Great start...odd finish
Lucas Bloodoff and Tyson Barrie were given the privilege of hanging the Western Conference championship and WHL championship banners during a pre-game ceremony.
- It's not often you see a game winning goal scored on a penalty shot - in overtime - shorthanded. But if you were at Thursday night's Rockets home opener at Prospera Place you witnessed Craig Cunningham's goal at the 3:16 mark of overtime, yes shorthanded and on a penalty shot, lifting the Vancouver Giants to a 6-5 win.
- Cunningham's goal came after he broke away from a Rockets defenceman and appeared to have a one-on-one situation with goaltender Adam Brown. Cunningham appeared to lose the puck as he attempted to go to the backhand as the d-man's stick glanced off of the Giants forwards arm. For those keeping count, referee Pat Smith made the call.
- When was the last time the Rockets lost a home opener by giving up 6 goals? The Rockets were a 6-5 overtime loser to the Tri City Americans September 22/07. Eric Felde scored the game winner, on the power play, at the 1:02 mark of overtime.
- Stepan Novotny scored four goals and chipped in with an assist for a five point night. Who was the last Rockets player to register five points? Jamie Benn had five points (4+1=5) in the second game of the 2009 Memorial Cup in the Rockets 6-4 win over Drummondville.
- Lucas Bloodoff came to the aid of a teammate after Giants forward J.T Barnett just missed clocking Rockets rookie Brett Bulmer in the neutral zone. Bloodoff didn't like what he saw and landed several solid rights to the face of Barnett, who left the altercation bleeding.
- Giants goaltender Jamie Tucker looked shaky giving up two goals on the first two shots he faced, but instead of panicking head coach Don Hay kept the struggling goaltender in there to work out his problems and regain his confidence. Tucker appeared to get better as the game wore on.
- Lance Bouma is a bull. The Giants team captain had a solid game by scoring a goal and winning battles to loose pucks. Bouma looked down and out after missing a Rockets defenceman and crashing heavily into the end boards. The 19 year-old skated slowly off the ice but didn't miss a shift.
- Rockets forward Mitchell Callahan had a career game with a goal and two assists.
- Mitchell Callahan, Stepan Novotny and Collin Bowman were all +3 in the game.
Lucas Bloodoff and Tyson Barrie were given the privilege of hanging the Western Conference championship and WHL championship banners during a pre-game ceremony.
4 comments:
Just coincidence??? Spitfires lost 6-5 in OT in their first game too.
I think pat smith really needs to get his eyes checked out.
I thought a penalty against the Rockets could have been called earlier on in the sequence, which would have made it 3 on 3. Tough call from the officials standpoint. Cunningham was in the clear, so whether the d-man's actions resulted in him losing the puck is up for debate.
Bad call from my angle....kid stumbles and gets a free shot....thought Barrie and St.Denis struggled by being returned so late...obvious they were beat....Some of the so called highly touted new guys were way too shy in their puck pursuit last night. I am not going to go as far as saying they were scared but some major disappointments from the rookies up front and on the back end...McColgan is the real deal and nice to see Novotny have early success.... Brown would like to have a few goals back to I would guess....long season but every point counts..
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