Rockets game notes vs. Winterhawks

Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets face the Portland Winterhawks for the third of four meetings this season. These two teams met September 28^th and 29^th in the ‘City of Roses’ with Portland winning 1-0 in the opener before the Rockets scored a 4-3 win in game two. These two teams have met in the playoffs the last two seasons. Last year the Hawks eliminated the Rockets in four games. In 2010-2011, the Hawks used six games to dispose of the Rockets in the second round. The Rockets are coming off their first regulation loss in 20 games after a 5-0 setback in Spokane Wednesday night. The Rockets are 17-1-2-0 in their last 20 games. The Rockets have six regulation losses in their last 44 games (35-6-2-1) with setbacks to Spokane, Tri City (twice), Edmonton, Seattle and Calgary. The Rockets have won 32 of their last 38 (30-5-3-0) games overall. The Rockets enter tonight’s game riding a 23 game home ice winning streak. The only two teams to beat the Rockets on home ice this season are Kamloops and Spokane. The Rockets have a busy weekend ahead of them playing three games in three nights. The Rockets host Portland tonight and tomorrow before traveling to Everett on Sunday.

Rewriting Record Books: The WHL record for most consecutive wins on home ice is 29, set by the Kamloops Blazers in the 1993-1994 season. Ryan Huska was a member of that Blazers team. If the Rockets win their remaining 10 homes games, they would finish with 34 victories. The Swift Current Broncos, Kamloops Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds share the WHL record with 33 home ice wins in one season. Rockets assistant coach Dan Lambert was a member of that 88-89 Broncos team.    

Home Cook’n: The Rockets are 24-2-0-0 at Prospera Place. The team has scored 135 goals (5.2 per game) and has allowed 47 goals against (1.9 per game).  The Rockets have scored at least 3 or more goals in every home game this season except one, when they lost 3-2 to the visiting Kamloops Blazers. The Rockets have scored four or more goals in 20 of their 26 home games. Jordon Cooke and Jackson Whistle have combined for six home ice shutouts this season. The team has allowed two or fewer goals at home this season in 19 of 26 games.

The Big Three: The Rockets top three skaters of Myles Bell, Zach Franko and Dylen McKinlay have put up a combined 185 points this season. By comparison, the Winterhawks top three scorers of Nic Petan, Brenden Leipsic and Ty Rattie have a combined total of 261 points or 76 more points.     

More Data Please! The Rockets (40), Winterhawks (43) and Edmonton (40) are the only three teams in the WHL with 40 or more wins. Portland has scored 245 goals, the most of any team in the league. The Rockets have scored one fewer (244) despite playing one more game. The Winterhawks have been granted 265 power play chances this season, 51 more than the Rockets (214). Surprisingly the Rockets have been awarded the third fewest power play chances at home in the WHL. Only Moose Jaw and Swift Current have been allowed fewer. The Rockets have the best penalty killing unit in the WHL on home ice. The Winterhawks have scored a league high 31 power play goals on the road this season.        

This and That: The Rockets play 12 games in the month of February, with 6 games at home and 6 games on the road.….The Rockets have 7 road games left in the regular season with 6 of them against BC Division teams…Five of the Rockets 11 regulation losses this season have been decided by a single goal… Jordon Cooke was named the WHL Goaltender of the Month for December. Cooke was 6-0-0-0 and posted a goals against average of 2.00….Since a 3-0 win over the Kamloops Blazers November 1^st the Rockets are 31-5-2-0….The Rockets 23 game home ice winning streak is a team record and is the third longest winning streak on home ice in WHL history…. The franchise record is held by the Tacoma Rockets, who won 24 straight home games. The league record is 29…Dylen McKinlay is  the only Rocket to play in every game this season…The Rockets have led going into the third period in 37 of their last 46 games with two games being tied heading into the final frame.…The Rockets have 38 power play goal in their last 46 games (38 for 157 over that span – 24.2 %)…..The Rockets have scored 214 goals in their last 46 games (average 4.7)....Madison Bowey (22), Mitch Wheaton (63) and Myles Bell (87) are rated among the top players by NHL Central Scouting for June’s draft. The mid-season rankings were released by NHLCS. Jackson Whistle is rated (26) among North American goalies…The Rockets have out-scored the opposition 135-47 on home ice this season…Zach Franko has twenty more points (59) than the 39 he put up all of last season. That is a new career high for the 19 year-old…..Dylen McKinlay has five shorthanded goals…Since relocating from Tacoma to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-96 season, the Rockets have picked up 667 wins over the last 18 seasons…Since entering the WHL in 1991, the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets have scored 4 thousand 574 goals (4,574)…Jordon Cooke’s 29 wins is the most in the WHL….The Rockets have participated in one shootout game this season. That is a league low. Last season the Rockets were involved in a league high 15…The Rockets lead the WHL in home ice wins with (23)…Dylen McKinlay leads the team in plus/minus with a +46. It is the highest +/- total for a Kelowna Rockets player. Jesse Schultz was +40 in 2002-2003…Since November 1^st the Rockets have lost five times in regulation…Five of the teams eleven regulation losses came in the first five weeks of the season…Zach Franko has 151 career points….JT Barnett is 1 games shy of 250 for his WHL career…Tyrell Goulbourne has 17 fighting majors this season…Damon Severson is four points shy of 100 for his career.             

Who’s Hot: Tyson Baillie has 6+4=10 in his last eight games…..Jesse Lees has five goals in his last eight games…Colton Sissons had his 11 game point streak snapped Wednesday. Sissons had 6+12=18 over that period… Ryan Olsen has goals in nine of his last fourteen games… MacKenzie Johnston has 13 points (4+9=12) in his last 15 games…Carter Rigby has 7+3=10 in last six  games… Cody Fowlie has 2+4=6 in his last six games…Tyrell Goulbourne has 2+4=6 in his last six games…Damon Severson had a six game point streak snapped Wednesday. Severson had 2+7=9 over that stretch.