Was It Really A 7-3 Loss?

• Even when I take my rose coloured Kelowna Rockets glasses off, I still don’t see Saturday night’s loss as a 7-3 game. When you hold the opposition without a shot for the first 7 and a half minutes and pepper the goaltender with 36 shots, you had to have been doing something right?
• I thought it was the Rockets best opening period of the season. They were physical, limited quality chances on net (until the Hurricanes were granted power play time) and scored the opening goal. The Hurricanes had no business going to the dressing room tied at two after a solid opening 20 minutes by the visitors.
• Brandon McMillan and Colin Long both came within inches of scoring. McMillan’s backhand attempt went off the bar when the two teams were scoreless in the first period, and Long’s second period wrister also went off the bar after beating Lethbridge goaltender Juha Metsola. If those two get by him, are we looking at the Rockets going away in a romp?
• When was the last time the Rockets gave up seven goals on the road? It was March 3 of 2006 in a 7-4 loss in Prince George.
• The Rockets young defensive core was hit by a harsh blow when Tyler Myers got involved in a fight just 8 minutes into the game. Not only did he serve the five minutes, but also received two minutes for instigating and a 10 minute misconduct. When he is sitting in the box for that length of time it creates a huge hole and puts tremendous pressure on the other five d-men.
• Stepan Novotny had his first-two point game of his career. Novotny had a goal and an assist. The 17 year-old used some good speed to the outside before snapping a shot blocker side to beat Juha Metsola.
• I don’t often get to see Metsola play, but he’s the real deal. The 19 year-old Finn made some big saves in the game including a nice glove hand grab off of rookie defenseman Aaron Borejko in the 2nd period.
• Dylan Hood and Riley McIntosh were health scratches in this one. The coaching staff want more from these two 18 year-olds. I anticipate both will react favorably when they are injecting back into the lineup. Sometime a good kick in the pants is just what the doctor ordered.
• The Rockets dressed six defenseman in Saturday’s game. Five of those six defenseman are 17. Those seventeen year-olds are Kyle Verdino, Tyson Barrie, Aaron Borejko, Collin Bowman and Curt Gogol. The only d-man older is Tyler Myers, and he’s just 18. You will struggle in this league with that young of a group. Rest assured, if the Rockets don’t get Luke Schenn or Tyson Dowzak back, GM Bruce Hamilton will be out looking for maturity to fill out the back end.
• Not one - the exception being the Kelowna Rockets - have five-17 year-old defenseman on their roster. Several teams have a maximum of three.