By Adrian Nieoczym /
It’s one of the truisms of hockey: every team goes through injuries. And as head coach Ryan Huska put it, the Kelowna Rockets are “in that phase right now.”
The latest Rocket to fall to the injury bug is forward Brandon McMillan, who suffered a hairline foot fracture blocking a shot and will be out at least 10 days to two weeks. He joined seven teammates already on the shelf including forward Evan Bloodhoff (knee, four to six months), goaltender Mark Guggenberger (athletic hernia operation, six weeks) and defenceman Tyson Barrie (shoulder and knee, could be back this week).
But while the Rockets were able to win six in a row without the others to start the season 6-2, that streak came to a crashing halt with two straight loses after McMillan went down.
Kelowna lost its big scoring stars from last season’s championship team to the pros this year, so are looking to McMillan, a 19-year-old Anaheim Ducks prospect, to have a breakout season.
So far, he has been delivering.
“Maybe not to the pace he was going at, but we expect a lot from him this year,” said Huska.
In the first eight games of the season, McMillan scored 15 points, showing why the Ducks wanted him returned to forward after spending the second half of last year filling in admirably on defence.
McMillan is also a candidate for Canada’s World Junior Team, giving him extra incentive to open the season on fire.
“It’s upsetting,” said McMillan of his untimely injury. “I was starting to get going there and it sucks to see your team lose.”
McMillan’s role – and the effect of his loss – is becoming even more magnified as the likelihood of getting back defenceman Tyler Myers (currently with the Buffalo Sabres) and team captain Colin Long (San Antonio, AHL), continues to dim.
This year’s edition of the Rockets is young and the team doesn’t have any one player who can step up to fill in for McMillan.
“You can’t replace a guy like that,” said Huska. “So you just have to hope that certain guys or a combination of guys step up in his absence.”
On the goaltending front meanwhile, Adam Brown, who just turned 18, has played every minute of the season so far, while Guggenberger mends. But Brown, along with his 3.43 GAA and .875 save percentage, can expect to be pressured for playing time by newly acquire rookie Chad Ketting.
Ketting, 18, was obtained from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a conditional 2011 seventh round WHL draft pick.
“He’s going to push and he’s going to get involved in some games,” said Huska. “I think that will be good for Adam to know that there’s someone that’s ready to come in.”
As for the 20-year-old Guggenberger, who was stellar in last year’s playoffs, “we’ll give Mark his opportunity to play some games once he’s healthy,” said Huska. “I think he deserves that chance for sure.” |