Cooke came to play in one goal road win

• Jordon Cooke didn’t take the last place Kamloops Blazers lightly, but it sure looked like his teammates did. The 20 year-old goaltender was the only reason why his team was able to earn their 18^th win of the season by escaping with a 3-2 win Friday night at the Interior Savings Centre. Cooke wasn’t fighting the puck, it was sticking to him like glue in the one goal win. It was a different story for his teammates, who looked like a team that has practiced far too much and need to play a series of games.   
• Give the Blazers credit for making life miserable for the Rockets. The last place team in the Western Conference worked their tails off and deserved better.  But when you are struggling – the Blazers have lost 9 in a row – wins are hard to manufacture even when the effort is clearly there. With ample chances to score, the lowest scoring team in the conference were only able to get two pucks past Cooke, who was named the first star.
• The best forward for the Rockets was Zach Franko. I thought he was the most dangerous player on the ice for the visitors. Franko had a goal and an assist but could have had more. The 20 year-old found some terrific scoring areas but either missed the net or couldn’t get the shot off.   
• The best Blazer in my opinion was Josh Connolly. I thought he logged tons of ice time and was as good in his own end as he was at the other end of the ice. Connolly scored the tying goal on the power play with a nice shot that beat Cooke to the blocker side.
• The game winning goal was ugly, much like the Rockets game. Tyson Baillie fired a puck that hit the post, went high in the air where it appeared to go off the 18 year-olds arm and past Blazers goaltender Taran Kozun.
• As rough as the Rockets game was on so many levels, they hit at least five goal posts with forward Colton Heffley striking metal twice. Kozun also made a nice save on Madison Bowey when the game was still scoreless and the Rockets were on the power play.  
• As critical as I could be in the Rockets effort, lets remembers their top two defenceman Damon Severson and Madison Bowey came off two emotionally charged games at the Subway Super Series on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. The two arrived in Kelowna just after 8 am Friday morning which meant they got up at 5 am for a flight out of Lethbridge.  
• The win was the Rockets 7th straight on the road. The Blazers are winless now in 9.
• The Rockets are within four points of Everett for first place in the Western Conference.