Rockets entering make-or-break stretch of schedule
Kelowna in Kamloops for final meeting of the regular season tonight
If the WHL playoffs were to start today, the Kamloops Blazers would be hosting the Kelowna Rockets in the first round.
Tonight, the Rockets (35-20-5-0) visit the Blazers (37-19-2-4) for a potential playoff preview in Kamloops to open a challenging three-game weekend road trip that also features tough tests against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday and Spokane Chiefs on Sunday. Tonight also marks the final regular-season meeting between Kelowna and Kamloops — a series that has favoured the Blazers to date, with six wins through nine games (6-2-0-1) and a perfect 4-0 record at home.
The Rockets have really struggled in Kamloops this season, getting outscored by a combined 23-4.
No, that is not a misprint — 23-4! — and that includes a 6-0 blowout loss in their most recent clash at Sandman Centre on Feb. 8.
The Rockets also suffered a 9-2 shellacking in their season opener there in September, plus 5-1 and 3-1 defeats around the New Year, but those three setbacks should come with an asterisk since Kelowna was missing several key players to NHL training camps and to the world-junior tournament.
Still, the results have been lopsided and that dates back to last year’s first-round playoff series, which saw the Blazers beat the Rockets 5-1 and 4-0 in Games 4 and 6 at Sandman Centre. Kelowna’s only win in Kamloops — prevailing 1-0 in Game 3 — came at the old Memorial Arena.
Do the math and the Rockets have been outscored 32-5 in their last six contests at Sandman Centre — all losses.
That is concerning, especially if Kelowna opens the post-season there.
The importance of getting a win tonight in Kamloops can’t be understated, not only in terms of the playoff race and the B.C. Division standings, but also for Kelowna’s psyche should Sandman Centre be home to Games 1 and 2 of this year’s best-of-seven series.
The Rockets would much rather start the post-season at Prospera Place in Kelowna — where they have beat the Blazers on three of five occasions this season and also won three of four in last year’s playoff series, including the seventh-and-deciding game thanks to Tomas Soustal’s overtime heroics.
For that to happen, Kelowna would have to win the majority of its 12 remaining games — including the final head-to-heads with Kamloops and Prince George, the two teams the Rockets are chasing down the stretch.
Kelowna enters the weekend five points back of the second-place Blazers and six behind the top-ranked Cougars (38-19-3-2), with the Rockets holding two games in hand on both teams to possibly make up four points.
Kelowna hosts Prince George for their finale next Wednesday, March 1, with a chance to tie that season series.
The Rockets lost their first four meetings with the Cougars but have since won three straight — all this month — and the last two convincingly, including a 5-2 triumph at Prospera Place last Saturday.
There is also a very real possibility of Kamloops overtaking Prince George for the division title, with just one point between them and four head-to-heads over their final 10 games. That includes a doubleheader in Prince George on March 3-4 and a season-ending home-and-home on March 17 in Kamloops and March 18 back in P.G.
The Blazers and Cougars have split the first four games of their season series — each winning twice, though the Cougars have the better record because of an overtime loss (2-1-1-0). However, much like the series versus Kelowna, Prince George was victorious in the first two games and Kamloops has won the two most recent meetings — both at Sandman Centre, including a 3-0 shutout this past Sunday.
There is still a slim chance that Kelowna could surge to win the division — surpassing both Kamloops and Prince George — but tonight and March 1 would seemingly be must-win games for that scenario to play out.
Securing home-ice advantage in the opening round of playoffs has to be the goal for Kelowna, regardless of who the Rockets are matched up against — be it the Blazers or the Cougars or, improbable as it may seem, one of the wild-card teams in the Victoria Royals or Portland Winterhawks.
However it plays out, the Rockets just need to keep winning down the stretch.
Kelowna has the best record of any Western Conference team over its last 10 games (8-1-1-0) and has earned at least a point in six straight (5-0-1-0). Prince George has been reeling (3-50-2 in its last 10), while Kamloops is still going relatively strong (6-2-0-2).
The Rockets are coming off their biggest blowout win of the season — clobbering the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings 10-1 on Wednesday — but this weekend represents a whole different level of competition.
Kelowna did well in raising its level to beat Seattle a couple weeks back, following consecutive lopsided shutouts of the last-place Vancouver Giants. Edmonton and Vancouver have near identical records and were both sellers at the Jan. 10 trade deadline, so the Rockets can relate to that experience in preparation for Kamloops tonight.
It will be a big step up again, and it won’t get any easier Saturday in Kent, Wash., against the T-Birds, who will be looking to avenge that 6-3 loss from Feb. 13 at Prospera Place, which halted Seattle’s 12-game points streak.
Sunday is daunting too, with Spokane having the distinction of being the only Western Conference team that Kelowna has yet to beat this season.
Despite not likely being playoff-bound — nine points behind Portland for the second wild-card spot, with two games in hand and 13 to go — the Chiefs have played some of their best hockey against the Rockets in scoring three straight overtime wins, including 5-4 at Prospera Place last Friday.
There is still a month to go — with the postseason likely starting a month from today, on Friday, March 24 — but the outcomes of these next four games, counting Wednesday’s tilt with the Cougars, will go a long way in determining whether Kelowna begins the playoffs at home or on the road.