Friday, November 14, 2014

Rockets game notes vs. Cougars



Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets play game two of a five game road trip tonight when they visit the Prince George Cougars. This is the final time the Rockets play the Cougars at the CN Centre this season and we haven’t even hit the 25 game mark. These two teams’ met back on September 26th and 27th in P.G with the Rockets earning 7-2 and 8-2 wins. The Cougars have yet to visit Kelowna this season, but that is about to change. The BC Division rivals will make appearances at Prospera Place on December 5th, December 30th, January 3rd and February 9th. The Rockets are coming off a 4-3 win in Spokane Tuesday night. Rourke Chartier scored twice while Nick Merkley had two assists. Tyrell Goulbourne and Cole Linaker also found the back of the net in the teams’ 18th win of the season. Overall, the Rockets are riding a five game winning streak, having out-scored the opposition 23-9. Following these two games at CN Centre, the Rockets are in Victoria for back-to-back games this Tuesday and Wednesday night before hosting Portland a week from tonight (November 21st) in a pair of back-to-back games against that playoff rival.

Chartier 1st to ‘20’:
Rourke Chartier: 20 goals in 19 games - 2014-2015 (Unknown total at season’s end)
Jamie Benn: 20 goals in 20 games - 2008-2009 (Benn scored 46 times)
Jason Deleurme: 20 goals in 26 games – 1997-98 (Deleurme would score 51 times)
Chuck Kobasew: 20 goals in 27 games – 2001-2002 (Kobasew would score 41 times)
Justin Keller: 20 goals in 28 games – 2005-2006 (Keller scored 51 times)
Jesse Schultz: 20 goals in 28 games – 2002-2003 – (Schultz scored 53 times)   
Brett McLean: 20 goals in 32 games – 1996-97 – (McLean scored 44 times)

Chartier WHLPOW: Rourke Chartier has been named the WHL Player of the Week. The Saskatoon resident had 4 goals and 4 assists last week in three victories. Chartier earned 8 points and was a +6 over that stretch. Chartier had three points vs. Victoria on Wednesday, had two goals against Spokane on Friday and collecting three assists Saturday in a 5-0 victory over Vancouver.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not: Rourke Chartier is riding a 8 game goal scoring streak (12 goals over that span) and a 8 game point streak. The goal streak is tied for the longest in the WHL this season.  The 18 year-old has 12+6=18 over that period…Nick Merkley has 3+8=11 in his last five games and is riding a five game assist streak…Madison Bowey had his 7 game point streak snapped last Saturday night. The captain had 3+8=11 over that period. Bowey has been held off the score-sheet just three times this season (In Tri City/vs. SC and vs. Giants)...Riley Stadel has gone 10 games without a goal…Kris Schmidli has gone 16 games without a goal. His last goal was Oct 27th in Prince George in the third game of the season…Colton Heffley has gone 17 games without a goal. Last goal was Oct 26th in Prince George when he scored twice.   

League Leaders: Nick Merkley leads the WHL in points with 36…. Nick Merkley has 15 power play assists, the most in the WHL….Merkley leads the league in assists with 29…Rourke Chartier leads the WHL with 20 goals scored…Rourke Chartier leads the WHL with a +21…….Lucas Johansen has the 2nd best +/- among WHL rookies (+14)…Jackson Whistle leads the WHL in wins with 15….Whistle has the lowest goals against average in the league at 2.12.  

This and That: For a second straight week the Rockets are rated as the 2nd best team in the nation according to the CHL Top 10 junior rankings…Rourke Chartier has been in on 50% of the teams goals in the last eight games. The Rockets have scored 36 goals with Chartier earning 18 points…Jackson Whistle is two wins shy of 50 for his career….Jackson Whistle was named the WHL Goaltender for the Month of October and November. Whistle was 12-1-1-0 over that stretch, posting a goals against average of 2.08 with three shutouts….Rourke Chartier is riding an 11 game point streak on the road. The 18 year-old has 14 of his 20 goals on opposition ice….Chartier has been held off the score-sheet three times this season, all on home ice…Rourke Chartier will play in his 150th career game tomorrow night in Prince George…The Rockets are an incredible 128-28-4-5 in their last 165 regular season games dating back to the start of the 2012-2013 season…. .The Rockets have out-shot the opposition in 14 of the 20 games this season…Nick Merkley has been held pointless only three times this season....In case you are wondering, the Rockets have not been shutout in 97 consecutive games. The last time the Rockets were held without a goal was March 3, 2013 in a 3-0 loss in Kamloops…In the teams last 72 games (dating back to last season) they are 59-10-3-0.

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