Rockets have dynamite in hand but can't get it lit

• The Kelowna Rockets had a stick of dynamite in their hands 9 times last night, but every time they were about to light the fuse it went out. The Rockets were 0 for 9 on the power play, including a two man advantage for 1:11 early in the second period, in a 4-1 loss in Vancouver. The loss extends the Rockets losing streak to four games.
• The best Rockets player for my money was 17 year-old Colton Sissons. Sure he scored his first career WHL goal, but he was always first to pucks and his battle level was second to none. It would be worth fellow teammates watching Sissons shifts on video and take a cue from what they see.
• What I like about Sissons goal, particularly when a team is struggling scoring, was his no nonsense approach of taking the puck to the net. Sissons found a bit of a seam at the side of the Giants net and quickly jammed it home. No tick-tack-toe play here. It was just a smart play by taking advantage of what the Giants gave him. The goal won't make the highlite reels, but when they are hard to come by, the greasy ones will have to do.
• Rockets 19 year-old defenceman Kevin Smith got involved in a second period scrap with Giants d-man Wes Vannieuwenhuizen. Smith left the tilt with a bloody nose but returned in the third period with a piece of cotton in his nose to keep it from bleeding.
  
• Shane McColgan and Tyson Barrie returned to the lineup Friday, but neither was in fine form. McColgan has missed a significant amount of time following the removal of his tonsils so the rink rust was clearly evident. Barrie quarterbacked the power play, but several of his shots from the point often hit a Giants shin pad before trickling out of harms way. Give the home team credit for sacrificing their body for the betterment of the team.
• The Giants are celebrating their 10th anniversary and are doing everything they can to market the fact. It's not often a team thumbs its chest with pride with only ten years under their belt, but the Giants have to make some noise with the hype the Canucks are making by celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.
• I had a good conversation with Giants head coach Don Hay before the game. We spoke about everything other than his team. I wanted to get the veteran coach of over 800 WHL games to touch on the play of Jordon Eberle, the hitting from behind incident involving Tri City forward Brendan Shinnimin and what Ryan Huska can expect as an assistant coach for the Canadian world junior team in December. I will post the interview next week.