Photo credit: RocketFAN
Rockets involved in 14-one goal games
Things that make me go hmm….
Dec 13, 2023 | 8:00 AM
- If you are a hockey fan in Brandon, Manitoba, it might be wise to be at Westoba Place Wednesday night when the Kelowna Rockets pay a visit. Sure, come for the game and cheer on the hometown team, but more importantly, this may be the only chance to see Andrew Cristall. Now 18, Cristall will likely play one more season in the WHL in 2024-2025 before turning pro, but Cristall and his teammates won’t return to the Wheat City until the 2025-2026 campaign. Cristall will be long gone. The second-round NHL draft pick of the Washington Capitals is riding a 10-game point streak.
- Up until last night’s 2-1 win in Moose Jaw, when was the last time the Kelowna Rockets won on the road by that identical score? It was October 11, 2022, in a 2-1 overtime victory in Victoria. Colton Dach scored the game-winner 1:04 into the extra frame.
- There are several interesting storylines outside of the Rockets’ 2-0-0-0 record on this road trip, which includes back-to-back one-goal wins over Regina (5-4) and Moose Jaw (2-1). The lack of snow in Saskatchewan is extremely eye-opening. Even Saskatoon resident Caden Price can’t believe it. “I am shocked,” the personable defenseman told RocketFAN. “I was talking to people when we were in Strathmore [Alberta], my billets back in Kelowna, and they were saying we got snow. We come to Saskatchewan and there is nothing. To be honest, I am a little disappointed. I love the snow, as when you come back it feels more like Christmas. That said, when the weather is nice you aren’t freezing all day and every day when you are coming to the rink.”
- RocketFAN thought Price had some interesting thoughts on the two-hour time difference here on the prairies. The games in Saskatchewan and Manitoba are two hours ahead of Kelowna, which resides in the Pacific time zone. “I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal,” he said. “I had trouble staying asleep those first couple of nights, so to have a few days off before playing four games in five nights is huge for us. It is also good to hang out together and bond together while having some rest days is good too.”
- RocketFAN doesn’t want to toot our own horn, but we will. The story we did last Friday on Kelowna Rockets forward Ty Hurley saving a man who was likely attempting to commit suicide by drowning in a Strathmore hotel has received Western Hockey League attention. The league did their version of the story by talking to Hurley directly and posted it on their website. These are the type of stories RocketFAN loves to do, preaching the virtue of not only the player but also the individuals who make up the fabric of every major junior hockey league team.
- We have to give a high-five to the public address announcers in both Regina and Moose Jaw for doing a tremendous job on the names of the visiting players over the opening two games. The Kelowna Rockets have several difficult names, but thanks to an easy-to-follow pronunciation guide, which should be a staple in every game media package, none of the 18 skaters or two goalies have had their names butchered. ‘Hiroki’ was tough to say for the Regina announcer, but let’s give him some grace. In Moose Jaw, the last name ‘Mittelsteadt’ took a bit of a turn for the worse, but again it wasn’t massacred.
- It was interesting to meet Moose Jaw Warriors forward Max Finley before Tuesday’s game. Finley, 16, is the youngest of three Finley brothers, whose father is Jeff Finley, former Rockets assistant coach to Ryan Huska in the 2009 WHL championship season. Max Finley was born in Kelowna and is in his first season cutting his teeth in the WHL. “At 16 years old, it is fun to be here,” he said. “Jarome Iginla [Tij Iginla’s dad] was my coach in my U15 year, my WHL draft year. Rink Hockey [Academy] was awesome. There was lots of development, which is really good for me. Jarome, how much he knows about the game, was awesome too. He was great for me the entire year.” Finley was the Warriors second-round draft pick, 25th overall, in the 2022 draft.
- Regina has a problem. White Rabbits. Yes, the situation is very much real after RocketFAN went for a walk to the Cornwall Centre (Regina’s major mall) and noticed an exorbitant amount of them in a nearby park. One biologist at the University of Regina suggested residents should eat them. The quote in a 2021 article read, “Oh good heavens, they are tasty. Let’s eat them.”
- I even spoke with Regina Pats forward Logan Peskett about them (rabbits) during a pre-game interview. The former Kelowna Rockets player had a chuckle when I asked him about the four-legged furry rascals. “There are sure large rabbits here,” Peskett admitted. “They call me the ‘Pesky Rabbit’, so maybe this is where I belong.”
- It was a test. Ok, it was a RocketFAN test when eating breakfast at a Regina hotel in the early stages of our prairie road trip. The test showed who is most comfortable in their skin in sitting beside the radio broadcaster at the breakfast table. With few seats available in the designated banquet room, some players passed at the seat next to me, yet two veterans officially showed their true colours. Caden Price and Gabriel Szturc had limited seating options but elected to choose door ‘B’ which was at the table with the radio broadcaster chowing down on eggs and bacon.
- You meet many interesting people when you travel. Our stop on Saturday night in Regina was no exception. RocketFAN met a gentleman by the name of Brent Kaminski. Kaminski approached us in a welcoming way and often used the word ‘friend’ until finally shaking hands and introduced ourselves to one another. We learned that Kaminski is now retired after 44 years of managing Safeway stores including one in Swift Current, Saskatchewan in the late 80s. Kaminski is now the host, or setup person, in the Regina Pats media room. The Pats couldn’t have found a better volunteer.
- Captain Gabriel Szturc won’t know what to do with himself. For the first time in three years, the 20-year-old will be flying back to Czechia for the Christmas holidays. Don’t forget, Szturc has played for his country in back-to-back World Junior Hockey Championships, placing second and fourth.
- We ran into Kelowna referee Mike Langin (born in Sylvan Lake, Alberta) at Brandt Centre in Regina after the game. Langin has been a WHL official since 2002, which is a significant difference from his day job of being a master fitter with TaylorMade Golf. Langin was calling Saturday’s game with first-year referee Dakota Odgers, who just retired from hockey after playing senior in the Sask East Hockey League. WHL fans will remember Odgers playing in the WHL the Swift Current Broncos, Vancouver Giants, and Moose Jaw Warriors.
- Did you know singer, songwriter Burton Cummings lives in Moose Jaw? The Guess Who frontman moved from LA to Moose Jaw at about this time in 2018. The Canadian rock and roll icon, now in his mid-70s, was not at Tuesday’s Warriors-Rockets game though. Cummings doesn’t mind the winter weather in Moose Jaw. Heck, he grew up in Winnipeg.
- Speaking of Winnipeg, Kelowna Rockets forward Michael Cicek is from the Manitoba capital. “It will be super fun,” the 19-year-old said about playing against the Wheat Kings in Brandon tonight. “I have had this game marked on my calendar. I will have friends and family come out. It is nice to be back in Manitoba. Nothing feels like home.” Cicek is one of two Kelowna Rockets players to skate on Eastern Division ice a season ago. Cicek, with the Spokane Chiefs, played five games on the prairies, including a stop in Winnipeg when the Ice was still based in the Manitoba capital. “There is nothing like the eastern swing,” he said. “Bonding with the team on the road is a good time. Facing teams you rarely face during the season is also fun, so you see new faces and new competition. It is even better when you can pull out some wins before the break.”
- The Mad Greek Restaurant was likely sad to see us move on to Brandon. The Moose Jaw-based business fed the team no less than three meals, which were way above average. As one person said on Tripadvisor, ‘The food here is insanely good’. We echo that sentiment. The Mad Greek is Mad Good!
- The photo above is from inside the Kelowna Rockets bus looking through the front windshield. The decorative Christmas lights in the interior are courtesy of the hard work of bus driver Shane Curveon.
- At 1527 words, it is time to shut the barn doors for another week. With Christmas just 12 days away, it is time to step up and help your fellow man…..if you can. RocketFAN recently got involved in London Drug’s ‘Stocking Stuffers for Seniors’ program. Each tag on Christmas trees, placed prominently in each store, contains a wish list, bringing joy to over 75,000 low-income seniors across Western Canada. We encourage you to do something similar for someone you know, or someone you don’t this holiday season.
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