Rockets and Blazers in Twin Bill
The Kelowna Rockets head into a two game weekend against Kamloops looking to rebound from a less than stellar effort on Wednesday night.
The Rockets and Blazers kick off a home and home set in Kamloops tonight before returning to Kelowna on Saturday for a 7 p.m. start at Prospera Place.
In Kamloops, the Rockets will face the WHL Western Conference’s top team in the Blazers, who sport a 38-12-1-3 record. The last time the Rockets met the Blazers was one of the team’s best performances of the season in 3-2 win on Jan. 25 at Prospera.
“They’ve got a really good team in Kamloops,” he said. “But if we play a full 60 minutes we will have a chance to win.”
On Wednesday, Kelowna suffered a 2-0 loss to Seattle, snapping a three game winning streak in a game they were expected to win.
The Thunderbirds came into the game 16 points behind Kelowna in the WHL Western Conference but got shutout goaltending from Calvin Pickard and two power play goals in the third period to earn the win.
Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said it was a step backwards for his team after it had been moving in the right direction with its recent play.
“We have to make sure guys are buying in to the way we want them to play,” said Huska after the game. “That’s the challenge that we have with our group. We seem like we are taking steps in the right direction and then it seems like we take one step back again. We have to get them to understand that the only success that we are going to have is when we play as a group.”
The Rockets head into the game with a 24-24-2-4 record. They sit solidly in sixth place in the Western Conference, trailing the fifth place Vancouver Giants by 11 points and ahead of fourth place Seattle by 14.
