Am I the king of romance, or what?!

It was Saturday night in Kelowna and I needed to show my girl a good time. Assuming the restaurants and movie theaters were at full strength, I needed to light the lamp and breakaway from the usual. No way could I be a goon and end up in the penalty box.

 

 

 

Holy hat-trick, a power play idea rocketed into my crease. Why don’t we head down to Prospera Place and check out three periods of slashing and scoring between the Kelowna Rockets and Everett Silvertips?! Perfect – a Western Conference tilt between two Western Hockey League (WHL) teams.

 

 

 

Better yet, it was B.C. Division versus U.S. Division. International intrigue. Harper vs. Obama. Bieber vs. Beach Boys. Nothing better than a Canadian net-crasher vs. an American sniper.

We lived merely a slap shot from the arena and there was zero icing on the roads. How could we miss this biscuit-in-the-basket border battle?! We were in for some five-hole fun. Please, no deflated pucks.

 

 

One key faceoff. Earlier in the week I had contacted Kevin Parnell, Media Relations Director for the Rockets, and requested press passes. For a couple seats, I would blog about the overall experience. In the rink of social media – even trade. Turned out the press box was full. Minor-league puck-ery was a big draw in the Okanagan. No surprise there.

 

 

A little background for my American audience:

The Western Hockey League started with just seven teams based in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1966. The WHL now has representation in all four Western Canadian provinces and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. With the addition of the Edmonton Oil Kings for the 2007-08 season, the WHL now consists of 22 member Clubs with 17 based in Canadian markets and five in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

The WHL is a member of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) whose membership is comprised of three major junior hockey leagues: Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL). At the conclusion of each League’s playoffs, the CHL hosts the Mastercard Memorial Cup. It’s the National Championship tournament involving each of the League’s Champion and the tournament host.

Upon further review of the WHL standings – these are my favorite city/team names:

Brandon Wheat Kings

Medicine Hat Tigers

Red Deer Rebels

Moose Jaw Warriors

Swift Current Broncos

Tri-City Americans

Upon second review – these are my favorite WHL player names:

For the Rockets:

Rourke Chartier, Tyrell Goulbourne, Gage Quinney, Jackson Whistle, and Dillon Dube

For the Silvertips:

Dawson Leedahl, Remi Laurencelle, Kohl Bauml, Lucas Skrumeda, and Gunnar Wegleitner

For the rest of the league:

Brayden Point, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Keegan Kanzig, Dakota Odgers, and Jaimen Yakubowski

Parnell seated us in Section 104, Row U. Excellent sight lines. We arrived at the barn 40 minutes before the ice got scratchy in order to launch ourselves into Rockets fever. Saw lots of hockey jerseys for lots of teams. The smell of popcorn permeated the packed ice palace. During the first intermission we visited Parnell in the mezzanine Press Box. Thanks, dude.

 

 

 

 

No need to bury the lede. The Rockets blasted the Silvertips, 9-3. No fights. All three stars of the game were from Kelowna. The #1 star was the aforementioned Goulbourne – he had two goals and three assists. The #2 star was Chartier – currently on an amazing pace with 40 goals in 40 games. Here’s hoping many of these young bucks make it to the National Hockey League.

 

 

 

In many ways, this was a night of firsts. These are my game highlights:

Both National Anthems were sung before the game. When the lady sang “….and the rockets red glare….”, the home crowd screamed ROCKETS in unison! Very unexpected. Truth be told, it was the first time I had heard both Anthems sung live since crossing the border. Definitely a memorable and moving experience.

 

 

 

 

The Rockets utilized two Zambonis for ice prep. One driver was female.

 

 

 

 

It was my first Western League Hockey game – first visit to a Canadian Press Box.

 

 

 

 

The Rockets came out of their locker room to start the game through the mouth of a green fire-breathing dragon head. Elaine captured a spectacular pic of the pageantry.

 

 

 

 

The Rockets came into the game at 35-8-3. On the road they were a chilling 19-2-2. What are they feeding those boys at the hotel?!

 

 

 

 

The game started at 7:05 and ended at 9:15 PM. No guns. Better action than most movies.

On the official game lineup, there was a YOB (Year of Birth) column. Every player was born in the mid-to-late 90’s. Everett’s starting goalie was born in 1998. Yikes! The flustered teen allowed six goals in less than two periods and was yanked.

 

 

 

On Kelowna’s roster – it had four non-Canadian born players…..from the Czech Republic, Germany, (hockey hotbeds?) Las Vegas, and Arlington, TX.

On Everett’s roster – it had three non-Canadian born players…….two from Russia and one from Phoenix.

Americans spell it Defense – Canadians spell it Defence.

Never did find out exactly what is a Silvertip?

At the final buzzer, my girl was happy. Hockey night in Kelowna was definitely NOT an empty-netter. Game-winning goal – Jim. Assist – Kevin.