Game Notes vs. Spokane for Saturday

Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Chiefs are meeting for the first of just four times this season. The seasonal series continues next weekend when the Chiefs visit Kelowna October 20th. Following that game the two teams won’t see each other until late February, when the Rockets are in Spokane February 19th before closing out the seasonal series February 27th in K-Town. While these two teams are separated by just a four and a half hour drive, they also met only four times last season. The Rockets were 1-2-0-1, with the lone regulation win coming November 8, 2006 in a 6-4 win. In the three other games, the Chiefs were 4-1 and 3-1 winners, and escaped with a 3-2 shootout win in Kelowna on October 14th. Since the start of the 2003-2004 season, the Rockets are 4-2-1-1 with one tie in their last 9 games at the Spokane Memorial Arena. The Rockets enter tonight’s game riding a three game winning streak, out-scoring the opposition 13-5 over that period. Following tonight’s game, the Rockets return home to host Everett Friday night before hosting the Chiefs on Saturday. The game against the Tips will open a portion of the schedule where the Rockets play 7 of their next 9 games on home ice.

This and That: Arguably the top two 16 year-old defenseman in the Western Conference clash tonight. The Rockets Tyson Barrie faces Spokane blueliner Jared Cowan. It's time to compare the two offensively gifted rookies. Barrie has four points on the season (2+2=4), while Cowan entered the weekend with (1+4=5). Cowan was the first pick overall in the 2006 draft, while Barrie was selected 18th overall by the Rockets…Rockets rookie defenseman Collin Bowman is excited about tonight’s game in Spokane. Bowman will be facing his older brother Drayson. Drayson Bowman is the Chiefs leading scorer this season. Look for Bowman's mom and dad from Littleton Colorado to be in the stands cheering them on. The last Rocket player to face his brother in a WHL game was also against Spokane, when Tyler Spurgeon battled then 16 year-old Chief defenseman Jared Spurgeon…Brandon McMillan is 3 points shy of tying the point total he had from all of last season. McMillan had 12 points in his first year in the WHL, yet now leads the team with 9 points, two better than Colin Long…Rockets head scout Lorne Frey again looks like a genius when you look at who he selected in the 2004 bantam draft. Frey picked Luke Schenn in round one, despite having the last pick in the opening round. Frey also picked Cody Almond in round 4 and Colin Long in the 11th round. All three are key pieces of the Rockets puzzle this season…That 2004 draft could only be compared with the success Frey had in 2001 when he picked Tyler Spurgeon in round one, Blake Comeau in round two, and Mike Card was nabbed in the 4th round…Kristofer Westblom has 9 career shutouts, after Wednesday’s 5-0 white wash of the Calgary Hitmen. Westblom is 5 wins shy of 50 for his career. Westblom’s next start will be his 93rd of his career…All 9 of Westblom’s career shutouts have come on home ice.

Lyon Let Go: The Rockets made one roster move Thursday releasing 20 year-old defenseman Lyon Messier. Messier was acquired from the Edmonton Oil Kings, playing in 4 games with the Rockets, failing to pick up a point yet collected 11 penalty minutes. Messier has returned to Texas, where he played last season. The Rockets finalized their three 20 year-olds with the move, securing spots for Kristofer Westblom, Brady Leavold and James McEwan.

Leo Lashes Out: Rockets forward Brady Leavold had the Gordie Howe Hattrick Wednesday night against Calgary. Leavold got a goal, had an assist and got into a first period fight. It’s the second time in his WHL career that he’s accomplished the feat. On October 21st of last season Leavold turned the trick against the Prince Albert Raiders, this time with a three point game (2+1=3) and a fight. Leavold had four -3 point games last season and three-2 goal games.

Broadcasters Quick Hits: The Rockets all-time are 7 and 7 in the shootout…The Rockets have been out-shot in six of the eight games this season…The Rockets have scored 26 goals so far this season after eight games. Last season the team scored just 11 goals after eight games, while allowing 29 against… The Rockets were shutout twice in their first eight games a year ago…Of the Rockets 26 goals this season, 15 have been scored in the first period…The Rockets longest unbeaten streak last season was just four games. The Rockets had 3 wins and a shootout loss over that period…The Rockets have won back-to-back games on the road. When was the last time they won 3 straight on opposition ice? The Rockets won three straight from February 25, 2006 to March 3, 2006. The Rockets won four in a row from January 28, 2006 to February 8, 2006.

Tonight’s Notables: Luke Schenn is playing in career game number 141 tonight, 9 shy of 150 for his career. Colin Long is playing in his 98th career WHL game tonight. Myles MacRae played in his 125th game Monday in Vancouver. Rockets overage forward Brady Leavold played in his 135th WHL game last Saturday in Seattle. One hundred thirty-three (133) of those games have been played as a member of the Swift Current Broncos. Tysen Dowzak played in his 100th WHL game September 26th against Vancouver. Cody Almond is 2 games shy of 100 for his career. Colin Joe has the most games under his belt of anyone in the Rockets lineup. Joe plays in his 185th career game tonight. James McEwan played in his 175th game last Saturday in Seattle. Justin Bernhardt played in career game 175 last Saturday as well. Bernhardt needs just one more point for 100 in his career.

Rockets Schedule - Next 5 Games: Rockets Results - Last 5 Games:

Oct 19 vs. Everett Rockets 0 Vancouver 5 L
Oct 20 vs. Spokane Rockets 1 Seattle 4 L
Oct 24 vs. Giants Rockets 4 Seattle 3 SOW
Oct 26 @ Kamloops Rockets 4 Giants 2 W
Oct 27 vs. Moose Jaw Rockets 5 Calgary 0

Rockets Players by Province: BC=13 US=4 ALB=3 SASK=3 MAN=1 EURO=1 Total=25

Rockets Season Highs and Lows:

Most Goals Scored: 6
Most Goals Allowed: 6
Most Power Play Chances: 7
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 2
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 @ Everett Sept 29/07
Most Shots Taken: 37
Fewest Shots Taken: 9 @ Vancouver Sept 29/07 (5-0L)
Most Shot Allowed: 35 @ Everett Sept 29/07
Fewest Shots on Goal Taken: 24
Last Shutout: - Kristofer Westblom 28 saves vs. Calgary (5-0 W)
Last Time Shutout: - @ Vancouver Sept 29/07 – Sexsmith 9 saves (5-0 L)
Penalty Shots: Torrie Jung stopped Michal Repik in the 3rd period of a 5-0 loss Sept 29/07.
Shootout Goals: Dylan Hood scores in a 4-3 win in Seattle October 6/07.
vs. BC: 1-2-0-0 vs. US: 2-1-1-0
vs. Central: 1-0-0-0 vs. East: 0-0-0-0

Roster Stats:
Player total: 25
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s – 3 Westblom, McEwan, Leavold
19’s – 4 Dowzak, Bernhardt, MacRae, Joe
18’s – 8 Long, Kytnar, Brusciano, L. Bloodoff, Jung, Schenn, Almond, Benn
17’s – 6 St. Denis, E. Bloodoff, McIntosh, Myers, McMillan, Hood
16’s – 4 Bowman, Barrie, Paradis, Verdino
Average Age: 17.8
Rookies – 7

Record by Month:
Month Games Record Home Road
September: 4 1-2-1-0 0-1-1-0 1-1-0-0
October: 11 3-1-0-0 1-1-0-0 2-0-0-0
November: 13 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0
December: 12 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0
January: 13 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0
February: 11 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0

NHL Draft Picks-Training Camp Attendees: Jamie Benn (Dallas 07), Torrie Jung (Tampa Bay 07), Cody Almond (Minnesota 07), Tysen Dowzak (Tryout Philadelphia).

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel (AM 1150)