Stupid Penalites According to the Coach

• Stupid Penalties. That's how Rockets head coach Ryan Huska summed up his clubs 4-3 home ice loss Friday night to the Everett Silvertips. Huska didn't like the checking from behind call Kyle St. Denis took just 5 minutes into the game, an interference call by Justin Bernhardt 3 minutes later and a bad roughing minor by captain James McEwan 3 minutes after Bernhardt's minor . The Tips would strike for two first period power play goals and took a 3-1 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes.
• Hooking penalties are traditionally lazy penalties. The Rockets took 3 of the them in the game. While the Rockets took just 16 minutes in penalties combined, coach Huska was none to pleased with what he saw as a momentum killer for his team. Much like the first meeting against these two teams, the Rockets were the better team 5 on 5.
• Rockets goaltender Kristofer Westblom I thought struggled in the first period. I honestly didn't like all three goals the Tips scored in the first period, yet Westblom got better as the game progressed, as did his team, in the clubs 3rd-one goal loss of the season.
• Jamie Benn again impressed, playing with Colin Long. Benn had a pair of nice goals, including a nifty backhand goal to draw the Rockets within one. Long again played the role of setup man, collecting two assists. Long now leads the Rockets in scoring, one point better than Brandon McMillan.
• Evan Bloodoff was again a healthy scratch for the Rockets. Bloodoff took a bad penalty against Spokane last weekend, and head coach Ryan Huska put the hammer down by sitting Bloodoff in the stands. Bloodoff's absence meant 16 year-old Jesse Paradis was injected into the lineup, playing on the teams 4th line with Dylan Hood and Kyle St. Denis.
• Veteran Myles MacRae was a healthy scratch. Why? My guess is one goal - an empty netter against the Tips in late September. Not good enough for a 19 year-old forward in my mind.
• What's with Dylan Hood? The 17 year-old had a great game, despite a bad clearing attempt which resulted in Dan Gendur's game winner in the second period. Hood was very good on the penalty kill, and had great energy all night. At one point he was rewarded by being placed on the teams number one line with Colin Long and Jamie Benn. Hood is playing with a lot of confidence, and it shows.
• Tips forward Kyle Beach played a smart game. He wasn't his agitating self Friday night, and didn't need to be. He didn't get into scrums with James McEwan or Brady Leavold early in the game, which kept the home team in a docile mood. Had Beach attempted to stir up a hornets nest by getting Leavold or McEwan involved in the game early, the Tips likely wouldn't have exited the first period with a 3-1 lead.
• People in the WHL can bad mouth Beach all they want, but it's not coming from my lips. He's a great player and a sure fire pro. Be thankful you can see this kid now, as he'll be skating up and down the wing of an NHL team in a couple of years time.
• It appears Tips captain Jonathon Hardy suffered a hip injury after what I thought was a clean hit by Rockets forward Jamie Benn. Hardy was in a heap of pain after the hit, and was helped off the ice and never returned.
• How good was Dane Crowley last night? The Tips d-man was everywhere. He was forced into major minutes once Hardy went down, and was solid all night long.
• How bad was the officiating last night? I haven't seen that many missed calls in one game in a long time. Kevin Muench, the Director of Officiating for the WHL was in attendance last night, and couldn't have liked what he saw.
• Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton was not at last night's game. He was in Spokane watching his son Curtis and the Saskatoon Blades face-off against the Spokane Chiefs.