Those words out of the mouth of Kelowna Rockets head coach Kris Mallette in Prince George during a doubleheader over the weekend in the Western Hockey League’s most northerly outpost.

Mallette witnessed his team suffer a 6-3 road loss Friday night to the hometown Cougars before playing significantly better in a 5-1 victory less than 24 hours later.

“We want to have a team that is able to play the same way regardless if it is in front of our home fans, pumping us up, or on the road creating our own energy”, Mallette told RocketFAN.

Mallette’s team had a huge challenge heading into the set of games. Looking for its first win of the season in a building that is often void of fans, the team had to dig deep to get a split against an opponent they’ve dominated over the last five seasons.

“They have a lot of good, young players over there that want to take a step,” Mallette added. “They had a few guys come back from NHL training camps that drastically changes their lineup, so our guys need to be prepared”.

In the opening game, newly named captain Ethan Samson scored once and added an assist in the Cougars three-goal win. Samson returned to his junior team after competing at the training camp of the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Cougars also had reinforcements back in goal when they learned that both Ty Young, a Vancouver Canucks draft pick, and Tyler Brennan, a fourth rounder of the New Jersey Devils, were returned for an additional season of seasoning.

Meantime, the Rockets are still waiting word on the status of MVP goalie Tayln Boyko and leading scorer Colton Dach.

“Both guys are in contact with our players”, Mallette added. “Our guys want to know how they are doing. Our guys aspire to be where they are at. If they both come back, great for our team. If they make pro, we have done our job”.

Dach remains with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, but hasn’t played in a pre-season game due to a concussion. Boyko is down with the New York Rangers American Hockey League team in Hartford, Connecticut.

“I don’t think it is a distraction with our team”, Mallette went on to say about Dach and Boyko’s future in doubt. “We can lean on the hopes of them coming back, but it gives our players here, that are on our roster right now, hopefully, the ability to show us what they are able to do.”

Andrew Cristall showed tremendous chemistry with Dach a season ago. You would think the 17-year-old would be hampered by not having the shot happy forward as a line-mate. Instead, the sophomore forward is tied for the team lead in points with Adam Kydd. Both players have seven points in three games.

“I would like to see Colton (Dach) get some pre-season NHL games under his belt”, Mallette said. “They (Chicago) are vested in him. I think he put some serious work in over the summer. He had a great national junior camp, so everything was going really well for him.”

The Blackhawks have two more pre-season games left, against Minnesota Thursday and St. Louis on Saturday night.

Dach would make the Rockets significantly better. A career-high 29 goals and 79 points were enough to show the entire WHL that the Blackhawks hit the target when selecting him in the second round (62nd overall) in the 2021 NHL draft.

“It would be great to have him”, Mallette admitted. “It would be a nice bonus for sure. If he comes back we will deal with it, but for now I am dealing with the 25 players I have now, and I’m happy so far”.