Kelowna Fires Another Coach
The Spokane Chiefs are coming off a dream of a road trip, after winning three of four games through the Canadian Prairies.
The feel-good chemistry is decidedly different in Kelowna, where Monday the Rockets fired coach Garth Malarchuk less than a third of the way into the Western Hockey League season.
Kelowna has become something of a coach’s graveyard since the franchise was relocated from Tacoma in 1995. This is the Rockets’ third coaching change in five seasons.
Owner Bruce Hamilton and assistant coach Drew Schoneck will run the team while the search for a new head coach goes on.
“The responsibility for our performance does not lie with Garth alone,” Hamilton said. “I share in that responsibility, as does every coach and player in our organization.”
The Rockets (7-13-0-1) carry a five-game losing streak into their game tonight in Prince George.
Chiefs a big surprise
The Chiefs are the surprise team of the league after their three-for-four effort on the road.
The team that Hockey News, among others, picked to finish last headed into this week leading the WHL West.
Credit a piece of that success to the club’s depth coach Mike Babcock plays four lines and to the checking/scoring versatility of the Derek Schutz line.
The threesome of Schutz, Brent McDonald and Tim Smith has given the opposition match-up fits.
“They’ve played against the other team’s top line,” GM Tim Speltz said. “Other teams have to worry about them as scorers, yet they don’t want to play their best line against them because they don’t want that line shut down.”
Schutz will try to build on his team-high seven-game scoring streak when the Chiefs shoot for their seventh straight win at home Friday night against Prince George.
The scattered boos that greeted the introduction of Babcock prior to home games earlier in the season have all but disappeared. And Speltz would have to figure as the early favorite for WHL GM of the Year.
Speltz not only stood by his people in the wake of last year’s disastrous 44-loss season (see Kelowna), but he engineered trades that brought McDonald, Scott Roles and Tyler MacKay to Spokane. All three deals paid off immediately.
“It was important for us to get off to a decent start,” Speltz said. “Thirteen and seven is a lot better than decent. It’s given our guys confidence in themselves and in their teammates. We’re down 2-0 in Brandon and come back to win. That’s a confident hockey club.”
Another factor in the Chiefs’ burst to first is the core of last year’s fellow-sufferers, who’ve grown up, or gotten healthier, Schutz and Brandin Cote prominent among them.
Notes
Kyle Rossiter played like one of the league’s premier defenseman throughout the four-game swing East, Speltz said… . The Chiefs are second in the WHL in penalty killing and sixth on the power play, evidence of the front-line talent the Spokane club can bring to bear in special-teams situations.
Cougars at Chiefs Friday: 7 p.m. at the Arena Radio: KXLY 920 pregame 6 p.m.