It‘s been a magical ride for the Kelowna Rockets. Too bad they don‘t have time to look back at what just happened.
The Memorial Cup is making them look forward.
It‘s been four days since the Rockets knocked off the Calgary Hitmen for the Western Hockey League championship, an unbelievable ending to an unbelievable playoff run. In capturing their third league title in seven seasons, the Rockets, ranked sixth according to regular-season points, knocked off three of the league‘s top four teams, including the No. 1-ranked Hitmen and No. 2-ranked Vancouver Giants.
However, the Rockets literally have no time to look back in glee. At 9 o‘clock this morning, they leave for Rimouski, site of the 2009 Memorial Cup. The WHL champions open the 10-day, four-team tournament that runs May 15-24 against the host Oceanic on Friday.
After that, it‘s two days of rest before playing the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs on Monday, then the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires on Tuesday. All games feature 4 p.m. PT start times (Sportsnet).
“It seems that‘s what these playoffs have been all about: Moving on,” said Rockets centre and captain Colin Long.
“First it was (beating Tri-City in the second round), then it was Vancouver and the Western Conference championship, and everyone was super excited about that win.
“After that, we knew we wanted to win it all because that wasn‘t enough for us.”
“Looking back, it‘s quite the feat we accomplished. It‘s the best feeling in the world,” added Rockets defenceman Tysen Dowzak, who, like most of his teammates, has never been to Quebec. “It‘s pretty crazy thinking about the last couple of months, and just what really happened and what we had to go through. I mean, 16 (playoff) wins, that‘s amazing.
“But now we‘re looking forward to the Memorial Cup. I hear it‘s going to be pretty crazy there, and I‘m certainly looking forward to it.”
So are defenceman Tyler Myers and centre Mikael Backlund, whose sole goal since joining Kelowna in early January has been to play in the annual, high-profile tournament. A city of approximately 42,000, Rimouski is located 300 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, albeit on the southern side of the St. Lawrence River.
“It feels good, really awesome, to win the WHL,” said Backlund. “But now we have a tough week coming up in Quebec, and I‘m really looking forward to it. When I first arrived, everybody asked me why I came, and I said I came here to win the WHL, then the Memorial Cup.
“I accomplished the first thing and now I‘m going to try to help the team win the Memorial Cup. That‘s our biggest goal and our dream, and hopefully we can go out and win it.”
“I‘ve never been to Quebec and I‘m pretty excited to go,” added Myers. “None of the guys on the team have experienced a Memorial Cup before, so we‘re all very excited and we‘re looking forward to it.”
The Rockets were also a pretty excited bunch on Saturday evening, when Barrie scored in overtime to give Kelowna a 3-2 win in Game 6 over Calgary. That goal – a backdoor pass by Jamie Benn to a streaking Barrie atop Calgary‘s crease – gave Kelowna a 4-2 decision in the best-of-seven series. Backlund also earned an assist on the play by passing to Benn.
When asked what they remember about the goal, three Rockets said the play happened quickly.
Backlund: “When Benn got it, I saw he was going to pass over to (Barrie), and I thought we were going to score. The play, it went very fast. I was so happy, I didn‘t know what to do at first. . . I couldn‘t get my helmet off and stuff like that, and then all the teammates came out.”
Long: “I was the pop-up guy on the power play. Backlund threw it down to Benn, and I was at the top of the circles, ready for a one-timer if he was going to give it to me. I think their guys might have been focusing on me a little bit, and then Barrie snuck in.
“To me, the play went pretty fast. Barrie might have thought the play went slow, but Backlund‘s pass (to Benn) went pretty quick, and then Benn had it for just a quick second before he passed. And then Barrie scored. And when he did, I looked at him and it looked like he didn‘t know what he just did.
“And then I realized what happened and I threw off all my stuff and started celebrating with him.
Myers: “I was up top on the power play, and as soon as I saw Jamie make that back-door pass, I said to myself ’Oooh, this is it!‘ And when Tyson put it in, I got pretty excited. It was an unbelievable feeling.
“Hearing the crowd, and how loud it was, it was good; I got a little taste of that at the (2009 world junior championship). But it was definitely nice to get the win in front of the home fans.” Top of Page
