Things That Make Me Go Hmm...

• The Rockets will have to make a decision on their 3-20 year-old's by Thursday. Despite sitting the last three games as a healthy scratch, is Lyon Messier is the odd man out? Has Brady Leavold done enough to earn the final spot? Leavold's presence alone has made some teammates play harder, edgier hockey in my opinion. The only draw back about Messier is his age. If he was 19, no one would even been questioning his ability. Messier can play at this level, but his birth certificate is holding him back.
• I don't know how many times I've been asked about Kristofer Westblom being traded this season. My question is, is it worth making the move? Can you get a fair return if you deal him away? Why did the Swift Current Broncos not deal overage goaltender Kyle Moir last season? Jon Keen, get me the answer to that question. My guess is trading partners are willing to give up little for an overage netminder. Just to trade a goaltender (Westblom or Jung) for trading sake makes no sense to me. In fact maybe the Rockets are just as solid keeping both Westblom and Jung all season long, as one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. If one falters, the other is there to pick up the slack.
• The other side of the equation is, trading a goaltender at the deadline in January isn't overly wise either. The player you get in return can help you for a maximum 25 games before the playoffs start, and if your pushing for a playoff birth, will that one player you get in a deal be the extra push you need to get into post season? If a solid defensive defenseman is what you get in return, is that player going to really be the extra ammo you need to have success in the playoffs? My guess is no! Goaltending often wins or losses playoff series, and the Rockets have two of the best in the conference.
• It was sure a good time to use an early excuse, but I didn't hear a peep out of Swift Current Broncos General Manager Dean Chynoweth about his team starting the season on a 8 game road trip. The Broncos began the season on opposition ice for an extended period of time because of reno's to the arena I like to call the Centennial Civic Centre. Chynoweth may want his team to play more games out of town considering they went 5-2-0-1. The Broncos home opener is Friday. They should consider wearing their away jersey's.
• The Calgary Hitmen are the best team in the WHL at 9-1-0-0. The only team the Hitmen have lost a game to is the Regina Pats on September 30th. The Hitmen can score with the best of them, yet have been very stingy defensively this season. The Rockets are in for a dog-fight at both ends of the ice Wednesday night.
• I'm glad to see Clayton Bauer remains in the WHL, after the Kootenay Ice dealt the former Rocket to the Red Deer Rebels. I have had the pleasure of getting to know Clayton's mom and dad pretty well over the years. Clayton's dad was a fine athlete in his day, as a member of the CFL's Hamilton Ti-Cats.
• I found the comments coming from the mouth of rookie Kootenay head coach Mark Holick quite interesting when it comes to challenging his veteran players. Holick went as far as to berate them for their lack of work ethic in the local paper, a pretty gutsy move this early in the season. Sure it makes for good reading, but isn't it best to keep it inside the confines of the dressing room, rather than throwing out your dirty laundry for all to see?
• Rockets head coach Ryan Huska is taking a different approach when getting his message across. He isn't bad mouthing them in the press, he's making them a healthy scratch. Cody Almond was a healthy scratch last Saturday in Vancouver after taking a bad penalty against Everett. Evan Bloodoff was the latest player to sit in the stands, after he was made a healthy scratch against the Giants after taking a bad penalty a few night's earlier against Seattle.
• For the record, Cody Almond had 3 career fights to his credit going into his tilt with Vancouver d-man Mike Berube Monday afternoon. Almond fought twice last season and once in his rookie campaign. Who did Almond fight last season? Giants super pest Garet Hunt and Blazer d-man Ryan Bender.