Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Pats are meeting for the one and only time this season. It marks the first game between these two teams since the two clubs hooked up in a 6 player trade last December. Only three players remain from that trade. Troy Ofukany and Kirt Hill are still with the Pats while Kyle St. Denis is the lone player on the Rockets roster. The last time the Rockets were in Regina was October 7, 2005 in a 6-4 win. The Rockets have a record of 5-2-0-0 with a tie in their last 8 appearances at the Brandt Centre/Agridome dating back to the start of the 1996-97 season. The Rockets largest margin of victory over the Pats in Regina was a 7-0 win December 16, 2003. The two teams combined for a whopping 12 goals in a 6-6 tie December 17th 1996. Today’s game is the second of 6 straight games on an Eastern Conference road trip prior to the Christmas break. The Rockets opened the road trip Friday night with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Colin Long and Jamie Benn scored for the Rockets, who built up a 2-0 lead before the Hurricanes rallied back with two unanswered goals including the shootout winner from Dwight King. The Rockets are in Moose Jaw Tuesday night before traveling to Brandon Wednesday. The Rockets are winless in three straight road games (0-2-0-1) after back-to-back losses over Tri City (6-1) Chilliwack (3-1) and a shootout loss to Lethbridge (3-2). The Rockets last road win was November 18th in Vancouver (5-3).
Rockets/Pats Trade: Troy Ofukany played 2 and a half seasons with the Rockets from 2004 until a trade to the Pats in December 2006. Ofukany played 168 games with the Rockets scoring 37 goals and collecting 76 points. Ofukany was the Rockets final pick in the 9th round of the 2002 WHL draft. Kirt Hill played 124 games with the Rockets from 2004 to 2006. Hill had 40 points including 18 goals. Hill was the Rockets 2nd round pick in 2003. Kaspars Saulietis played just 24 games for the Rockets last season after being selected in the 2nd round of the 2006 CHL European draft, 61st overall. The Rockets traded Justin Bernhardt to the Prince Albert Raiders for a 5th round draft pick, which will be upgraded to a 3rd rounder if Bernhardt plays with the Raiders as a 20 year-old next season. Jason MacDonald was released earlier this season.
Rockets Rolling: The Rockets enter tonight’s game having recorded a point in 16 of their last 19 games (12-3-1-3). The Rockets enter tonight’s game having won 7 of their last 8 home games, with points in 9 of their last 10 at Prospera Place (6-1-1-1). The Rockets head into a portion of their schedule playing 6 of their next 8 games on the road.
Red Hot Rockets:
Colin Long: points in 7 straight games (6+6=12).
Brady Leavold: Has 4 multiple point games this season and 13 over his career.
Tyson Barrie: 1+6=7 last 7 games Cody Almond: Twelve games no goal. Last goal was Nov 7th vs. Rebels
Jamie Benn: 2 goals last 8 games Myles MacRae: Four goals in his last five games.
Luke Schenn: 1+4=5 in last five games. Tyler Myers: 4 goals in last 7 games.
What the Opposition Broadcaster Should Know:
•Luke Schenn is trying to become the 6th Rockets player to play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships. Schenn would join Robb Gordon, Chuck Kobasew, Josh Gorges, Shea Weber and Blake Comeau on that list. Schenn leaves for Calgary to attend Team Canada’s main camp following tonight’s game.
•Rockets rookie defenseman Tyson Barrie is 2 for 2 in shootout attempts. Barrie and Ty Wishart of the Prince George Cougars lead WHL defenseman in shootout success. Barrie scored 43 goals on the back end playing midget hockey last season.
•Jamie Benn, an 18 year-old rookie, is 3rd in WHL rookie scoring with 25 points. Teammate Tyson Barrie is 7th in rookie scoring while Kyle St. Denis is 8th. Benn is one goal shy of Brandon’s Brayden Schenn for the most goals scored by a rookie. Schenn has 13, Benn has 12.
•Sixteen players on the Rockets 23 man roster were drafted by the Rockets. Four were listed by the team. They include Torrie Jung, Myles MacRae, Jamie Benn and Dylan Hood. The Rockets traded for Brady Leavold, Lucas Bloodoff and Kyle St. Denis. Milan Kytnar was selected in the European draft while James McEwan was picked up two summers ago after being outright released by the Seattle Thunderbirds.
• The Kelowna Rockets franchise is closing in on 600 wins as a franchise. The Rockets have 594 wins heading into today’s game. The Rockets are in their 17th season of operation, after breaking into the league as an expansion franchise in 1991 as the Tacoma Rockets.
•The Rockets won just 22 games last season. Just six of those came on the road.
Road Trip Success: The Rockets last visit to the prairies for an extended road trip was in October of 2005 when the team went 5-0-0-0. It’s not the first time the Rockets have had that type of success though. The Rockets were also 5-0-0-0 back in December of 2003 and again were 5-0-0-0 in December of 2000 through the prairies. The most unsuccessful trip was in December of 2001 when the team went 0-4-1-0, losing three of those games by a single goal. The only point on the trip was a 5-4 overtime loss in Brandon.
Rockets vs. Divisions:
vs. BC: 9-5-0-1 vs. US: 4-5-2-0
vs. Central: 3-1-0-0 vs. East: 1-0-0-1
Broadcasters Bits: The Rockets have been held to a goal or less in 7 games this season….Last season the Rockets were shutout 13 times. This season they’ve been shutout just once, by Vancouver in a 5-0 setback September 29th…The Rockets have scored 109 goals this season….Rockets goaltender Kristofer Westblom has started in twelve of the team’s last eighteen games, posting a record of 9-3-1-1…The Rockets have points in eight of their last 10 road games (5-2-1-2)…The Rockets have given up a power play goal in 23 of the 32 games they’ve played this season…The Rockets have been involved in a one goal game in 11 of their first 16 home games. The Rockets are 5-4-1-1 in those one goal contests…The Rockets have been involved in seventeen – one goal games this season…The Rockets are 8 and 10 in the shootout since it was adopted…The Rockets have just one loss in their last 7 home games (6-1-0-0). That one loss came at the hands of the Prince George Cougars in a 4-3 setback November 24th.
Rockets Schedule - Next 5 Games: Rockets Results - Last 5 Games:
Dec 11 @ Moose Jaw Rockets 7 Kamloops 4 W
Dec 12 @ Brandon Rockets 4 Hawks 2 W
Dec 14@ PA Rockets 1 Chilliwack 3 L
Dec 15 @ Saskatoon Rockets 4 Tigers 3 OTW
Dec 28 vs. Kamloops Rockets 2 Lethbridge 3 SOL
Rockets Players by Province: BC=13 US=4 ALB=3 SASK=2 MAN=1 EURO=1 Total=24
Rockets Season Highs and Lows:
Most Goals Scored: 7 vs. Kamloops Nov 30/07 (7-4 W), vs. Kootenay November 23/07 (7-6 OTW)
Most Goals Allowed: 6 vs. Kootenay Nov 23/07 (7-6 OTW), @ Tri City November 21/07 (6-1 L)
Most Power Play Chances: 9 @ PG Nov 10/07 (6-1 W – 4/9) vs. Warriors Oct 27/07. Rockets were 0/9 losing 4-3 in shootout.
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 4 @ PG Nov 10/07 (6-1 W)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 @ Everett Sept 29/07
Most Shots Taken: 38 vs. Kamloops Nov 30/07 (7-4 W), @ Portland Nov 17/07 (Rockets 4 Hawks 1)
Fewest Shots Taken: 9 @ Vancouver Sept 29/07 (5-0L)
Most Shot Allowed: 48 @ Vancouver Sept 30/07
Fewest Shots Allowed: 13 vs. Blazers Oct 30/07 (6-1 W)
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 stops Hawks forward Luke Walker Nov 17/07 in a 4-1 win in Portland. Kristofer Westblom stops Everett’s Shane Harper in a 3-2 overtime loss Nov 16/07 in Everett. Torrie Jung stopped Michal Repik in the 3rd period of a 5-0 loss Sept 29/07.
Overtime Winning Goal: Tyler Myers scored at 3:58 of overtime December 5/07 in a 4-3 win over Medicine Hat. Colin Long scored at :44 of overtime Nov 23/07 in a 7-6 win over Kootenay. Jamie Benn scored at 1:07 of overtime Nov 2/07 in a 3-2 win over Chilliwack.
Shootout Game Winning Goals: Dylan Hood scores in a 4-3 win in Seattle October 6/07. Colin Long scored the game winner in a 2-1 win over Vancouver October 24th.
Roster Stats:
Player total: 24
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s – 3 Westblom, McEwan, Leavold
19’s – 3 Dowzak, 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 5-5-0-1 3-3-0-1 2-2-0-0
November: 13 9-2-1-1 4-1-0-0 5-1-1-1
December: 12 2-1-0-1 2-0-0-0 0-1-0-1
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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