It's Over - And It Was Just Getting Good

• It's a shame the seasonal series between the Rockets and Blazers is over. Friday night's 2-1 shootout loss to the Blazers had a playoff type of feel to it. You saw a real dislike for one another as emotions ran high between the two teams. It's too bad it took them until game seven and eight of the seasonal series before finally getting ticked off at one another.
• With the two teams deadlocked at one goal apiece in the third, the game could have gone one of two ways. Rockets forward Cody Almond has a clear cut breakaway while killing a penalty, only to see his shot go awkwardly off his stick and wide of the net. The game remains tied. Then Blazers forward Juuso Puustinen is awarded a penalty shot in overtime after being hooked from behind by defenseman Tyson Barrie. Puustinen buckles under the pressure by staying on the forehand and missing the goal while trying to go top shelf on Torrie Jung's glove hand side.
• Both Torrie Jung and Justin Leclerc were good in this one. Leclerc was named the games first star, but Jung's third period glove hand save off of Puustinen was the best of the bunch.
• So the game goes to a shootout where Shane Wiebe is creditted with the game winner. Wiebe is the first of the 6 shooters and beats Jung with a shot low on the ice.The Rockets can't answer with misses from Cody Almond, Colin Long and Tyson Barrie.
• Again you have to feel for Rockets goaltender Torrie Jung. Jung is now 1-7 in shootouts in his career and is 0 and 5 this season. His lone shootout win came last season against...Kamloops.
• I am starting to hate the shootout even more than ever. Why? It's not because the Rockets lose (which hurts too) but the painful experience is watching the zamboni drivers get the ice right for the shootout. The zamboni drivers go up and down the ice 100 times and still can't get it right. Just clear the *&^$##@^ shooting lane and lets get on with the shootout! Friday's delay must have been a good 5 to 8 minutes between the end of overtime and the start of the shootout.
• The Blazers upped the physical game with two big hits. C.J Stretch surprised everyone including Luke Schenn with a huge hit on the Rockets d-man 6 minutes into the first period. Then Blazers d-man Nick Ross caught Rockets forward Milan Kytnar with his head down as he was skating across the Blazers blueline.
• Rockets overage forward Brady Leavold took a bad penalty by getting goated into a 10 minute misconduct at the end of the 2nd period. Leavold has some choice words for Blazers forward Mark Hall and gets manhandled by a linesman to keep the two from engaging in a fight. Leavold gets the misconduct for the yelling match, but could have gotten more as he pushes the lineman. Then with 8 minutes left in the third period - in a tie game - Leavold attempts to get revenge on Hall by giving him a headlock between the benches. Leavold recieves the only minor penalty, and gives the Blazers a chance to win the game on the power play. The move not only put his team in a bad situation, but forces the coaches to bench him for the remainder of the game - including the overtime and the shootout. A bad third period penalty is nothing new for Leavold. He was benched after taking a penalty in the third period of an eventual 4-3 shootout loss against Medicine Hat late last month. I like Leavold, and will defend him on this very blog, but he knows better than that. Leavold is far better off to be on the ice helping his team in a 1-1 game than putting them behind the eight-ball.
• Despite the shootout loss, the Rockets earned a single point, clinching a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The result of last night's game didn't matter as the Rockets would have clinched a playoff spot regardless, as Prince George fell 4-2 to the Everett Silvertips.
• I want to thank the Kelowna Rockets organization for a special birthday greeting that appeared on the video monitor at the Interior Savings Centre. Early in the 3rd period I couldn't help but notice in bold red lettering ---- Congratulations Regan Bartel as you celebrate your 40th Birthday -----