Game notes vs. Tips

Tonight’s Preview: For the fourth straight week the Kelowna Rockets are playing three games in three nights. Tonight the Everett Silvertips provide the opposition in the fourth and final meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rockets are 3-0-0-0, having out-scored Everett 16-5. If the playoffs were to begin tonight, these two teams would meet in round one. The Rockets enter tonight’s game with a two game home ice losing streak after back-to-back losses to the Portland Winterhawks last weekend. The Rockets are 18-3-2-0 in their last 23 games. The Rockets have eight regulation losses in their last 47 games (36-8-2-1). The Rockets have won 33 of their last 41 (31-7-3-0) games overall. The Rockets are in Kamloops tomorrow night before hosting the Blazers Saturday night at Prospera Place.  

Seasonal Series Scoring vs. Tips:

                     1    2   3   OT   Final
Rockets:   7   3    6    0      16
Tips:           2   2    1    0       5

                                                   Photo by Christopher Mast  

*The Rockets have a power play goal in all three games in the seasonal series. The Rockets are an impressive 5 for 17 (29.4) in the three games. The Tips are 3 for 15 (20%) with the extra man. The Rockets have out-shot the Tips in two of the three games and by a combined total of 99-69.      

Home Cook’n: The Rockets are 24-4-0-0 at Prospera Place. The team has scored 139 goals (5.1 per game) and has allowed 57 goals against (1.92 per game).  The Rockets have scored at least 3 or more goals in every home game this season except two, when they lost 5-1 to Portland and 3-2 to the visiting Kamloops Blazers. The Rockets have scored four or more goals in 20 of their 28 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 28 games.

This and That: The Rockets have made the playoffs for the 17^th time in the franchises 18 year history….The Rockets are rated as the 5^th best team in the country according to this week’s CHL Top 10 rankings. Last week the Rockets were rated 4^th….Ryan Huska and the Kamloops Blazers are being inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame. The Blazers teams – 1993-94 and 1994-95 will be inducted during a ceremony in Penticton in July…The Rockets are playing a U.S Division team for the fifth straight game…The Rockets have 14 games left in the regular season. Of those fourteen, 11 are against BC Division teams. Five of the final 14 games are against the Kamloops Blazers….The Rockets play six more games in February and 8 games in March to close out the regular season…..The Rockets have 6 road games left in the regular season with 6 of them against BC Division teams…Five of the Rockets 13 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….The Rockets 23 game home ice winning streak was the third longest winning streak on home ice in WHL history. It was snapped February 8th in a 5-3 loss to Portland….Dylen McKinlay is  the only Rocket to play in every game this season…The Rockets have led going into the third period in 38 of their last 49 games with two games being tied heading into the final frame.…The Rockets have 41 power play goal in their last 49 games (41 for 167 over that span – 25%)…..The Rockets have scored 221 goals in their last 49 games (average 4.5)....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 139-57 on home ice this season…Zach Franko has twenty-one more points (60) 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 668 wins over the last 18 seasons…Since entering the WHL in 1991, the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets have scored 4 thousand 581 goals (4,581)…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…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 seven times in regulation…Five of the teams thirteen regulation losses came in the first five weeks of the season…Zach Franko has 152 career points….JT Barnett played in his 250^th career game February 8^th against Portland…Tyrell Goulbourne has 19 fighting majors this season…Damon Severson is four points shy of 100 for his career…Zach Franko’s next game is his 200th of his career…            

Who’s Hot: Colton Sissons has three goals in three consecutive games… Tyson Baillie has 6+6=12 in his last eleven games…..Colton Sissons has points in 26 of his last 28 games….Ryan Olsen has goals in ten of his last seventeen games… Carter Rigby has 7+3=10 in last six  games… Cody Fowlie has 3+5=8 in his last nine games…Tyrell Goulbourne has 2+4=6 in his last nine games…Damon Severson had 2+8=10 in his last ten games…Jackson Whistle has goals against average of 1.67 in three appearances this month… 

Three Stars: Colton Sissons has been the first star a team high five times this season. Myles Bell has been a team high second star eight times while Jordon Cooke and Damon Severson are tied for the team lead in third star balloting having been recognized three times each.  Bell has been a star 12 times while Cooke has been a star ten times.