Rockets new clock
HodgePodge by Charlie Hodge
It wasn’t pretty but it sure was fun. Rest assured it will only get better from here.
Friday night Tez and I were fortunate enough to be guests of the Kelowna Rockets hockey team for their home opening game and a chance to not only view the new team roster in action for this season, but also the team’s new fancy score clock.
The young Rockets may have been overwhelmed by the glare of the new lights, or the anticipation of the fans ready for opening night. Regardless the Rockets were simply not ready for the hungry Spokane Chiefs who came out flying. Led by sniper Coco Armstrong with two goals, the Chiefs rattled Kelowna snagging a 4-0 first period lead. The fourth goal of that opening period cost veteran Rocket netminder Josh Banini his assignment sending him to the bench at 17:17. Despite his best efforts rookie netminder Jake Pilon also fell victim to four goals by Seattle during the final two periods.
Ironically the huge new scoreboard’s vital stats told a different, lopsided, story than the final results would suggest. The Rockets outshot Spokane 38-30 and beat them in the faceoff circle 38-30.
The Rockets skated well with goals coming from Kalder Varga and Connor Pankratz.
What impressed me most was how well composed the Rocket players and coaching staff remained despite the game clearly not going their way. No one likes to be blown out of their own rink on opening night yet all seem to fully comprehend that it was the first game of the regular season with lots of time to get their game together.
Management has a track record of maintaining and producing a quality club and I have no doubts the Hamilton brothers and others will do it again this year. Especially having snagged the Memorial Cup again for us here in Kelowna
While the show on the ice was not quite what fans had hoped for, looking skyward to the roof was a different view. When it comes to such sports’ facility fixtures suffice to say Prospera Place hosts the best indoor scoreboard I have seen. One fan in a neighboring private box said the clock was the best he had witnessed, “any time, any rink, any city.”
That makes sense, of course, since the clock was just installed and cost the city a whack of money. Yet what a marvelous addition to the rink. Investing in the new clock helped the city win the bid to play host to the always popular and lucrative Memorial Cup playoffs next spring. I’d suggest the Memorial Cup is the most impactful singular sports event in Canada when considering the round-robin tournament of play, the intensity, rivalry established, and quality of competition. Thousands of hockey fans from around the country travel to the host city to cheer on ‘their’ team, prepared to spend their money and not spare their voice boxes. It’s great hockey and great fun.
It generates a huge financial boost to the host town.
Majority-owned and operated by the Hamilton clan Bruce Hamilton is President/GM/Governor and WHL board chair, brother Gavin Hamilton is VP of Business and Anne-Marie Hamilton is Director of Marketing, run a smooth focused franchise in Kelowna. Only once since 2000 have the Rockets iced a team that finished below .500. That’s eighteen years of tremendous success. A total of seventeen banners hang from the rafters at Prospera Place, including the 2004 Memorial Cup Championship, four WHL Championship banners and seven WHL BC Division titles.
The team’s remarkable record also boasts they have won more than 50 games four times. Seven times they have won 40 or more games and five times they have been to the Memorial Cup.
I was impressed to also learn the Rockets existence in Kelowna has also helped garner several huge events to town including the World Junior Hockey Championship, the CIBC Canada/Russia Series, the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, Team Canada men’s orientation camp, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars practices – the list continues.
However, the best memory and bright spot for Rockets fans remains the 2004 Memorial Cup, the championship event that Kelowna hosted and won. On the ice the team was boiling and outside the party was just as good as organizers threw a 10-day festival that set the stage for tournaments to come.
I’m hoping we can see a repeat of that wonderful victory and celebration. I know that the Hamilton boys are the ones to make it happen and that big spectacular score clock will be the centre of attention when it happens.
