It乌鸦传媒檚 been a month since they were humbled on home ice by the Victoria Royals, but the wound remains raw for the
Withto the B.C. Division leaders serving as ample motivation, the WHL rivals will square off this weekend for two games at Save on Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
乌鸦传媒淭hey got us in our own rink and it was a real eye-opener for our group,乌鸦传媒� Rockets assistant coach Kris Mallette said of the Oct. 4 defeat at Prospera Place. 乌鸦传媒淎 lot of different things didn乌鸦传媒檛 go our way due to us cheating the game. We乌鸦传媒檙e reminding the guys, they can乌鸦传媒檛 take what happened lightly and that was a wake-up call we have to respond to.
乌鸦传媒淭his rivalry goes back as long as I乌鸦传媒檝e been here and it乌鸦传媒檚 always very intense,乌鸦传媒� Mallette added. 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檇 expect the same this weekend.乌鸦传媒�
The Rockets (7-5-2-1) rebounded from the Victoria loss with a pair of overtime victories in Prince George, before sliding into a five-game winless funk in mid-October.
Kelowna has since righted the ship with a 3-0-1-0 record over the last four games, the result of a better team game in all respects, according to Mallette.
乌鸦传媒淥ver the last couple of weeks, we乌鸦传媒檙e doing things better, playing better team hockey as a whole,乌鸦传媒� said Mallette. 乌鸦传媒淔or the most part we乌鸦传媒檙e playing more disciplined, we乌鸦传媒檙e making sure we乌鸦传媒檙e not cheating and we乌鸦传媒檝e been getting results because of that.乌鸦传媒�
Kelowna saw a three-game winning streak end Wednesday in Kennewick, Wash., but not before pushing the Americans to overtime and picking up a point in the 4-3 loss. Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 rookie netminder, James Porter, continued his stellar play of late, making 37 saves on 41 shots.
Buoyed by the exploits of Porter, Mallette said the Rockets are continuing to make progress.
乌鸦传媒淚 think we乌鸦传媒檙e playing faster in all the zones, we乌鸦传媒檙e trying not to sit around as much and wait, our break outs are cleaner and that乌鸦传媒檚 allowing us to attack better,乌鸦传媒� Mallette said. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e also getting really good goaltending from James Porter. He乌鸦传媒檚 stepped in as a 17-year-old and is really giving our guys confidence.乌鸦传媒�
Kelowna will be without defenceman Kaeden Korczak for this weekend乌鸦传媒檚 games. The rookie blueliner is playing with Team Canada Black at the World Under 17 Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. The tournament begins Sunday and will run until Saturday, Nov. 11.
The Rockets return to home ice Friday, Nov. 10 to open a four-game homestand against the Vancouver Giants.
