By Regan Bartel

Rockets record drop to 6-6-1-1

Controversial hand pass call sinks Rockets in road loss

Nov 8, 2025 | 6:00 AM

A controversial hand pass call was the difference in the Kelowna Rockets’ 4-2 setback Friday night in Victoria. It was the kind of night where frustration outweighed fortune, and a whistle that came late changed everything.

For Associate Coach Don Hay, the frustration came from more than the final score. The disputed hand pass wiped out what looked to be a go-ahead goal, one that could have swung momentum Kelowna’s way. Instead, the play went the other direction.

“It [hand pass] happened before the puck went in,” Hay said. “It happened earlier when we entered the zone. It was hard to see if it went directly to our guy or if they might have touched it before it got to us, but [Mazden] Leslie gloved it ahead with the hand. No whistle. It goes back to the point, to the net, and is deflected in. It took them a long time to call that, a really long time.”

That long delay took the life out of the Rockets’ bench. Instead of celebrating a 3-2 lead, they found themselves even again and chasing the game moments later.

“The third goal was a bad line change by our guys,” Hay said. “We gave up an odd-man rush, and they capitalized. These games are really important right now. They are four point games, and we can’t give up those easy type of goals.”

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The Royals opened the scoring from down low, added a second on a power play, and then struck again off the rush. Each goal came from a breakdown Kelowna could have avoided.

“I didn’t think we really had a great start,” Hay admitted. “Playing with five defensemen, we have to play smarter. We have to put pucks in better and not have as many turnovers. We gave them a little bit of life in the first period.”

The second period was Kelowna’s best stretch of the night, led again by Tij Iginla. The Rockets forward scored both goals, one just 44 seconds into the middle frame and another to tie the game 2-2 later in the period. Iginla continues to be red hot, now with seven goals in just five games, providing the kind of scoring spark the Rockets rely on.

But fatigue and lineup changes caught up to them. With Owen Hayden away at the U17’s and a few players sick, the Rockets were short staffed.

“We lost a defenseman and a forward to a little bit of sickness,” Hay said. “When you go to bed last night you’re expecting something different today, and then you have to play with the lineup a little bit. [Will] Sharpe is out right now, Owen Hayden is away, so it left us a little short on the back end. I thought our defense handled the minutes pretty well, but you get tired going back for pucks when they are not put deep enough.”

Kelowna’s power play had six chances but couldn’t convert when it mattered most.

“I thought we had some good looks,” Hay said. “Their goalie was pretty good. He made some good saves. We also hit him a couple of times, which isn’t good. There were a lot of penalty kills and a lot of power plays. Some 4 on 3s, some 5 on 3s. It was really a fractured type of game in the second period. A lot of guys played a lot of minutes and a lot of guys didn’t play.”

Victoria’s goaltender Ethan Eskit stopped 35 of 37 shots, while Hayden Moore recorded a hat trick for the Royals. Iginla was once again Kelowna’s best skater, scoring both Rockets goals and creating chances every time he was on the ice.

When the dust settled, the game came down to the moment that never should have been.

“If we get that goal, we get the lead and can play with the lead,” Hay said. “They get the goal and they play with the lead and run out of time.”

The Rockets will try to even the weekend series Saturday afternoon (4:05 pm) in Victoria.

“We have to be really focused to start the game,” Hay said. “That’s first and foremost. We have to have a businesslike mentality. Victoria played a pretty hard game. They were missing players too, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to play harder, play smarter, stay on pucks, and be more sticky around the net. We have to make it a lot tougher on their goalie.”

Hay was blunt about the difference between Wednesday’s strong showing in Penticton and the loss in Victoria.

“The slow start really put us back on our heels,” he said. “Instead of getting pucks in and playing more offense, we had too many turnovers.

“Against Penticton we came out, got the lead, and played with it. Tonight we just didn’t play as direct.”