It is said timing is everything.
By the end of the night Tuesday, it seemed to be coming back for Victoria Royals captain Joe Hicketts, after missing the seven previous Western Hockey League playoff games with an unspecified injury.
Hicketts found Alex Forsberg for a late assist in the 3-2 loss to the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place that left the Royals leading the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series 2-1. In another play before that in the third period, Hicketts hit Forsberg with a sublime blueline-to-blueline pass that only he could make. The rust seemed to be falling off.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the little things . . . the timing . . . that you鈥檙e off on a bit when you return,鈥� said Hicketts, by phone from Kelowna, where Game 4 is tonight.
鈥淵ou are not as certain situationally. But I felt I was getting better as the night wore on.鈥�
Despite a Kelowna media report that Hicketts didn鈥檛 look 100 per cent, he appeared on the TV broadcast of Game 3, at least, to be energetic right from the start. That was attested by his two first-period penalties (one of them off-setting) that were more out of over-exuberance than anything else.
鈥淚 feel good,鈥� said Hicketts.
Victoria head coach Dave Lowry scoffed at the notion of Hicketts not being completely healthy: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 play guys who are only 70 per cent or whatever. We don鈥檛 bring our guys back until they are 100 per cent ready to go.鈥�
As far as what transpired in Game 3, both Lowry and Hicketts agreed there was no secret to what defending league-champion Kelowna was doing 鈥� and successfully so.
鈥淸The Rockets] stuck to their game plan,鈥� said Hicketts, the Western Conference MVP.
鈥淭hey got to the red line and put pucks into our corners and then put pressure on our defencemen. And they did a good job of it.鈥�
In allowing that to happen, the WHL regular-season champion Royals abandoned their own up-tempo mantra of 鈥渁lways be pressuring.鈥�
鈥淲e allowed Kelowna easy breakouts in the neutral zone,鈥� said Hicketts.
鈥淭hat was a good lesson for us. We need to get back to what we do best. We have to get pressure on them.鈥�
Personally, Hicketts admitted it has been hard watching so much of the post-season from the sidelines.
鈥淚t was frustrating,鈥� said the Detroit Red Wings blueline prospect.
鈥淚 obviously wanted to be out there. But the guys got the job done [Victoria was 5-2 in Hicketts鈥� absence]. Now I can get back at it.鈥�
Game 5 of the Victoria-Kelowna series is Friday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
ICE CHIPS: The Rockets had four players, led by defenceman and No. 26 Lucas Johansen, ranked in the final Central Scouting ratings released this week for the 2016 NHL draft, compared with three for the Royals . . . The Rockets were buoyed emotionally this week by a visit from Arizona to Kelowna by the injured Nick Merkley, their top forward, who is out for the season.
