Rockets simply found a way to win the final

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/05/2015 (3780 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s hard to draw any encouragement from being on the wrong end of a playoff sweep.

That’s why a remarkable Brandon  Wheat Kings’ campaign, one that included the Western Hockey League’s best regular-season record and a trip to the Ed Chynoweth Cup championship final, is hard to digest for those who have followed the team all season long.

On paper and based on their performances on the ice leading up to the series, the Brandon-Kelowna final was a dream matchup that should have been much closer than the Rockets’ four-game victory would indicate. In a way it was as the Wheat Kings came from two goals down to tie each of the first two games and the decisive contest was tied 0-0 going into the third period. But like a championship team does, the Rockets found a way to get the key goals when they were needed the most.

Compounding the frustration for the losing side was that the Wheat Kings never seemed able to play up to their potential in the final. Many of the nagging pitfalls that appeared from time to time throughout the club’s splendid 53-11-4-4 regular season reared up again in the final: shots that may have led to rebounds and ugly goals were passed up in favour of extra passes that often failed to find their mark, sometimes leading to chances the other way; the Wheat Kings spent too much time in their own zone, failing to contain playoff MVP Leon Draisaitl and his frequent linemates, Nick Merkley and Rourke Chartier, as that talented trio scored 11 of Kelowna’s 17 goals in the series; goaltender Jordan Papirny, who played virtually every minute of his 78 starts this season, made some big saves, but overall couldn’t maintain his fine level of play from earlier in the playoffs.

Still, when you watch one group of players all season long, it’s easy to get caught up picking out the things they did or didn’t do that contributed to the final outcome, while overlooking the performance of their less familiar opponents.

The Rockets were generally looked at as the best team in the WHL for most of the season, really only losing public favour when the Wheat Kings overtook them in the stretch run as both teams were battling injuries that kept them from showing their true form. Already one of the top teams in junior hockey, the Rockets got even better with a pair of blockbuster acquisitions in blue-chip NHL prospects Josh Morrissey and Draisaitl, widely considered the two best players to change teams in WHL deals this season.

Like the Wheat Kings, the Rockets were blessed with great skill and depth. Their gameplan and team play were sound as they pressured the Wheat Kings into turnovers and created uncertainty that led to unforced errors. They weathered Brandon’s offensive forays and launched counterattacks that produced timely goals that sapped the Wheat Kings of their momentum.

Kelowna’s best players were better than Brandon’s best players, and yes, the Rockets were the better team in the final.

If that all sounds depressing to a Wheat Kings fan, here’s where the encouraging part foreshadowed in the first sentence of this column comes in: One year ago, the Rockets were basically this year’s Wheat Kings.

In fact, the Rockets had it worse. They had put together back-to-back 50 win seasons, without so much as an appearance in the WHL final. In 2013-14, Kelowna put together the best record in the WHL, amassing four more points than even Brandon did this season, only to fall in the Western Conference final to another immensely talented, but more experienced team, the Portland Winterhawks, who were the defending champions at the time.

There is no reason to think the 2015-16 Wheat Kings will take a step back. They’ll lose some experience on defence with the graduation of Eric Roy and Reid Gow, but all of their returning blue-liners will be a year older, wiser and stronger. That presumably includes Eastern Conference defenceman of the year Ivan Provorov, whose play in the final should convince whatever NHL team that drafts him that even with his poise he would be best served with another year of development in the WHL.

They’ll lose excellent two-way play in Morgan Klimchuk, who is expected to jump to the Calgary Flames system, while dynamic Latvian Rihards Bukarts’ future is unknown as he would occupy both overage and import spots next season. Still, the WHL’s highest scoring team should return seven or eight (depending on Bukarts) of its top 10 scorers. With others fighting for bigger roles that will ease the pressure on newcomers like 2014 No. 1 overall bantam draft pick Stelio Mattheos and Brandonite Ty Lewis, who both gained valuable experience in the playoffs.

Papirny, as resilient a goaltender as I have seen in my years covering the Wheat Kings, will be back with a chip on his shoulder, eager to take his game and the team to the next level.

None of that even touches any of the potential trade upgrades the Wheat Kings could make next season as they gear up for another run at the Cup.

Rockets head coach Dan Lambert has talked at times during the final about the lesson his team learned last spring. It’s a lesson the Wheat Kings will have to take to heart to reach their full potential in 2015-16.

Talent is a gift. Championships are earned.