‘Everything’s gonna be alright’ Vees, Rockets fans

It’s not even the first of April and there’s no junior hockey left in the Okanagan Valley. No Kelowna Rockets (following a shocking four-game sweep by the Tri-City Americans), no Penticton Vees (lost in seven in Round 2 to Trail), no Osoyoos Coyotes, no Summerland Steam.

But relax fans, as Bob Marley promised — everything’s gonna be alright.

We don’t need to call in the grief counsellors, it’s only a hockey game.

Yes, in places like Kelowna and Penticton, if there’s not a Memorial Cup or BCHL championship, the season is considered a failure by most fans.

Before all of the armchair quarterbacks come up with the answers, don’t be critical. How many cities in B.C. would love to just once have a team as good as the 2017/18 Rockets (in the Western league) or the 2017/18 Vees (in the BCHL)?

It took the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs nearly a century to win a World Series.

Sure, on paper both the Rockets and Vees should have gone farther, but that’s why you play the game.

So, on behalf of Rockets, Vees, Steam and Coyotes fans, thank you to the players, coaches, and management for another great year of hockey.

Thank you players for your incredible effort night in and night out and thanks for being such great ambassadors for the Okanagan Valley.

Damn! April 1, 2018 will fall on a Sunday so I have to pass for one year on my traditional April Fools Day gag for page one. I had two in mind. For Penticton: “Waterslides proposed for green space at Skaha Lake Park.”

For Kelowna: “City getting tough on panhandlers, buskers and bottle pickers.”

But those would have seemed too far fetched. John Denver was gone far too soon. The 2020 Democrat presidential nominee ... Stormy Daniels. Oh, and I forgot, Happy Easter. Extra special thanks to our staff members and carriers who are giving up time away from their families to work over the holiday weekend. James Miller is valley editor for Okanagan Newspaper Group.