Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Chiefs are meeting for just the second time this season. These two teams met last Saturday in Spokane in a 2-1 Chiefs win. Following tonight’s contest these two teams will meet against in Spokane February 19th before concluding the seasonal series February 27th in Kelowna. The Rockets are coming off a 4-3 loss last night to the Everett Silvertips. The Tips scored three-first period goals and had a 3-1 lead after one period, and had a 4-1 lead just three minutes into the second period. The Rockets would rally though, with back-to-back goals from Justin Bernhardt and Jamie Benn to make it a one goal game. The Rockets were out-shot 27-26 in the game, while going 2 for 8 with the man advantage. The Rockets tonight are playing game two of a three game home-stand. The Rockets host Vancouver Wednesday before returning to the road to face Kamloops Friday night. Overall the Rockets have lost two straight games and have lost four of their first five home games. The only home win this season was a 5-0 victory over Calgary October 10th.
Head-to-Head Play: The Rockets are 10-0-0-1 in their last 11 games at home against Spokane dating back to the start of the 2002-2003 season. The Chiefs snapped a 10 game losing streak in Kelowna last season with a 3-2 win in a shootout. Over those 11 games, the Rockets have shutout the Chiefs 4 times. The largest margin of victory for the Rockets over that period was an 8-1 home ice win February 5, 2003.
Who’s Hot: Colin Long is riding a four game point streak. Long has 1+5=6 over that period. Jamie Benn has a four game point streak (4+2=6) and has goals in three of his last four games. Kyle St. Denis has 4 points in his last 5 games. Brady Leavold has three fighting majors in his last five games. Cody Almond has 5 points in his last four games. Almond has 5 assists over that period. Almond has points in 7 of the teams first 10 games. Myles MacRae is pointless in 6 games. Lucas Bloodoff has just one assist in 10 games this season. Bloodoff’s last goal came March 3rd of last season in a 7-4 loss in Prince George.
This and That: The Rockets have given up a power play goal in 9 of the 10 games they’ve played this season. The exception was a 5-0 shutout win over Calgary October 10th…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…The Rockets have lost three of four home games this season by a single goal…The Rockets have been out-scored 16-15 at home this season…Kristofer Westblom has 9 career shutouts. All nine have been recorded on home ice. Westblom is 5 wins shy of 50 for his career. Westblom’s next start will be his 94th of his career…Of the Rockets first ten games; six have been against teams in the U.S division. The Rockets have played just one team in the BC division, the Vancouver Giants two times.
Broadcasters Quick Hits: The Rockets all-time are 7 and 7 in the shootout…The Rockets have been out-shot in eight of the ten games this season…The Rockets have scored 30 goals so far this season after ten games. Last season the team scored just 17 goals after ten games, while allowing 31 against…The Rockets record after ten games this season is 4-5-1-0, which is good for 9 points. Last season after ten games the Rockets record was 2-6-0-2, which was good for 6 points…Of the Rockets 30 goals this season, 16 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 shoot-out loss over that period…The Rockets are just 1 and 6 in their last seven overtime appearances. The Rockets are 7 and 7 in overtime games dating back to the start of the 2005-2006 season.
Tonight’s Notables: Luke Schenn is playing in career game number 143 tonight, 7 shy of 150 for his career. Colin Long is playing in his 100 career WHL game tonight. Rockets overage forward Brady Leavold played in his 135th WHL game Oct 6.2007 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 played in his 100th career game last night. Colin Joe has the most games under his belt of anyone in the Rockets lineup. Joe plays in his 187th career game tonight. James McEwan played in his 175th game October 6/07 in Seattle. Justin Bernhardt played in career game 175 also against the T-Birds October 6th. Bernhardt recorded his 100th point of his WHL career with a second period goal in last night’s loss to Everett.
Rockets Schedule - Next 5 Games: Rockets Results - Last 5 Games:
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
Oct 30 vs. Kamloops Rockets 1 Spokane 2
Nov 2 vs. Chilliwack Rockets 3 Everett 4
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: 48 @ Vancouver Sept 30/07
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: 2-3-1-0
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 3-3-0-0 1-2-0-0 2-1-0-0
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), Milan Kytnar (Oilers 07), Tysen Dowzak (Tryout Philadelphia).
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel (AM 1150)
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