One got the sense, by the tentative and less than sold-out responses to Games 3 and 4 in Kelowna, that even the Rockets鈥� fans perhaps thought the gig was up after a run to the Western Hockey League title and Memorial Cup national championship game last year.
The Victoria Royals, the shiny new thing, came in with a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal and as the new WHL regular-season champions. But, in a stunning reversal of fortune, the Rockets have won three consecutive games and now have the Royals on the brink of elimination heading into Game 6 tonight at Prospera Place in the Okanagan (5 p.m. on Shaw-TV).
Want to bet there is going to be more of a jacked-up and anticipatory vibe in the arena by the lake tonight?
It shows again never to underestimate the power of the crown, as in having the experience that comes with being the holders. Lost in the storyline of Victoria鈥檚 ascendancy to the Scotty Munro Trophy as the 2015-16 WHL regular-season champions, was the fact the Rockets still retain 14 players who went through the blast furnace of last year鈥檚 lengthy playoff run. That鈥檚 obviously starting to count for something.
So is Kelowna鈥檚 telling size advantage over the smaller, but much swifter, Royals. The Rockets strategy of using their weight advantage to win the one-on-one battles along the boards and in the corners is starting to pay off. Not that Victoria鈥檚 quickness hasn鈥檛 created numerous chances. But it hasn鈥檛 been able to take advantage, thanks mainly to Kelowna goaltender and Comox product Michael Herringer.
If the Royals can pull it out tonight, Game 7 will be played Tuesday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, as the series dynamics will have shifted once again.
What is clear, is that the new kids on the block are out of options. The Royals must win tonight in Kelowna. Then, they must win again Tuesday at home.
If anyone would have predicted the Royals would be 5-2 in the playoffs with captain and Western Conference MVP Joe Hicketts injured, but 0-3 upon his return, they would have not only been voted off the Island but also likely laughed out of the province.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not pushing panic buttons,鈥� Hicketts said outside a remarkably calm Victoria dressing room following Friday鈥檚 4-1 loss in Game 5.
鈥淲e have full confidence on this team. We鈥檝e got to play to win one game [at a time].鈥�
Yet only now are fans beginning to again realize how young this Royals group is and how experienced the Rockets remain, despite some key Kelowna losses to graduation from last year鈥檚 championship squad and season-ending injuries this year.
Hicketts knows it鈥檚 now up to the Royals small, but vital, veteran core.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very cognizant, as the older players, that Alex Forsberg, Logan Fisher, Ryan Gagnon and myself have to rally the troops,鈥� Hicketts said.
