RIMOUSKI, Que. – Jamie Benn was the big winner on Friday. Today, he hopes to win an even bigger prize.
The Kelowna Rockets spent Friday night holding a fun, players-only poker tournament, with Benn claiming top prize by sinking Evan Bloodoff in the final. With a 10-8 against Bloodoff‘s 10-5, Benn wound up winning with a straight.
“Team-building is always fun, and we had a blast,” Benn said after Saturday‘s practice, the team‘s last practice of the season.
Today, the Rockets are the safe bet on winning junior hockey‘s biggest prize, the Memorial Cup, as they go heads-up with the Windsor Spitfires for national supremacy.
Game time at le Colisee de Rimouski between the WHL champion Rockets, who have been resting and practising for five days, and OHL champion Spitfires, who will be playing their third game in four days this afternoon, is 1:30 p.m.
On Friday, the Spitfires advanced to today‘s final by defeating the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs in the semifinal, 3-2 in overtime.
Come Saturday morning, though, there were telltale remnants that Windsor may be fatigued, as their bench – which Kelowna used for Saturday‘s practice, and which was open to the media – was littered with what looked like used smelling-salt packages.
Whether Windsor is fatigued or not, the Rockets say they‘re not banking on the Spits being tired.
“We can‘t use that ’They‘re tired‘ theme,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose team hasn‘t played since losing 2-1 to Windsor on Tuesday and has been itching to play again. “Our guys are rested; they should be ready to play with lots of energy, and they‘re excited to play.”
With five days off, the knock on Kelowna is that the Rockets will be off-key for a short period of time before regaining their form. In a seven-game series, that‘s not a concern; in a one-game winner-take-all format, it is.
“We were off for close to seven days after our final series with Calgary ended,” said Huska, referring to Kelowna‘s 4-2 series victory over the Hitmen in the WHL final. “And I thought our best game was our first game here, our (4-1) win over Rimouski. So I don‘t anticipate that being a problem whatsoever.
“We‘ve had breaks like that throughout the regular season and the playoffs, so it‘s not something I‘m concerned about.”
Huska went on to say Windsor “may have momentum to start with, and that‘s why our start will be very big for us. I think you‘ll see different momentum swings throughout the game. We can‘t really worry about how Windsor is going to come out and play. We have to focus on our start and what we have to do to have success on our side of the rink.”
For Kelowna to have success, the Rockets will need a big game from one of their biggest players, centre Mikael Backlund, who, admittedly, has had a quiet tournament. The Calgary Flames prospect has three assists in three games, but hasn‘t been noticeable.
“It‘s going to be a huge feeling going onto the ice for the final,” said Backlund, who has provided big post-season efforts in big games. “We‘ve been OK the whole tournament . . . the Windsor game was bad, but we feel our best will come.
“I know our group is going to be real good and we‘re going to work real hard for Sunday.”
At Saturday‘s practice, the players seemed reluctant to leave the ice once the 45-minute session ended. Slowly, though, they filed off, knowing they had just wrapped up their last practice of the year.
For some, it was also likely the last practice of their junior career.
“It was a fun practice,” said winger Cody Almond. “We got the hands and legs going and got used to the ice again, because we‘ve been at the practice rink for a little bit, but this is an exciting feeling.
“This is where teams want to be, in the Memorial Cup final, and we have a very good opportunity.” Top of Page
