Game Notes vs. Raiders

Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets are playing the fifth game of six straight on an Eastern Conference road trip with a stop tonight in Prince Albert. The Rockets are 1-2-0-1 on the swing after a 4-3 shootout loss in Swift Current, a 4-1 loss in Moose Jaw, a 5-3 setback in Brandon and a 3-2 overtime win Wednesday night in Regina. Overall, the Rockets have been out-scored 15-10 in the first four games. The Rockets and Raiders are meeting for the one and only time this season. Last season the Raiders fell 3-2 in overtime to the Rockets at Prospera Place. Brett Bulmer scored at the 3:33 mark of the extra period. The Rockets last stop at the Art Hauser Centre came December 15/09 in a 3-0 shutout loss. Following tonight’s game the Rockets wrap up the pre-Christmas schedule tomorrow night in Saskatoon. The Rockets are venturing out this way for the first time since the 2009-2010 campaign. That year the Rockets went 3-3-0-0 with wins over Swift Current, Regina and Moose Jaw and losses to Brandon (8-4), Prince Albert (3-0) and Saskatoon (4-1). In the big picture the Rockets have points in ten of their last fifteen games (7-5-1-2). The Rockets are in the midst of playing 13 of 16 games on the road.

Eastern Conference Road Trip Analysis:

Period scoring: 1 2 3 OT SO Total

Rockets: 4 3 2 1 0 10

Opponent: 3 7 4 0 1 15

*The Rockets are 1 for 16 on the power play in the first four games of the road trip. The opposition is 5 for 17 with the extra man.

East Conference Road Trip Successes:

2009-2010: 3-3-0-0 19 goals for - 23 goals against

2007-2008: 3-2-0-1 18 goals for - 18 goals against

2005-2006: 6-0-0-0 30 goals for - 20 goals against

2003-2004: 5-0-0-0 21 goals for - 6 goals against *

2001-2002: 0-4-0-1 14 goals for - 21 goals against *

*Did not play Swift Current on Saskatchewan road trip which included stops in Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina and Brandon.

Who’s Hot: Brett Bulmer has twenty-four points in sixteen games (12+12=24). Bulmer is riding a seven game point streak (9+3=12). Shane McColgan has eleven assists in his last thirteen games. Carter Rigby has five goals in his last nine games…Adam Brown has started in goal in twenty-four of the first thirty-three games…Colton Sissons has eleven goals in his last sixteen games and has one more goal than the 17 he scored in 63 games last season. Zach Franko has eight points (2+6=8) in his last thirteen games.

This and That: In their last four wins, the Rockets have given up two or less goals per game…The Rockets 5^th round pick in this summer’s draft made his WHL debut Tuesday in Brandon. Fifteen year-old Justin Kirkland is playing with the Notre Dame Argos of the Saskatchewan Major Midget League….The Rockets are 8-5-1-2 with Brett Bulmer in the line-up….Head Coach Ryan Huska is an assistant coach on Team Canada while Jeff Thorburn is an athletic therapist….Huska was a member of the Team Canada coaching staff last year. Huska is the fourth Rockets’ coach to represent Team Canada. Marcel Comeau and Marc Habscheid have been head coaches while Jeff Truitt was a video coach….The Rockets have sent 11 players to represent Canada at the WJHC…Tyrell Goulbourne has eight fighting majors this season.… The Rockets are 1-7-0-1 when giving up five or more goals…Last season they gave up five or more goals in ten games…NHL Central Scouting has rated captain Colton Sissons as the 6^th top skater available from the WHL for the 2012 draft….Jesse Lees and Tyson Baillie have been named to Team Pacific for the Under 17 World Hockey Challenge next month in Windsor, Ontario…Madison Bowey has been named to the roster for Team West for the Under 17 World Hockey Challenge…The Rockets have been involved in sixteen-one goal games this season. The Rockets are 7-5-1-3 in those sixteen games…The Rockets are playing their 1474^th regular season game tonight and will hit the 15 hundred mark when they host Red Deer on February 18^th…Ryan Huska has 170 wins behind the Rockets bench…The Rockets have scored a power play goal in seventeen of their last twenty-five games….Mitchell Chapman has one more point (7) than the six he collected all of last season…Filip Vasko has left the team where he will try to make Team Slovakia for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships.