Patience.
Defined in part as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
One wonders if an updated version of the definition might now include a photo of Kelowna Rockets Kris Mallette?
Head coach, Kris Mallette.
The 41-year-old hometown lad will tell you it has a nice ring to it. And he’ll also tell you his Western Hockey League coaching career has been a tremendous learning experience.
Mallette was bumped up to the role of interim head coach when the Rockets parted ways with Adam Foote on Feb. 19.
Two weeks later, the Rockets removed the “interim” label.
DUBNetwork spoke with Mallette in Kelowna on Mar. 13, to talk about his WHL coaching career, the head coaches he has worked with in the Rockets organization and of course, the team’s tremendously challenging 2019-20 regular season.
A championship season
“That was a heck of an introduction as an assistant coach,” Mallette said of the 2014-15 campaign. “Just to have that experience and how the team was built around mid-season for that championship run was pretty exciting.
“I really respect Dan (Lambert) for giving me that opportunity. And for Bruce (Hamilton), you know, keeping tabs on me and suggesting to Dan that I was a guy he should talk to.
“Dan and I didn’t know each other, but the interview process went well and here we are today. Six years later – year six I guess I should say – I’m where I wanted to be.”
Rockets hire Kris Mallette – July 3, 2014
During the 2014-15 season, the Rockets were a good team. And then, Hamilton got creative around the 2015 World Junior Championship. Prior to the tournament, he acquired defenceman Josh Morrissey from the Prince Albert Raiders. Shortly after the event, it was confirmed Leon Draisaitl, also property of the Raiders would join the Rockets after spending the first half of the season with the Edmonton Oilers.
“We’d heard rumblings that we were potentially getting Leon,” Mallette said. “Here’s a kid playing in the NHL. It was kind of put on the back burner because we were doing some pretty good things with the group already. Then sure enough, the trade comes through.
“Now you’ve got a different beast. Now all eyes are on you and the expectations were that much higher.”
Kelowna finished the regular season 53-13-5-1, good for 112 points, then rolled through the WHL playoffs. The Rockets earned a berth in the Memorial Cup by sweeping the league finale against the Brandon Wheat Kings, which finished the regular season with 114 points. Kelowna lost the national championship game in overtime to the Oshawa Generals.
During the off-season, Lambert left the Rockets, accepting a coaching position with the Buffalo Sabres.
“He was phenomenal at communication with players and making them feel comfortable,” Mallette said of his season on Lambert’s coaching staff. “The roles were clear with the players we had on the team – there was no gray area.
“We had a lot of stars, but everybody had a role that was clear and Dan was fantastic at getting everybody to buy in. He was really good at that side of things. The X’s and O’s are one thing, but just to be able to get everybody on the same page, he was phenomenal.”
The 2015-16 WHL season
As usual, expectations were very high in Kelowna again and the Rockets compiled a 48-20-4 record, good for another 100-point regular season.
The Rockets survived a pair of brutal seven-game playoff series against division rivals, dispatching the Kamloops Blazers and Victoria Royals.
The win over Victoria is memorable, as it included one of the most famous goals scored in Rockets history. Kelowna overcame a 2-0 deficit and the tally by Justin Kirkland with .2 seconds remaining in game seven, sent the contest into overtime. Import forward Calvin Thurkauf netted the series winner before a stunned crowd at the Save On Foods Memorial Arena in Victoria.
Game 7 Highlights – ShawTVOkanagan
The Rockets would bow out to the Seattle Thunderbirds in the western conference final.
Mallette was behind the bench that season, his second as an assistant. The Rockets had brought in Brad Ralph as head coach after Lambert’s departure to the NHL. Ralph lasted one season before leaving Kelowna.
“You know, each and every year you take something away from each coach I worked under,” Mallette said. “With Brad, his attention to detail was second to none.
“His preparation for games and the way you wanted your team to play was excessive, but in a good way. Again, there was no gray area with him. He wanted us to play a certain way.
“We had a real good team that year. Obviously, we didn’t have the success that we anticipated, but his preparation and detail was pretty good.”
The 2016-17 and 2017-18 WHL seasons
The Rockets hired former NHL defenceman Jason Smith as head coach.
Smith seemed like a good fit, a rough-and-tumble rearguard who played more than 1000 NHL games. In an era where young players recognize those who have “been there, done that”, Smith was a team captain for Canada’s national junior team and enjoyed a solid WHL career with the Regina Pats.
The Rockets went 45-22-5 for 95 points, finishing second in the B.C. Division as the Prince George Cougars captured its first-ever divisional title with 96 points.
Kelowna waltzed through the first two rounds of the 2017 playoffs but dropped the western conference final again to Seattle, the eventual WHL champions.
“Jason is such a good person,” Mallette said. “He was not the same as the player he was on the ice. Off the ice, he was real quiet and humble.
“He gave me a ton of responsibility, which was great and it was just fun to be around him. Here’s a guy that came out of the NHL playing 15 years.
“With that NHL mentality, I think it was a bit of a shock to him at the time coaching junior hockey. You’ve got to be a lot more involved.”
During Smith’s second season at the helm, the Rockets earned another B.C. Division title with a 43-22-5-2 record. It was the sixth straight season Kelowna had won at least 43 regular-season games.
However, the Rockets were swept from the post-season by the wild-card Tri-City Americans, which also swept the Victoria Royals before dropping the western conference final to the Everett Silvertips.
“Again, the responsibility and the trust we formed was second to none,” Mallette said of working with Smith. “It was just a pleasure to be around him. I still play slow-pitch with him in the summer, we talk weekly.
“You go around the league you talk to any of the ex-NHL guys, Jason is very, very highly respected for the way he played and the way he conducted himself. He is a true friend, for sure.”
The 2018-19 WHL season
The Rockets limped out of the gate with a 2-9 record through its first 11 games, among the organization’s worst starts ever.
In early October the city of Kelowna was awarded the 2020 Memorial Cup tournament. It was an announcement that initially took some of the sting out of the horrendous start.
But shortly after returning to Kelowna from a three-game road trip, sporting a 4-10 record, Smith was relieved of his duties. The next day, in a somewhat surprising decision, the Rockets hired former NHL defenceman Adam Foote, who had never coached at the major junior level.
As the season wore on, Kelowna never recovered from its horrible start, finishing 28-32-6-2. In fact, the Rockets needed an overtime win in its final regular-season affair to qualify for a tiebreaker game in Kamloops. The Blazers won that contest, 5-1 and the Rockets missed the WHL post-season for only the second time since the organization’s inception in 1995.
“Yeah, I mean the most decorated for sure,” Mallette said when asked about Foote. “The jersey retirement to the Olympics and some Stanley Cups – he’s seen it all.
“Again, just basically coaching his sons through minor hockey programs and a bit as an assistant coach with Colorado, he took a lot of information and leaned very hard on his past and the way he played, and the way things were done.
“He was intense. I think the passion that he showed as a coach and as a player were very similar in that it transpired to the group we had. He demanded a lot, but the knowledge through experience was, like I said, 20 years playing in the NHL, that’s second to none.”
The 2019-20 WHL season
The current campaign has been an unmitigated disaster for the Rockets, primarily due to a list of injuries never before seen in Kelowna.
Foote was relieved as ahead coach Feb. 19, 2020, after a pair of glaringly painful defeats.
“I agree, it was obviously difficult for us as a staff,” Mallette said of the constant injuries and adversity. “It seemed like you get one player back, then we’d lose two. It’s Nolan Foote, Kyle Topping, Liam Kindree, players that are big impact guys for us.
“It was important, just trying to stay as positive as we could in these types of situations.”
At last count, the Rockets saw well 150-man games missed due to injuries this season, which meant many players assumed roles potentially beyond their respective capabilities. Despite the adversity, Mallette saw progress.
“I was a firm believer once I took over that, what we’ve gone through as a group and as a team, it was going to pay dividends somewhere down the line,” he said.
“The fact that we had our bottom-six playing a line ahead of where they should have been, you know in a perfect world, one of those guys might have been the guy that scores you the goal in the Memorial Cup because of the experience and the amount of ice time and the situations they were given.
“We had to face the fact that it’s only going to add to the depth of our team, as frustrating as it was for the fans and for us as a staff and as an organization. There was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel.”
History will show the Rockets played 63 games this regular season and compiled 29-28-3-3 record, good for 64 points. Its .508 winning percentage is second-lowest among the 16 playoff-bound teams, given the formula utilized by the WHL when the regular season was canceled.
As Memorial Cup hosts, the Rockets endured a steady stream of criticism throughout the season. The barrage of negativity and cheap shots kept coming from rival WHL centres that coincidentally know plenty about watching their own bad hockey teams over the years. And even the local community was up in arms at times as the patchwork roster struggled to string together wins.
“Yeah, there’s gonna be a target,” Mallette said. “And the questions. Did Bruce do enough? Did this, did this, did this? Really, we didn’t know what we had here or what we have here now. But, for us to still be above .500?”
“I think, Regan (Bartel) came up with a stat, I think it was over 30 one-goal games we played. I mean, we’re right there. Give us Nolan Foote – if he’s healthy all year he probably scores close to 50 goals. And Kyle Topping’s probably a 75-80 point guy.”
According to Bartel, the Rockets’ long-time play-by-play voice, the team played in 35 games decided by one goal. In fact, Kelowna won 20 of those contests! Of the 15 losses, eight came against B.C. Division rivals, including five one-goal losses to the Victoria Royals.
“It’s interesting to reflect,” Mallette said. “Sometimes you wonder what the hell you’re doing right now. But, yeah, it was an interesting ride, to say the least.”
Moving forward
With the WHL post-season and Memorial Cup up in the air due to COVID-19 considerations, everyone in hockey is in a holding pattern. But that doesn’t mean Mallette isn’t chomping at the bit, maintaining some hope that the Rockets will return to the ice soon.
“Right now, the health and well being of everybody is first and foremost on everyone’s list and the top priority,” he said. “But for me, I really felt comfortable. I was happy with the way we were trending and I was really excited for the opportunity play Kamloops in the first round.”
“I was up for that challenge and I felt like our players were really buying into to what we were trying to do as a team and as a staff. There was just that sense of excitement that guys were coming back. You know, 63 games, it took us that long to start getting everybody in the lineup.
“For me, I felt it. I really did. I felt it in the room and I felt it in the arena. There was a buzz around Kelowna.
There were fans that were boisterous in the rink, just a different feeling.”
What shape or form the WHL post-season might take remains to be seen. Even playing for the Memorial Cup seems precarious these days.
But rest assured Mallette, who is also the team’s billet coordinator, is excited about his future, that of his family, the city of Kelowna and the Rockets organization.
“I’m invested in this community,” Mallette said. “My wife’s from here and I’ve lived here since I was 18.
“I always came back after I played and we have a house here, my daughters are growing up here and they’re involved in multiple sports throughout the community. So, we’re Kelowna through and through.
“We’ve got a great circle of friends with a lot of support. We’re active in the community and I think there are a lot of people that are very happy I’m in this position now.”
