Big Benn Was A Perfect 10!

• Is Jamie Benn the best player in the Western Hockey League? You may want to talk with the Lethbridge Hurricanes about that after Saturday night's game. Benn literally took his team on his shoulders and led them to a 4-3 win. Benn scored three goals in the Rockets 11th win of the season. All three were nothing short of spectacular.
• Here is Benn's second goal of the game, which was as nice or better than the third goal he scored to propel the Rockets to victory: www.am1150.ca/player/player?mediapath=&type=mp3&fi=files%2Fam1150%2Fsrimedia%2FR09_0866.MP3&nid=819479
• Benn's hat-trick was the first of his WHL career. It's the Rockets first hat-trick since Dylan Hood scored three times in a road win in Everett last season.
• The Hurricanes couldn't have gotten off to a better start in this one. Despite firing just four shots at the Rockets net in the first period, the road team found themselves up 2-0. I don't look at forward Carter Bancks opening goal as a bad one by Rockets starter Adam Brown. I call that a great shot from a sharp angle that beat Brown over the shoulder from what appeared to be an impossible angle. Bancks was one of the best Hurricanes last night playing alongside Dwight King. King was solid, scoring a nice goal to put the Hurricanes up 2-0 after out-battling (or out muscling) Cody Almond to a puck at the side of the Rockets net. Every time King had the puck, he shot it. I am not sure what his line mates think of that but if you have a heavy shot, use it, and King does.
• Speaking of Cody Almond, he had a great breakaway goal on a tremendous feed from Stepan Novotny. The Rockets haven't been involved in a shootout yet this season, but if they are, give Almond the puck!
• Tysen Dowzak's return to the lineup was a successful one. Dowzak was named the games third star. The 20 year-old was a +2 and collecting an assist on Benn's second goal of the game. It was his shot blocking that really stood out for me. His big frame got in the way of a number of shots when the Hurricanes were on the power play. Thanks to Dowzak, the Hurricanes failed to score a power play goal on four chances.
• Here is my conversation with Dowzak before the game: www.am1150.ca/player/player?mediapath=&type=mp3&fi=files%2Fam1150%2Fsrimedia%2FR09_0865.MP3&nid=819478
• I was amazed that the line of Boychuk, Fadden and Sceviour didn't cause more headaches for the Rockets. Three dynamic players on the same line should make the opponents heart skip a beat, yet they struggled in this one. In saying that, these three players are simply too good to be kept in check. They will be a force to be reckoned with as the season goes on.
• I don't see the Hurricanes often, but defenseman Mitch Versteeg impressed me Saturday night. He made a big hit on Brandon McMillan and was solid defensively. The Hurricanes have the luxury of having two-20 year-olds on their blue line.
• Curt Gogol saw limited ice time, playing as a forward. With Dowzak returning to the lineup Saturday night, the coaching staff thought they'd try the experiment of putting the 17 year-old defenseman up front.