Now That's More Like It!

• For the second straight night the Rockets again opened up the scoring, but for the first time this year the opening goal paved the way to a win. Cody Almond scored just 32 seconds into the period and the road team was off to the races.
• Despite being out-shot badly in the second period (19-6), the Rockets again were led by an elite player to escape the period with a 5-2 lead. Tyson Barrie’s pass to Jamie Benn sent the 19 year-old forward in on a clear cut shorthanded breakaway, an opportunity Benn wouldn’t miss. Oddly enough Benn had another breakaway chance in the period, but this time Ice goaltender Nathan Liewen made the save.
• Cody Almond often times needs to pass the puck more and use his line-mates, but you can’t deny his great release. Both goals he scored Sunday were laser beams that the goaltenders just couldn’t handle.
• I felt good for Dylan Hood. After being a healthy scratch Saturday in Lethbridge, Hood responded with a goal and some good energy in the game. The goal was Hood's first in 23 regular season games.
• Kris Lazaruk was all smiles after this one. The personable goaltender was on the winning end of a game against his old team. He holds no grudges against the Ice for dealing him away, yet it was oh so sweet to beat his former team.
• The score-sheet will show Stepan Novotny scored the Rockets third goal, but the power play goal was indeed scored by Jamie Benn. That would give Benn two goals in the game, and four goals in his last three games.
• Two 16 year-olds scrapped it out in the first period as Mitchell Callahan danced with Ice forward Drew Czerwonka. I'd give the edge to Callahan, but both should be applauded for their aggressive play. Callahan likes to be apart of the action, and Czerwonka appears to be made from the same mold. Czerwonka was even seen verbal jousting with Rockets forward Jamie Benn between the benches. Czerwonka left a good impression on me. Unfortunately we will only see him once this season. He's going to be a good one with that type of confident swagger.
• It was great to see the Kootenay Ice fans applauding Rockets goaltender Kris Lazaruk when he was introduced in the starting lineup before the national anthem. Lazaruk played three seasons with the Ice including 108 regular season games.
• These guys continue to amaze me. Playing four games in five night could have been the setup for a night filled with physical and mental errors. It wasn't without it's miscues, but the Rockets showed some character playing their third game in three nights.
• Tyler Myers had a great weekend. He took a lot of penalties, but we see a more agressive - angrier Myers than a year ago. Often times Myers gets called for penalities because he is so big. When you are 6'7 and you hit a 5'10 forward into the boards, often times Myers is hitting the opponent in the head. But do you penalize a guy for being that tall?
• The Kootenay Ice fans were on their ‘A’ game Sunday night. When the anthem singer had a problem with her mic, the hometown faithful didn’t leave her hanging. They quickly joined in unison and sang the national anthem until her mic became operational on the last verse of Oh Canada.
• I had a great chat with Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth before the game. We chatted about his father, the late Ed Chynoweth being inducted next month into the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame. I did an interview with Jeff asking him about Ed Chynoweth – the dad, not the hockey man – that brought so much to the Western Hockey League. Jeff Chynoweth spoke from the heart making for what I thought was a great interview.