Thursday, February 14, 2008

Trying to Dethrone a King - A Wheat King That Is!

  • It's Luke vs. Brayden as the Schenn boys face one another tonight at Prospera Place. It's not the first time a Kelowna Rockets player has faced his brother this season. Rookie d-man Collin Bowman faced his older brother Drayson when the Rockets and Spokane Chiefs clashed earlier this season. Those two guys go at it again Tuesday in Spokane.
  • Brayden Schenn has 23 goals in his first season in the WHL. Does that bother his older brother Luke, considering the elder Schenn has just 10 career goals over three seasons? Brayden is a forward, so his goal totals should be higher than his defensive minded older bro.
  • How impressive is Brayden Schenn's goal total? Former Rockets forward Justin Keller had 25 goals in his rookie season. Keller was 17 at the time, a year older than Brayden.
  • The Rockets are playing game two of a three game home stand tonight. The Rockets host Edmonton Saturday night. The Rockets are meeting the Wheat Kings for the second time this season. These two teams met December 12th with the Rockets earning a 5-4 win. Colin Long (2+3=5) and Jamie Benn (2+2=4) led the way for the visitors, who managed just 18 shots on goal. Kristofer Westblom made 32 saves in the win. The Wheat Kings made a visit to Prospera Place last season, beating the Rockets 7-1 on October 28th. Luke Schenn scored the lone goal for the Rockets in that game while Torrie Jung gave up all seven goals in the lopsided loss. The Rockets are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Chilliwack Bruins Saturday night. The Bruins scored the first four goals of the game before Tyson Barrie’s power play goal gave the home side reason to cheer. The loss extended the Rockets winless streak to 4 games (0-3-0-1), with the team’s last win coming January 30th in a 5-1 home ice victory over Everett.
  • What hasn't been noticed this season is only one Rockets player has dressed for all 57 games. Who is it? Colin Long. It appears he's making up for lost time after suffering from mono in his rookie season two years ago.
  • What's impressive is former Rockets forward Justin Keller didn't miss a game in three seasons with the Rockets from 2003-2006.
  • I spoke with former Rockets team Captain Tyler Spurgeon Wednesday. The often injured Spurgeon is again sidelined, this time with a concussion. //www.am1150.ca/player/player?mediapath=&type=mp3&fi=files%2Fam1150%2Fsrimedia%2FR09_0326.MP3&nid=666876&

1 comment:

Sir Loungealot said...

Long's 57 games are impressive given the fact he was sick with the flu that knocked the whole team around, and that the coaching staff has not had an issue with benching its stars this year for lackluster play.

As a aside, let's hope the boys get back to the things that marked their run in Dec/Jan and they start winning before the commencement of the playoffs.