Rockets, Blazers share awkward moments

Things were kind of interesting on Dec. 26 when a few members of the Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers found themselves stranded in the Vancouver airport, their flights canceled. . . . In the end, they shared space on the Rockets' bus. . . .

By DOYLE POTENTEAU
Kelowna Daily Courier
KELOWNA — Talk about awkward.
Jon Groenheyde of the Kamloops Blazers was at a loss for words Friday after hitching an unexpected ride with the Kelowna Rockets. Mind you, he wasn’t the only Kamloops player who didn’t know what to say once Kelowna’s bus dropped them off.
Maybe it was because the Rockets and Blazers played Saturday night, and any friendly emotions that occurred 24 hours earlier quickly vanished.
On Friday morning, the Rockets sent their bus to pick up eight players who had been stranded at Vancouver International Airport. Cold weather and snow blanketed the Lower Mainland, and provincial-destination flights were canceled. While at the airport, the bus also picked up Groenheyde and teammates C.J. Stretch, Linden Saip and Brandon Underwood, as well as head coach Barry Smith.
The five received a lift to Merritt, from where they caught a ride to Kamloops.
“We were sitting in the airport, wondering how we were going to get home,” said Groenheyde, a 17-year-old goaltender from Surrey. “We really didn’t have too many options, and they offered, which was really nice of them to do that. But . . . it was awkward, for sure.
“And when we got off, that was the most awkward. What do you say? ‘See you guys tomorrow?’ We didn’t know, really. And that’s what we did say after the bus ride: See you guys tomorrow. And coach (Smith) said ‘Good luck tomorrow.’ We got off, then they kinda left. It was really weird.”
“Awkward? Yeah, just a little bit,” offered Rockets defenceman Kyle Verdino, who was returning to Kelowna after spending Christmas at his home in Phoenix. “We didn’t expect to miss our flights and . . . with (the Blazers) on the bus, there was a lot of awkward silence.
“After a while, though, our guys were talking it up and they were sitting up front, quiet as can be. We didn’t hear them at all, but I guess it was all right.”
Smith agreed it was awkward, though he apparently enjoyed the Rockets’ new bus, with its leather chairs, satellite TV and Internet connections.
“It was a good ride; it was very comfortable and I really like the new bus,” said Smith. “But for Kelowna to do that favour, to get us all back here and help us out, was outstanding.
“It made it so much easier on us instead of being stuck in Vancouver at the airport. It made our plans easier than trying to run around and rent a car and have to drive ourselves back.”
So . . . with a few of the Blazers now having had a taste of life inside Kelowna’s new set of wheels, when will Smith hit up Blazers majority owner/president Tom Gaglardi for a new bus?
“Now all of our guys are going to be asking ‘Why don’t we have that on our bus?’ Or, ‘How come our seats don’t look like that?’” said Smith. “Our guys got spoiled a little bit there because it’s a really nice bus.”