Saturday, January 25, 2014

Bowey brilliant in win over Tigers

  • Madison Bowey was clearly the best player on the ice last night in a 6-2 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers. Coach Ryan Huska called him the most mentally prepared player on his team. The three star selection committee didn't find his work overly spectacular despite scoring once and picking up two assists. The 18 year-old's second period goal was a laser beam like wrist shot that rifled past Tigers starting goaltender Marek Langhamer to give his team its first lead of the game. Bowey now has 15 goals, which is tied for the league lead by WHL defenceman. The franchise record for goals by a d-man is 19 set by Tyson Barrie. 
  • Much like Wednesday's 6-3 win over Everett, this game was much closer than the score would indicate. This was a two goal game with 8:20 remaining in the third period before Mitch Wheaton scored a four on four goal to make the score 5-2.
  • What's with Mitch Wheaton? The 18 year-old has 13 more points than he had all of last season. While that isn't a significant improvement, it is startling considering he is regarded as a defender not a player that figures in on the score sheet often. While it is nice to see him getting offensive success, he can't forget what his bread and butter is - strong defensive hockey. Arguably himself and Cole Martin are the two best shutdown d-men the team have on the blue line.
  • I continue to be impressed with Damon Severson. Oh sure, he is often casual with the puck but how many times has he been beaten to the outside by a quick skating forward? He doesn't. Severson's quick stick was impressive last night when he deflected a puck out of play after a Tiger penalty came to an end. Trevor Cox came out of the penalty box and tried to sneak behind the 19 year-old defenceman for a long bomb pass which was taken away as Severson niftily directed it out of play. It is a small play in the big scheme of things, but worthy of note in my opinion.
  • The Rockets are now a sparkling 37-4-0-2 on home ice in the last two seasons.
  • Jordon Cooke leads all goaltenders with 27 wins this season.  The club record is 44 set by Kelly Guard in 2003-2004. Cooke needs 17 more wins in the teams 25 regular season games. It is doable, but Cooke has to almost be flawless while Jackon Whistle would only start 8 more games this season.    

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