Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets face the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the second and final time this season. These two teams met December 7th in Lethbridge with the Hurricanes earning a 3-2 shootout win. The Rockets received a goal and an assist from Colin Long and Jamie Benn, while Torrie Jung made 26 saves in the setback. The Rockets were 0/5 on the power play while the Hurricanes were 0/7 with the extra man. In the Hurricanes last stop at Prospera Place back on February 23/07, Kyle Bailey had three assists in a 5-3 win. The Rockets are just 5-5-0-0 against the Hurricanes in their last 10 visits to Kelowna. The Rockets last shutout the Hurricanes at home on December 30/04 as Derek Yeomans made 20 saves in a 2-0 win. The most lopsided victory for the Rockets against the Hurricanes at Prospera Place was an 8-0 drubbing back on October 11/02. Following tonight’s game the Rockets are in Chilliwack tomorrow night before traveling to Kamloops next Friday.
A January to Remember: The Rockets ended the month of January 10-2-0-1 in 13 games. It was the best January in Kelowna Rockets franchise history. Last season the Rockets were just 3-8-2-0 in January. The Rockets were a surprising 6-4-0-1 in January in 2005-2006, and were 8-2-1-0 in 2004-2005. The Rockets were 8-4-1-0 in January of the 2003-2004 season.
Home Cooking: The Rockets are riding a season high 8 game home ice winning streak. The Rockets had an 11 game home ice winning streak during the 2005-2006 season from November 9th to January 7th. The Rockets also had an 11 game home ice winning streak from December 8/04 to February 2/05. The greatest home ice success this franchise has ever had was a 28 game unbeaten streak during the 2004-2005 campaign.
Home/Road Success:
Player Home Points Road Points
Colin Long: 41/38 *Long has 14 goals on the road
Jamie Benn: 30/30 * Benn has 14 goals on the road
Brady Leavold: 27/26 * Leavold has 13 goals at home – two fewer than Benn’s 15.
Cody Almond: 29/21 * Almond has 9 goals at home and 9 on the road.
The only Rockets with more points on the road than at home is Kyle St. Denis with 16 points at home and 18 on opposition ice. Dylan Hood has 9 points on the road, and just 6 on home ice. Seven of Hood’s 9 goals this season have been on opposition ice.
Red Hot Rockets: Colin Long has points in 15 of his last 19 games (7+27=34). Jamie Benn leads the team in power play goals with 13. Cody Almond has been held off the score-sheet just three times in 16 games since the Christmas break. Goaltender Torrie Jung has helped the Rockets earn points in 11 of his last 13 starts. The Rockets have opened up the scoring in 12 of their last 13 games.
Rockets Tidbits: Colin Long has a 3 point lead on Mark Santorelli for the WHL points lead. The two top scorers in the league hook up tomorrow night. Long also leads the WHL in assists with 56, 3 better than Santorelli…Jamie Benn leads WHL rookies in scoring, 9 points better than Calgary Hitmen’s T.J Galiardi. Benn is out 3 weeks with a sprained ankle…Brady Leavold has goals in five of his last seven games and in 10 of his last 14. Leavold and Benn lead the WHL in plus/minus with +31…Jamie Benn has seven-two goal games this season, but has yet to register a hat-trick…Colin Long has 24-multiple point games this season…The Rockets are just one of three teams this season with over 300 power play chances. Everett leads the way (331) followed by Kelowna (304) and Lethbridge (303)…The Rockets have scored the most power play goals in the WHL (63), one better than Vancouver’s 62….The Rockets have 19 games left in the regular season, 11 at home and 8 on the road…The Rockets have won 8 straight at home, with their last setback being a 4-3 loss to Kamloops on December 28th. The Rockets have out-scored their opponent 42-11 in those eight home games…The Rockets have points in 9 of their last 13 road games (6-4-0-3).…Rockets defenseman Tyler Myers turns 18 today.
Rockets vs. Divisions:
vs. BC: 18-8-0-1 vs. US: 6-5-2-0
vs. Central: 3-1-0-1 vs. East: 4-3-0-2
Rockets Players by Province: BC=12 US=4 ALB=3 SASK=2 MAN=1 EURO=1 Total=23
Rockets Schedule - Next 5 Games: Rockets Results - Last 5 Games:
Feb 2 @ Chilliwack Rockets 6 Prince George 3 W
Feb 8 @ Kamloops Rockets 9 Hawks 2 W
Feb 9 vs. Chilliwack Rockets 0 Broncos 4 L
Feb 14 vs. Brandon Rockets 3 Tigers 4 SOL
Feb 16 vs. Edmonton Rockets 5 Everett 1 W
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 6-4-0-2 2-1-0-0 4-3-0-2
January: 13 10-2-0-1 8-0-0-0 2-2-0-1
February: 11 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0 0-0-0-0
Rockets Season Highs and Lows:
Most Goals Scored: 11 @ Prince George Jan 11/08 in an 11-1 win.
Most Goals Allowed: 6 vs. Kootenay Nov 23/07 (7-6 OTW), @ Tri City November 21/07 (6-1 L)
Most Power Play Chances: 11 @ Swift Current Jan 25/08. The Rockets were 0/11, losing 4-0.
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 4 @ Cougars Jan 11/08 (11-1 W), vs. Cougars Jan 4/08 in a 6-0 win, @ PG Nov 10/07 (6-1 W)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 @ Vancouver Dec 29/07 (5-2 L), @ Everett Sept 29/07
Most Shots Taken: 41 @ Prince George Jan 12/08 (5-2 W).
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 22 saves vs. Cougars Jan 4/08 in a 6-0 win. Kristofer Westblom 28 saves vs. Calgary (5-0 W)
Last Time Shutout: - @ Swift Current Jan 25/08 – Guggenberger 30 saves (4-0 L)
Most Points by a Player: Jamie Benn had 2+4=6 vs. Prince George Jan 19/08.
Most Goals by a Player: Brady Leavold scored 4 goals vs. Prince George Jan 19/08.
Penalty Shots: Lucas Bloodoff fails to score on Justin Leclerc in 4-3 loss to Kamloops December 28th. Torrie Jung stops Bruins forward Cody Smuk in a 4-1 win in Chilliwack Dec 31/07. 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: Jamie Benn scored at 4:59 December 15/07 in a 3-2 win in Saskatoon. 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, 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: 17.7
Rookies – 7
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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