After a five-week break, the Kelowna Rockets are coming into the Memorial Cup rested and hungry.
The Rockets were eliminated in the second round of the WHL playoffs back on Friday, April 17, falling 4-1 in a best-of-seven series to the Everett Silvertips.
Now, five weeks to the day, the Rockets are ready to hit the ice again as they host the Memorial Cup against the three junior hockey champions – Everett Silvertips (WHL), Kitchener Rangers (OHL), and Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
“I think our practice has been really intense for the last month and a half here,” Rockets defenceman Mazden Leslie told the media on Thursday, May 21. “I don’t think it’s been easy or anything like that. I think we’re ready to go.”
While the Rockets practiced, the three opponents were still battling to win their respective league championships.
“I think obviously we’ve been in this rig for the last month and a half practicing… we haven’t had to change too much, we’ve been in the same spot,” said Leslie. “Obviously, they’ve been playing games, but we’ve been practicing really hard, trying to get some rest too.”
Rockets leader scorer Tij Iginla called the five weeks of practice a “unique opportunity.”
“There’s a lot of anticipation and excitement and there’s a lot of work we put in through that time, we’re excited to show that were a different team as we were eliminated as,” said Iginla. “We’re a lot better than the last time people saw us.”
Leslie also added its going to be a full team effort, saying that everyone wants to make an impact to help the team win in the tournament.
“I think everyone wants to make a difference,” Leslie said, adding the team is excited to play for junior hockey’s biggest prize in front of the hometown fans.
“I think it’s going to be pretty crazy,” said Leslie. “It’s been a long wait here, so I think the guys are ready to kind of see what it’s going to be like. I don’t think a lot of us do know what it’s going to be like even, so I think that’s kind of the exciting part about it.”
In Leslie’s case, he was traded to Kelowna last offseason and had a chance to leave for other opportunities. Instead, he decided to stay for his last year in the WHL and is currently the league’s active games played leader at 337. With all those games and five years under his belt, he said he never imagined telling his 15-year-old self he’d be playing in the Memorial Cup, but knowing Kelowna was hosting helped with his decision to stay with the Rockets.
And after all those games, coming down to the last few games of his WHL career is starting to sink in, Leslie added.
Over the last five weeks, the Rockets coaching staff, which has lots of Memorial Cup experience, has been helping the players prepare. Assistant coach Josh Gorges won the Memorial Cup as a player with the Rockets back in 2004, while for 72-year-old associate coach Don Hay, this will be his ninth Memorial Cup behind the bench.
“You just see the excitement around today, everybody’s got a little more hop in their step, and they’re excited to be at the rink,” said Hay. “Everything was crisp out there on the ice today.”
Hay said every game in the tournament is sudden death and emphasized how important is it to get off to a good start in each game. He added that this is critical considering the Rockets have been practicing for five weeks while the other three teams just finished playing their last series.
“Starting off first is good for us, the teams just finished playing, they’re finished celebrating, they’ve had a little bit of rest, and they’re ready on the plane to come out,” said Hay. “[Kelowna], it’s new surroundings for them. Everything is familiar for us so we want to take advantage of everything that we have to our benefit, our fans especially. Our fans haven’t seen a game for a while, so I’m sure they’re going to be excited to see us play.”
Hay has been around the WHL for more than 30 years, which includes coaching Iginla’s dad, Jarome to back-to-back Memorial Cup championships in 1994 and 1995 with the Kamloops Blazers.
“[Jarome] wanted to make a difference, and Tij is the same way, he wants the puck, he wants to make a difference,” said Hay. “Tij is learning, just like his dad did.”
“[Tij] has the talent and the ability to make a difference in the big moments, which is kind of what you want in a player,” Leslie added.
The Rockets open the tournament on Friday, May 22 against the Kitchener Rangers. They then face Chicoutimi on Sunday, May 24 and Everett on Wednesday, May 27. All games are at 6 p.m. at Prospera Place.
“You’re playing against three champions, they’ve earned their way in. We have to earn that right to compete against them, and I think that that’s most important in our mind,” said Hay. “We have to earn the opportunity to play against these three champions. We want to play our best.”