The Kelowna Rockets are in town for tonight’s WHL Western Conference Playoffs round two opening game against the Portland Winterhawks. The two teams played four times during the regular season with Portland winning 3 of the 4 games. The lone loss came in Kelowna back in January. The Rockets have been a very strong team down the stretch and I believe they will be a bit more challenging than the Everett Silvertips were in the first round.
Both teams swept their opponents in the opening round of the playoffs so they are well rested and presumably have had some good practices and have watched a lot of film. It’s been a long layoff for both teams so the possibility exists that one or both teams may be lacking some intensity or focus tonight. However, I suspect the layoff will have no impact on either team, both will be ready to play. I do expect the series to be a little more competitive but I think/hope the Hawks will prevail in five games to move on to round three against the winner of the TC – Spokane series.
The format for this series is rather odd with game one tonight and game two on Sunday adding another (essentially) three day layoff between games one and two. The delay is a matter of scheduling, the Lakers are in town tomorrow to play the Blazers and there is the Nikehoops summit at the Rose Garden on Saturday. The fact that the Winterhawks have chosen to not make use of the Memorial Coliseum on Saturday tells me they view the Rose Garden as important to the fans and the team. Apparently the extra lodging and food costs for the Rocket’s extended stay in Portland in being picked up by the Winterhawks, as mandated by the league. I’m told that due to the weekend’s building conflicts that Kelowna had offered to host games one and two but the Hawks wanted the round openers to be played on home ice, despite the additional costs. Games three and four will be played in Kelowna on Tuesday/Wednesday of next week with a Friday night game scheduled for the Rose Garden, if necessary. Game 6 will be in Kelowna with game 7 in Portland, both if necessary.
We will be on the glass in Sec 114 tonight when the puck drops at 7 PM. Looking forward to a competitve series. Go Hawks!!
