The Kelowna Rockets’ 4-2 loss to Victoria on Tuesday night was the team’s sixth straight defeat.
Not surprisingly, fans and the team’s staff aren’t happy with Kelowna’s losing streak and their performance of late.
“We’re struggling and I think we got a little feeling sorry for ourselves,” Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton told Global News.
“It’s time to buck up here and get to work.”
With two key players injured, the Rockets really do have their work cut out for them.
Team captain Colton Dach will be out of action, possibly for up to two months, after suffering a shoulder injury at the recent 2023 world junior hockey championship in Atlantic Canada.
“He’ll go to Chicago as soon as Team Canada is done and be assessed there,” Hamilton said of the Blackhawks draft pick. “Then we’ll get a better idea, but we’re thinking it’s six to eight weeks.”
The good news is that forward Adam Kydd could be cleared to return this weekend after recovering from a fractured foot.
“He’s been skating for the last week or so, feeling good and working out,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette.
“So hopefully we can push it to the next level and see him back real soon.”
Earlier this week, the Rockets also announced that they had signed a European defenceman, Mark Rocak, whom Kelowna drafted in the first round of last year’s CHL import draft.
“He’s a smaller defenceman who moves well,” Mallette said of Rocak, who spent part of the season playing in a professional league.
“I think that, again, playing against men, he can defend well. In this league, it will take a little bit to acclimatize to be a 200-foot player.”
As to why Rocak is joining the Rockets mid-season, it stems from him not getting enough playing time at the professional level.
That allowed him to get out of his contract, allowing him to play for Kelowna.
“I think he saw the world juniors, the success that the players who’ve been in the CHL have had there,” said Hamilton. “I think it made (the decision) a little easier for him.”
But even with Kydd and Rocak back, along with Gabriel Szturc, who helped Czechia win silver at the world juniors, the bottom line is that the Rockets will still have trouble winning if they continue to take bad penalties.
The solution, says Hamilton, starts in the coach’s office and moves to the bench.
“This has been going on all season and I’ve addressed this with the coaches,” said Hamilton.
“It’s a pretty simple cure in my mind: You just don’t play when you take stupid penalties. And that’s probably going to start to evolve here in a hurry.”
The Rockets are back in action this weekend, with a home-and-home set against the Blazers. Kelowna will host Kamloops on Friday night, then trek north for the rematch on Saturday night.