Rockets d-man John Babcock - Steve Dunsmoor photo

By Regan Bartel

Positive weekend despite mixed results

No lack of effort in road loss

Oct 30, 2022 | 6:53 AM

The Kelowna Rockets could have been leaving Oregon State with their tail between their legs after back-to-back games against arguably one of the best teams in the country.

Instead, with a cup-half-full approach, all things considered, the coaches and players should feel satisfied with the results.

After a 4-3 overtime win Friday night, snapping a season-high four-game losing streak, a depleted lineup again took to the ice Saturday night in a rematch at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

With veteran d-man, Noah Dorey serving a one-game suspension for a slew foot major penalty the night prior, and injured defender Elias Carmichael, who has the most playing experience of any returning blue-liner, sitting at home with an injury, the second night with just 17 skaters took its toll.

The shot clock, which isn’t always a barometer of territorial play, was an indicator that the road team was willing to play a rope-a-dope style in an effort to accomplish an upset.

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It worked for essentially 56 minutes.

Riding a refreshed Jari Kykkanen, making his first start since a game against Everett on Oct.14, the 18-year-old did all he could to keep his team in the game.

A 44-save performance wasn’t enough, though, in a 5-3 setback to a Winterhawks team that has yet to feel the wrath of losing in regulation time at VMC.

Making matters worse, captain Colton Dach missed his fourth consecutive game with an upper-body injury, while 18-year-old Max Graham was unable to dress for the rematch after getting hurt the night before.

Leaning heavily on a d-core that consisted of just three veterans and two raw rookies in 16-year-old Ismail Abougouche and 17-year-old Jackson Romeril, the Rockets entered the third period tied at two goals apiece, despite generating just nine shots on goal.

Down 3-2 at one point, Rilen Kovacevic, who possesses one of the best releases on the team, rifled a shot past rookie goalie Jan Spunar and it looked like a possible point was indeed doable.

Unlike the night prior, where the Rockets caught lightning in a bottle with a late third-period rally, the Winterhawks would get a goal from rookie defenceman Carter Sotheran, his first in the WHL, with under three minutes left in the game, extinguishing the road team’s quest for their fifth win of the year.

It was a heavy minute’s weekend for defenceman John Babcock (photo), with his first goal of the season, Jackson DeSousa and Caden Price. All three favoured very well against a team that pressures you defensively. The trio was a combined -4 in two games, which isn’t bad considering the Winterhawks put up 93 shots.

Looking for more positives, a shift in the second period involving an all-rookie line of Ethan Neutens, Logan Peskett, and Will Munro, is worth bragging about. The trio was involved in a physical exchange and ruffled the feathers in a scrum in the Portland zone with an ‘I’m not going to back down approach’ which is a building block just 12 games into the season.

In a murders row schedule, which has featured elite competition in the likes of Everett, Winnipeg, and Portland, three teams with a combined record of 29-6-0-0, the Rockets need to remember the chamber of their gun wasn’t fully loaded, so it made for an unfair gunfight.