Rockets lineup stretched by injuries
r By Warren Henderson – Kelowna Capital News
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r In his 12 seasons as a player and coach in the Western Hockey League, Ryan Huska can’t ever remember seeing three players from one team go down to injury in one period.
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r Such was the case Friday night in Kamloops when defenceman Tyson Barrie (knee), Mitchell Chapman (shoulder) and forward Max Adolph (ankle) were all hurt within the first 10 minutes during a 4-1 loss to the Blazers.
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r “It was a pretty strange situation, I’ve never seen that many guys get hurt within minutes of each other,” said Huska. “It kind of left us scrambling, you’re looking down the bench to see who you can use where. It puts a strain on your team, but that just means everybody else has to step up and do the job.”
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r Coupled with the continued absence of Tyler Myers (Buffalo), Colin Long (San Antonio, AHL), Evan Bloodoff (knee, 4-6 months) and Mark Guggenberger (pelvis), and the Kelowna Rockets’ depth is being put to a severe test early in the 2009-10 campaign.
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r With the dwindling numbers in mind, the club acquired Tyler Matheson, 19, from the Saskatoon Blades this week in exchange for a conditional seventh-round bantam draft choice.
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r The 6-foot-2, 230 pound Matheson, who is a native of Victoria, can play both forward and defense.
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r “With the injuries we suffered on the weekend, we needed to acquire someone who could play,” said Rockets president and GM Bruce Hamilton.
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r With the 18-year-old Barrie—the leader and most experienced blue liner on the team—expected to miss the next two to three weeks, the Rockets’ immediate need is on the back end where youth and inexperience rule.
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r Every available Rocket suited up for Saturday’s rematch with the Blazers at Prospera Place and the home team responded with its best effort of the young season.
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r Kelowna out shot the Blazers 49-23 while outscoring them 5-0 in a game that was never in doubt.
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r Head coach Ryan Huska pointed to his team’s work ethic and speed on the forward lines—with players like Stepan Novotny and Shane McColgan setting the pace—as keys to the win.
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r Huska hopes it’s a recurring theme.
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r “It’s not one or two guys being out of the lineup that loses you hockey games,” said Huska. “The guys got the message that if they compete and work hard as a team, they’re going to get results. The way our team is now, we have to play 60 minutes to have success.
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r “We have good speed up front, too,” he added, “and if we’re using that every night, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.”
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r Rocket Shots…
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r The Rockets (1-2-1-0) will host Marc Habscheid and the Chilliwack Bruins (1-3-0-0) Friday, 7 p.m. at Prospera Place. The teams will meet for a rematch Saturday night in Chilliwack…The Medicine Hat Tigers pay their only visit of the season to Kelowna a week from tonight.
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