Sports

It's a sign of respect between two men whose relationship spans nearly two decades.

The same night the Kelowna Rockets closed out the regular season with a club record 52 wins - opposing coach Don Hay was coaching in WHL career game number 1,000.

Two milestones - one puck.

A member of the Giants picked up the puck at the end of the game and gave it to his coach to commemorate his 1,000 game behind a WHL bench. Hay in turn had the puck sent to the Rockets dressing room to commemorate their club record 52nd win.

Huska gave the puck back to Hay - the coach he played for while winning back-to-back Memorial Cup titles in 1994 and 1995.

Saturday, the Rockets said goodbye to the most successful season, in terms of wins, in franchise history with a 5-2 win over the visiting Giants.

The previous club record of 51 was set by the 2002-2003 edition of the Rockets.

Jesse Lees, Justin Kirkland, Myles Bell with the game winner, Tyson Baillie and Zach Franko into an empty net scored for the Rockets.

Bell's goal was his team leading 38th goal. His assist on Baillie's insurance goal gave him 93 points on the season, the most by a Rocket since Colin Long hit 100 points in the 2007-2008 season.

The teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after one period and tied 2-2 midway through the second when Bell broke the tie and put the Rockets ahead for good.

A pair of goals in the third including Franko's into an empty net put the game out of reach.

Jordon Cooke stopped 29 shots for his league best 37th win of the season.

The Rockets also clinched second place in the overall league standings with the win Saturday.

That means the Rockets would enjoy home ice advantage if they are able to advance as far as the league championship series.

The Rockets will open up the playoffs against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Seattle clinched seventh place Saturday when they took the Portland Winterhawks to overtime while, at the same time the Everett Silvertips were losing to Victoria in overtime.

The series with the T-Birds opens with games one and two Friday and Saturday at Prospera Place.

The Rockets, winners of six in a row entering the playoffs, took three of four from the T-Birds during the regular season.