KELOWNA, BC – Sunday’s contest will provide the two opening losing teams, the host city Kelowna Rockets and Chicoutimi Saguenéens, an opportunity to get back into the win column.

The Rockets opened the tournament on Friday night against the Kitchener Rangers. While the scoreline of 5-0 may look lopsided, the game was closer than that. More than half of the game was played at 1-0, and the Rangers only got a multi-goal lead with two minutes left in the second period. That said, the Rangers did a good job of limiting the Rockets’ chances, as they recorded just 13 shots on goal through the first 40 minutes. We’ll see if they can break through offensively tonight.

Chicoutimi began their tournament on Saturday against the Everett Silvertips. They didn’t find their legs to start the game, but had some jump throughout the final 40 minutes. What we will be watching for is how Lucas Beckman responds tonight, after Saturday’s loss. He allowed two leaky goals that he’s likely kicking himself about today. Beckman settled in for the third period and made some massive stops on a late penalty kill. The big question is whether he can continue that play into tonight’s game.

We are anticipating a physical contest tonight. The Rockets pride themselves on their physicality, and brought that in their opener against the Rangers. One of our standouts from the last game was Dawson Gerwing for his running-around, throwing-his-weight-around type of game, and he even dropped the gloves with Rangers defenceman Jared Woolley. The Saguenéens tried to play a more physical game on Saturday, but the Silvertips weren’t very interested in those extracurriculars. Chicoutimi had Landon DuPont firmly in their crosshairs early in Saturday’s game. We’ll see if they’re willing to do the same against a bigger Rockets squad.

Tij Iginla was fairly invisible in the opening game. But it’s hard to imagine another team keeping him under wraps for two consecutive games. Parker Alcos from the backend will be one to watch. With Mazden Leslie switching to forward for the tournament, Alcos saw more power play time. Hopefully for Vancouver Canucks fans, he can have a bounce-back game. If we’re expecting a physical contest, watch out for Dawson Gerwing.

Maxim Massé was fun to watch for his skilled, power-forward style of play. Coming off a loss, we’d expect him to make his mark on this game one way or another. Nathan Lecompte had the brutal giveaway that sprung Matias Vanhanen on an empty net breakaway to ice the game after Massé pulled the Saguenéens to within one late. We’ll see if he can bounce back from that. Lastly, we already touched on him, but the Saguenéens will only go as far as Lucas Beckman takes them.