Rockets gets rattled by Rattie and company

• You have to wonder if Ty Rattie is the next Portland Winterhawks player to be selected in the opening round of the NHL draft? The way Rattie is preforming in the first eleven games of the season, the 17 year-old will be hard for scouts to ignore next summer in St. Paul Minnesota. Rattie scored twice and added an assist in the Winterhawks 5-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets Saturday night. Playing on a line with Ryan Johansen and Sven Bartschi, Rattie and his teammates took over the game by dominating the final 40 minutes.
• That line was a combined +11.
  
• In my opinion, the Rockets were the better team after the opening period. The home team out-shot the visitors 15-8. While the Hawks had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, the Rockets were the aggressor, physically, against the much larger Hawks. But after Geordie Wudrick scored to make it a 1-1 tie, the Hawks initiated contact more often and the Rockets appeared to wither. The Hawks began to take over the game with extended periods of time spent in the offensive zone. Rattie would score the game winner before Johansen would find the puck on his stick on a broken play to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead. The third period was all Hawks, who dominated all facets of play.
  
• The best Rockets forward was Mitchell Callahan. I can't remember a shift where he didn't battle. Callahan did everything in his power to make it a memorable and miserable night for the Hawks. Unfortunately, few followed Callahan's lead.
• The Rockets again played without Tyson Barrie, and the Hawks took advantage of that non-veteran presence. The Rockets went 0 for 5 on the power play in a game where you need to score at least once with the extra man against an elite team. The good news is Barrie will play Wednesday against Vancouver, taking the heat off of Kevin Smith, who essentially is quarterbacking the Rockets power play.
  
• We only heard it once, but did you notice the horn when Geordie Wudrick scored? Man, that sounded good. Wednesday night against Kamloops, a new horn was used when the Rockets scored..but it had a more subdued sound to it. Frankly I was not a fan. I hope they stay with what we heard Saturday night. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
• The Rockets played the game without d-man Mitchell Chapman. Chapman has been suspended by the WHL for a kneeing incident Friday against Chilliwack. Chapman should learn the length of his suspension on Monday.
• The Rockets are now 1 and 4 on home ice this season. The only home ice win was a 3-2 overtime victory against Prince Albert.
• The Rockets have given up 22 goals in those five home games. That's an average of 4.4 goals against per game.