The Memorial Cup tournament opened with a big game between the host Kelowna Rockets and Ontario Hockey League champion Kitchener Rangers facing off but despite having the crowd behind them, the Rockets got blown out in a 5-0 shutout loss.
For the first time since 2004, the puck dropped on a Memorial Cup game in Kelowna, however, despite having home ice advantage, the Kelowna Rockets fell behind early as Kitchener forward Dylan Edward threw the puck on net which hit the top of Rocket goaltender Harrison Boettiger’s pad and into the net to give Kitchener a 1-0 lead with the goal that stood as the game winner.
Several minutes after the opening goal, Kitchener defenceman Jared Woolley got his stick in the skates of an opponent, taking them down and giving the Rockets the game’s first power play. The Rockets began the man advantage looking to draw even but, despite having the extra man, couldn’t get any scoring chances on what turned out to be a very lacklustre power play.
With the Rockets down at home, the team needed a spark to get them going, so after a back-and-forth between Rockets forward Dawson Gerwing and Woolley, the pair dropped the gloves, a rare occurrence in the tournament. After taking down Woolley, the Rockets bench seemed to spring to life, but it was short-lived as Rockets forward Mazden Leslie got his stick in Kitchener goaltender Christian Kirsch’s skates while on a flyby of the net, tripping him up and earning himself a trip to the sin bin.
The Leslie penalty was killed off by the Rockets, and the clock wound down on the opening frame. In the final seconds, a shot on Kirsch became loose in the crease, giving the Rockets their best scoring chance of the game, but the puck was eventually covered by Kirsch shortly before the buzzer sounded to mark the end of the first period.
The second period came with more dangerous scoring opportunities by the Kitchener Rangers, but Boettiger stood his ground to keep the Rockets within one. Later in the frame, Rockets forward Vojtech Cihar got a little too feisty after the whistle, earning him a roughing penalty and sending Kitchener back to the power play. The best chance on the power play was a shot from the high slot that beat Boettiger clean, but the puck was shot slightly too high, going off the crossbar and out of play.
After the power play expired, former West Kelowna Warriors Jack Pridham got the puck behind the net and passed it out front to Woolley, who fired the puck past Boettiger to give Kitchener a 2-0 lead. Shortly after scoring the insurance marker, Kitchener defenceman Carson Campbell grabbed a puck out of the air and closed his hand over it, earning himself a penalty and the Rockets a chance to get back in the hockey game. The Rockets power play only lasted 22 seconds before Cihar took an interference penalty, which nullified the power play and sent the Rockets into the second intermission down by two.
The third period saw a second fight after Mazden Leslie took a big hit, going off in some discomfort. Rockets defenceman Nate Corbet came to his teammate’s aid and dropped the gloves with Carson Campbell. After the fight, the Rockets gave up three more goals to Jack Pridham, Sam O’Reilly and Haedan Ellis. The game ended with Kitchener securing a 5-0 shutout victory, and while it’s nice to get the shutout, it’s still early, said Kirsch
“It was a great game. I mean, the guys made it pretty easy for me. They didn’t give up much and that helped me to get my shutout. They had a great team effort, and now we have to keep going. It’s nice, but the tournament just started. There’s a lot of work ahead of us, and we got to stay humble and keep working.”
In a short tournament like the Memorial Cup, getting a win in the opening game is big, but you can’t overlook the games to come, said Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas.
“Of course, the first win is important. Uh, it’s always the first game you play; you want to win that, and I think our team was ready, and we played a good team game, but it’s early in the tournament now. We still have quite many games to go.”
Yeah, I just overall don’t think we did enough. We trained five weeks for this, and I think we just weren’t ready tonight, and I think we just got to bounce back for the next game.
When you are slow getting to your game, you will have a hard time, said Rockets head coach Derrick Martin following the loss.
“I think the emotional buildup to this, and I thought there was a lot of energy in the building. I thought that as a group we needed to do more with the puck early on in the hockey game. It took us a long time to get any type of flow to our game. And when you’re chasing and you’re giving a team like that enough opportunities at the net, you’re going to pay the price. We’re not going to sit up here and make excuses for everyone, but this is a group that all year has shown a lot of resiliency and an ability to bounce back really quickly after things like this, and I expect the same from us on Sunday.”
Those words were echoed by Rockets captain Carson Wetsch.
“I just overall don’t think we did enough. We trained five weeks for this, and I think we just weren’t ready tonight, and I think we just got to bounce back for the next game.”
The Rockets have an off day before they look to bounce back against the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champion Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Sunday, while Kitchener has two days to rest before taking on the Western Hockey League champion Everett Silvertips on Monday.
