Things That Make Me Go Hmm...

• What do the Rockets do Wednesday to contain Giants forward Casey Pierro-Zabotel? Pierro-Zabotel is on fire, leading the league in points (70) and has points in 12 of his last 13 games. Do the Rockets have a 'true' checking line that can keep the Giants #1 line at bay, or with last change, do you throw out the top line against him and see if they can force the Giants top trio into playing a more defensive minded game?
• How do the two teams compare? The Giants have 10 players with ten or more goals this season while the Rockets have 7 players with 10+ goals. The Giants have 15 players with 20+ points. The Rockets have just 9.
• The biggest difference between the two teams is on defense. The Giants have generated 196 points from the defensive core this season. The Rockets have created just 96 points from the back end this season.
• Cody Almond is one goal shy of his career high of 22 set last season. Tyson Barrie's 9 goals this season matched his total of all of last year. Jamie Benn is 8 goals off of the 33 he scored in his rookie season.
• Who do I think is the best rookie in the WHL this season? Prince George Cougars forward Brett Connolly gets the nod. Why? When you see someone play 7 times you get a better appreciation for his abilities. I've only seen Kellan Tochkin of the Everett Silvertips once. I can see by his point totals that he is having a great year, but couldn't tell you much about what type of player he is.
• A video taken in Prince George of Colin Long getting a favorable bounce at practice. He could have used more 'puck luck' like this in those two losses.
• Evan Bloodoff's one game suspension Saturday night means no Rockets player will manage the feat of playing in all 72 games this season. Last year Colin Long was the only player to dress in all 72 games. It marks the first time since the 1999-2000 season that the team won't have a player who dresses in every regular season game.
• Eight (8) players dressed in all 72 games for the Rockets during the 2004-2005 season. Justin Keller, Tyler Mosienko, Tyler Spurgeon, Troy Bodie, Mike Card, Kyle Cumiskey, Chris Ray and Brett Palin were part of that impressive group. No wonder they won a league championship that year...the teams best players were all healthy.
• Cody Almond's goal scoring streak of 6 games was snapped Saturday night. It tied for the longest goal scoring streak of the season 7 other players including teammates Jamie Benn and Ian Duval. Duval went on his streak in early December as a member of the Moose Jaw Warriors.