Back to Basics/Simon Wouldn't Have Liked It

• Just when it appeared the Rockets had figured it out and were riding a three game winning streak, the team has come crashing to the ground having dropped three in a row. Sure all three losses have come by a single goal, so all is not doom and gloom in Rocketville. That said, the team finds itself second guessing themselves by either playing overly aggressive and taking bad penalties or far to passive. Friday night in a 4-3 loss to Everett, the Rockets took some bad penalties and were the better team 5 on 5. One night later the Rockets stayed out of the box, but were unable to deliver the ferocious forecheck that brought them success in three straight wins over Seattle, Vancouver and Calgary.
• It pains me to say this, and I always preach the virtues of the goaltenders, but both Kristofer Westblom and Torrie Jung haven't been their usual selves during the three game losing streak. Soft goals are not the norm for these two, yet both have been guilty of them as of late. Does the irregular starts have something to do with it? I'm looking for a good excuse for them, but can't find one. Will they pull out of this? Obviously. Both are far to good not to rebound.
• Veteran forward Myles MacRae can look at being a healthy scratch in back-to-back games in two ways. He can either not let it bother him and go about his usual business, or he can go out and prove that sitting on the sidelines hurt his pride. MacRae can show he wants to be looked at as a key to the teams success, not simply a veteran going along for the ride. My hope is MacRae proves the coaches wrong, and plays his heart out at both ends of the ice. Not being phased by a lack of playing time, tells me MacRae doesn't care. I don't believe that for a minute.
• Seven points in 7 games. Not bad for rookie Jamie Benn. If anyone had doubts the 18 year-old couldn't score at this level has been proven wrong. How happy are the Dallas Stars to see their prospect excelling at the major junior level? It's not a knock on the BCHL, but Benn needed to face better competition and better goaltenders in an effort to improve his skills. He's found that he has less time and space to get shots away in the WHL, and the goaltenders are much better. The nice thing is Benn is still putting up impressive numbers despite the differences. Benn's smooth transition to the WHL game wouldn't have come as quickly without linemate Colin Long.
• After 11 games, you have to come to the conclusion that the Rockets are as good as any team in the WHL. They need to play error free hockey in order to beat the 'big boys' and need a solid effort no matter who the opponent is in order to record a 'w' at the end of the night. The room for error is a small one, but the Rockets found the formula earlier this season, and now must get back to what brought them success in games against Seattle, Everett, Vancouver and Calgary.
• Has it ever happened on a radio broadcast of a WHL game? My guess is never. Saturday night color analyst David Michaud made a gentleman's bet with Rockets forward Justin Bernhardt before the game. Bernhardt asked David and I to say hello to his mom back in Yorkton Saskatchewan, as Karen Bernhardt was celebrating a birthday. Michaud went one step further by telling Bernhardt that if he scored a goal that night, he'd sing happy birthday on the air to his mom. What happened? You guessed it. Bernhardt scored, resulting in Michaud singing happy birthday to Mrs Bernhardt. If you want to hear it for yourself, go to the WHL webcast from Saturday night. You have to tip your hat to both Bernhardt and Michaud for coming through in the friendly bet. Bernhardt came through by scoring a goal, while Michaud backed up a promise by singing out a rendition of happy birthday that would have had Simon Cowell running for the hills. I'll post the audio if you dare have a listen on Tuesday.
• Update: Here's the audio. http://www.am1150.ca/player/player?mediapath=&type=mp3&fi=files%2Fam1150%2Fsrimedia%2FDavid%20Sings%20Happy%20B-Day.MP3&nid=608858