Beginning to show some signs of improvement on the ice, it’s been a busy time for the hometown Rockets over the last ten days. Starting with a battle in Creston October 22nd, and finishing up over the weekend, the club was looking to get back into the win-column.
In a Tuesday Oct.22nd mid-week encounter, the team journeyed to Creston to match skills with the ThunderCats in the southern centre. This game was a battle from start to finish, as once again (for the fifth time in the Rocket’s first ten games) we needed more than sixty minutes to decide a winner.
Golden carried their fine play from Kelowna the previous weekend into this game, and dominated Creston for the most part, outshooting them 48-20. As great as Rocket’s netminder Riley Deck played in this one it wasn’t quite enough, as TCats goalie Brendan Smith proved to be the star of the evening, turning aside no less than 47 Rocket shots.
Creston took a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period on a goal by Daniel O’Handley. This was countered by Hudson Roach’s second tally of the year at 12:26 of the middle stanza to tie things up for Golden. Cameron Whitelaw and Jackson Gair picked up helpers on the play.
After a scoreless third period, plus an OT session, the game went into a player shootout. This needed no less than eight rounds of snipers, as Creston’s Daniel O’Handley again came to the forefront with the eventual winner. Final score was 2-1.
Friday night the Rockets were back in the friendly confines of the Plywood Palace for the first of a two-game weekend, looking to put a stop to a five-game losing skid. The matchup with the speedy Spokane Braves proved to be a good brand of end-to-end hockey for the most part, before Golden put the game out of reach in the final period.
The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after the opening twenty minutes. The Rockets took an early lead with a powerplay marker at 2:21, when Brett Krawchuk fed the puck to Maddox Depasquale at the point, and his hard drive was directed home by talented Kanye Huang at the side of the net. Golden had a chance to extend the lead at the 9:00 minute mark, when Huang broke in on the breakaway and just missed the top corner. Spokane did manage to tie the score with under five minutes left, as Jackson Rendall connected with a feed from behind the net.
The Rockets struck for a pair of goals in the second period. At 10:27, lanky forward Draeden Bear quickly jumped on a rebound off a Thomas Astley point-drive. And later, at the 15:40 mark, steady rearguard Brock McIlwain made no mistake with a snapshot from the right side. For the remainder of the frame, the Braves applied solid pressure deep in the Golden end, with Rocket’s goaltender Landon Garbitt coming up with three key saves keeping the score at 3-1.
The local stars would add another pair in the final period, as Kanye Huang hit for his sixth goal of the season on an early powerplay, and finished with Brayden Bissell’s third of the year ten minutes later.
Final score was 5-1. Spokane outshot Golden 33-30. The teams split twelve minor penalties called by referee Fisher Nelson.
Sunday afternoon the Quesnel River Rush were in town and caught the local flat-footed at the start of the opening period, moving into a quick 1-0 lead just sixty seconds into the game. At 4:53, Cameron Whitelaw took a perfect pass from teammate Brandon Spilchen, and made no mistake to tie the game. About ten minutes later, the visitors Bennett Kuhnlein was left untouched in front of the Golden goal to once again move his team into the lead.
The clubs split four goals in the second period, with both Brandon Spilchen and Dominic Fiorentino striking for their first tallies of the season, moving the Rockets to within one goal at 4-3.
A Quesnel powerplay midway through the final frame pushed the River Rush lead to 5-3 briefly. Just :14 seconds later, Brandon Spilchen’s perfect wrist shot on the left wing got the Rockets back to within a single goal. But the visitors tightened up defensively, and in the final minute connected for an empty-net goal to take the game 6-4.
The next two weekends will see the KIckingHorse charges on the road. The first two days of November will be a solid test for the club, when they travel back into the West Kootenays to battle Beaver Valley and Nelson. The following weekend, they journey to Fernie and Creston for a pair of key divisional games.
Next home action for the Rockets will be November 15th, when the Beaver Valley NiteHawks fly north into town.
Written by Tom Stanton
