Rockets rule the WHL

KELOWNA — Dynasty?
It’s a word that used to get tossed around in hockey circles like a rattle in a baby crib.
The Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, New Westminster Bruins, Kamloops Blazers . . .
No more, though. Those days ended with the arrival of parity — or mediocrity, if you choose.
But the ‘D’ word was heard on occasion in these parts on Saturday night after the Kelowna Rockets had wrapped up the WHL championship at Prospera Place.
The Rockets did it by taking out the regular season-champion Calgary Hitmen, winning a wonderful game 3-2 in overtime to capture the best-of-seven final, 4-2.
It was the Rockets’ third WHL championship in seven seasons. They will be appearing in the Memorial Cup for the fourth time in that stretch, as they won in 2004 as the host team. They also won the WHL championship in 2003 and 2005, but this was the first time the Rockets did it at home.
And they and their fans enjoyed every second of it as the post-game music man spun through We Are The Champions, Dancing in the Streets and Rocket Man. The latter tune was blaring as the Rockets posed at centre ice for the obligatory team photo.
But a dynasty?
Perhaps by today’s standards. By yesterday’s standards? Not so much.
If we could ignore the 2006-07 season, well, maybe.
Unfortunately for the folks in the Little Apple, it is impossible to overlook a season in which their beloved Rockets bottomed out.
That season, however, is the price that had to be paid to reload this team and create the one that won a championship here Saturday night.
Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ president and general manager, bit the bullet, and both lips, that season as a young roster paid the price for three championship seasons that had preceded it.
Just two seasons ago, the Rockets went 22-41-5-4 and missed the playoffs. Today, they are champions. Yes, Virginia, it can be done.
Hamilton had a plan back then and he stuck with it. There would be no midseason coaching change, despite the on-ice struggles. Head coach Jeff Truitt left after that season, signing with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, and Hamilton took his time sorting through the candidates. Eventually, he decided that the best man for the job was on staff already, so he promoted assistant coach Ryan Huska, who learned how to win while playing for the Blazers, with whom he won three Memorial Cups.
When the Rockets begin to play for the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Que., on Friday, Huska will be going after his record fifth championship; he won the fourth as an assistant coach in 2004. The Memorial Cup has been in competition since 1919 and no player, coach or general manager has won more than four.
There was a time early this season when the whisperers were wanting Huska on the next bus out of town, too. The Rockets were up and down and in and out and all over the place for a good part of the early season. Nothing was going right and fingers were starting to point.
Hamilton, however, is a patient man. He read the situation and, in early January, he went to work. He already had a solid nucleus in place, thanks primarily to super scout Lorne Frey, who is one of the best in the business, and his staff.
Hamilton had rolled the dice in the CHL’s 2007 import draft when he selected Swedish star Mikael Backlund, who had been a first-round selection by the Calgary Flames in that year’s NHL draft. He arrived in Kelowna after playing for Sweden at the 2009 world junior championship and would draw the secondary assist on the championship-winning goal.
Hamilton traded for a goaltender, getting Mark Guggenberger from the Swift Current Broncos. A free spirit from Richfield, Minn., the Rockets were able to keep his head from spinning off his shoulders and he played consistently well, giving them confidence in their goaltending for the first time this season.
Also arriving via the trade route were forward Ian Duval, who drew the penalty that resulted in the power play on which the winning goal was scored, and enforcer Ryley Grantham.
But the biggest addition was a new-and-improved Tyler Myers, the 6-foot-8 defenceman with the wingspan of a pterodactyl. A first-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2008 NHL draft, Myers was having a so-so season when he joined Team Canada for the 2009 World junior tournament. He returned a different player after helping Canada win gold. From late January through Saturday night, Myers was the most dominant player in the WHL. He was named the WHL championship final’s most valuable player. He was the only choice voters could make. He was that solid.
While a championship, no matter in what league or what sport, always is sweet, you can bet that this one meant just a little bit more to Hamilton.
By winning this championship, the Rockets won the Ed Chynoweth Cup, the WHL’s championship trophy that was renamed in honour of the league’s long-time president, who died last spring following a battle with cancer.
No one was closer to Chynoweth than Hamilton, who succeeded his friend as chairman of the WHL’s board of governors.
Prior to the start of this season, Hamilton dedicated it to the memory of his dear friend. On the side of the Rockets’ bus, right beside the door where the players can’t miss it as they enter, are the words: The 2008-2009 WHL season is dedicated to the memory of Ed Chynoweth.
“This isn’t a league thing,” Hamilton said in March. “This is my thing . . . our thing.
“He was my best friend.”
After WHL president Ron Robison presented captain Colin Long with the Ed Chynoweth Cup on Saturday night, he skated directly to Hamilton and handed it over.
Hamilton, his eyes glistening, embraced it and kissed it.
It was a fond farewell to an old friend.
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and gdrinnan.blogspot.com.