Monday, February 20, 2012

Alberta bound...Alberta bound...it's good to be Alberta bound.


  • Talk about an early start. The Kelowna Rockets bus will roll out of Prospera Place tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at around 6 am bound for the province of Alberta. The team will play four games in five nights against four of the five Central Division teams, which include stops in Edmonton (Wed), Lethbridge (Friday), Medicine Hat (Sat) and Calgary (Sunday). The only stop the Rockets won't make is in Red Deer. Of the four teams the Rockets visit on this road trip, two of them they played just last week. Edmonton came into Kelowna last Wednesday and earned a 6-3 win before following flat on their faces two night's later in a 7-1 loss to the Hitmen. The Rockets also know Lethbridge well, having played them December 7th and January 20th at Prospera Place. They haven't seen Medicine Hat since October 12th when they lost 4-2.
  • The Rockets feature six Alberta born players on it's roster. Tyrell Goulbourne is from Edmonton, Cody Chikie is from St. Albert, Tyson Baillie is from Fort Saskatchewan, goaltendering Jordon Cooke is from Leduc while Myles Bell and Jesse Lees are from Calgary.
  • According to Google Maps, the trip to Edmonton from Kelowna is 896 kilometers. That is about 12 hours on the bus.
  • The road trip starts early with a stop in Kamloops for a morning practice before heading along the way.
  • The Rockets made two treks to Alberta last season. Prior to the Christmas break the Rockets played five games in seven nights, sporting a record of 3-2-0-0. That trip included wins in Red Deer, Lethbridge and Calgary. The team then headed out on a four game swing last February, which included an additional stop in Kootenay, and beat Medicine Hat (3-2 in a shootout), Red Deer (1-0) and Calgary (4-3 in overtime).
  • With my camera in hand, I hope to take a fair number of pictures on the Rockets final 'significant' road trip of the season. So, check back often for updates.

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