History says the Kelowna Rockets are in an enviable position. The Calgary Hitmen want to prevent history from repeating itself.
The Western Hockey League championship series resumes tonight with Game 4 and Kelowna on the cusp of claiming the Ed Chynoweth Cup. The Rockets hold a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and can sweep the Hit-men with a victory. Game time at Prospera Place is 7 p.m.
Of the nine league finals this decade, a trend has popped up with three sweeps in the past five years. Looking deeper, only once this decade has the league final gone the distance, with all seven games being played. That series, in 2007 between Medicine Hat and Vancouver, featured a memorable final with three lead changes before Medicine Hat won the Cup with a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 7.
That no team this decade has climbed out from an 0-3 league-final hole says much about how deep a crevasse the Hitmen are in. And how favoured the Rockets are to win their third WHL championship.
Yet despite having defensively wrestled the Hitmen to the mat and placed Calgary in a stranglehold, Kelowna is taking a low-key approach to Game 4.
“It‘s not over yet; we still have a long ways to go, and it can end up a long series,” said Rockets goaltender Mark Guggenberger, who made 21 saves on Monday night as Kelowna blanked Calgary 2-0 in Game 3. Guggenberger was named the first star, as he kept Calgary at bay in a lopsided third period the Hitmen owned but couldn‘t score.
“We know we have a good opportunity here at home,” said Rockets defenceman Brandon McMillan, who was Game 3‘s third star and has been a quiet key to success for Kelowna with his quick speed and up-ice rushes. “But we have to keep working hard, keep things simple and we‘ll see what happens.”
“We‘re one win away, and it feels good,” Rockets centre Mikael Backlund added after Tuesday‘s optional practice. “There‘s a great feeling in the locker-room, and, hopefully, we can finish it up (tonight).”
That‘s what Ryan Huska wants – a win so Kelowna doesn‘t have to return to Calgary. Though the Rockets opened the series on Hitmen ice with 3-1 and 5-2 wins, the Saddledome is a tough building to win in. Calgary is 38-6 on home ice this season.
“It‘s going to get harder as it goes, to win that last one. I think it‘ll get more and more difficult,” said Huska, Kelowna’s head coach. “I think it‘s important for our guys to understand that it‘s far from over. We have to approach this, again, as a Game 7.”
Huska added Game 3 was “very physical for the first two periods, and it was a little nail-biting towards the end for our situation. But it was a good hockey game; both teams competed and worked very hard.”
That it was, a good game and a contest in which Calgary could have easily won 2-0. Knowing that, when Cody Almond sealed the result with a slow-rolling backhand into an empty net with 5.7 seconds left, the standing-room only crowd of 6,329 exploded, realizing the Rockets escaped with a tight win.
The crowd was so loud it was almost equal to when Almond scored the game-tying goal late in the third period of Kelowna‘s series-clinching 5-4 overtime victory against the Vancouver Giants last month. For perspective, the loudest Prospera Place has been was when Kelowna won the 2004 Memorial Cup, and Almond‘s two goals came quite close to matching that mark.
Asked what was the louder of the two goals, against Vancouver or Calgary, Almond picked the former.
“I think the Vancouver one because they aren‘t very well liked around these parts,” said Almond, who now has nine goals and 25 points in 16 games. The 19-year-old, formerly from Calgary but now living in Kelowna, is second in the WHL playoff scoring race, six behind leader and teammate Jamie Benn (13-18-31), while linemate Backlund is third (11-8-19).
“But both goals, to score them is a good feeling,” continued Almond, agreeing the series has been physical. “When the fans get into games and cheer like that, and how they‘ve been supporting us really well, we really appreciate that. But we know this series isn‘t over until it‘s over.
“We do have a big lead and a great opportunity ahead of us, but we have to make the best of it. We have to come out hard (today) because we know they‘re going to play very desperate.”
ICE CHIPS: Injured in Game 2 after being belted into the endboards by Hitmen D Keith Seabrook, Benn did not skate on Tuesday and his status is day to day. The Rockets aren‘t releasing what type of injury Benn has, but a concussion is likely, as the 6-foot-2 forward lost his helmet en route to hitting the endboards, then the ice. One source says Benn may have been briefly unconscious after hitting the ice. . . . Kelowna‘s two other WHL titles came in 2003 against Red Deer and 2005 against Brandon. Top of Page
