KELOWNA, British Columbia — It's so early in the season that a loss or two will not have a big impact on your season. But when you lose and don't put forth an honest effort, that's when there's a concern.
It wasn't a concern for the Tri-City Americans, who opened the 2010-11 season with a pair of wins, but for the Kelowna Rockets, their home opener -- a 6-2 loss to Prince George -- was less than acceptable.
"Opening night, we didn't compete," said Rockets coach Ryan Huska, whose team will entertain the Americans tonight at Prospera Place. "We were just standing around. It wasn't a great way to start the season, but if we had to learn a lesson, this was the time."
Tri-City (2-0-0-0, 4 points) last played Kelowna in the second round of the playoffs last season, when the Americans handed the Rockets a five-game series loss and an early start to their summer break.
Over the last five years, Tri-City is 16-4 against Kelowna, including a 4-0 mark last season where the Americans outscored the Rockets 20-5.
"We know the great tradition of Kelowna," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller. "We have seen them the last couple of years in the playoffs, and I think there might be some hard feelings after last year."
The Americans beat Spokane an Seattle last weekend, outscoring their opponents 10-4.
Brendan Shinnimin leads the team with two goals and three assists, while Jordan Messier has three goals, and Patrick Holland and Kruise Reddick have one goal and three assists each. In all, 12 players registered points in the first two games.
"That's the depth of the organization," Hiller said. "Bob (Tory) and the scouts have taken the time to find good players, even if they aren't picking at the top of the totem pole."
Messier, who had two goals against Seattle on Sunday, is ready to take the Americans' game on the road.
"We are going to take the confidence of the first two wins and head to Kelowna," Messier said. "That's a tough place to play. We will have to go in, play hard and play the way we have been."
With all WHL games available on the Internet, Huska has seen what the Americans are capable of, but is more concerned about how his team responds after the loss to Prince George.
The Cougars, who led 4-1 after two periods, chased Rockets starting goalie Adam Brown early in the third after giving up two more goals in the first 4:40 of the period.
PG was 2-for-5 on the power play, while Kelowna was 1-for-4 on the man advantage.
"Our focus is on us and us only," Huska said. "We have to make sure we do the right things and we have to make sure we have a much different effort. Fans don't care as much if you lose as long as the effort is there."
The Rockets will be playing short-handed. Defenseman and team captain Tyson Barrie is sidelined with a hamstring injury and forward Shane McColgan is on the scratch list after having his tonsils removed.
