Written Option 2:

With Kelowna falling just short of winning it all last season, media hype naturally was high at the start of this season. Critics claimed that Gino Fortezza, who had a mediocre season ran hot just at the right time in the playoffs, yet still had some blips that lead to easy goals.

Now Fortezza became basically the team's veteran overnight as Beargeron and Gagner got traded in light of the Knight's rebuild.

Fortezza usually is a man of few words but took some media training to at least be able to fake a media personality. With many roonies coming in, the team needs a leader desperately and while Hawkey is stepping into that role, they are still younger than Fortezza and need backup.

With the results being rather bad, while not unexpected due to the rebuild, Fortezza is doing his best to tank critical comments, not allowing them to diminish the young team's efforts and motivation.
Better times will come for Kelowna, the project just needs time.