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| Shoot the Breeze Photography - Stadel scraps with Bleackley |
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets
close out a quick two game home stand tonight against the Red Deer Rebels.
These two teams met 12 days ago in Red Deer with the Rebels earning a 7-4 win.
Kole Lind, Justin Kirkland and Tyson Baillie scored in a losing cause while
Michael Herringer made 31 saves in the setback. These two teams are meeting
three times this season. They close out the seasonal series February 16th
at Prospera Place. In the last Rebels visited to Kelowna, February 5, 2014, the
Rockets earned a 4-3 win. The Rockets had a comfortable 4-0 lead heading into
the third period before the visitors rallied back with three-third period
goals. Jackson Whistle made 35 saves in the win. Following tonight’s game, the
Rockets head to Prince George for back-to-back games this weekend. In fact,
Kelowna will play four of the next five games against the Cougars. The two
teams meet this weekend in Prince George and then renew acquaintances Friday
October 23rd back at Prospera Place. The Rockets are coming off a 3-0 loss to
Victoria last Friday.
Number Crunching: In the last five
seasons, the Rockets own an 8-2-0-0 record against the Rebels. The Rockets are
4-1-0-0 over the last five seasons against the Rebels at Prospera Place. Both
teams have identical records of 5-3-0-0 and have surrendered ten power play
goals against so far this season. Both teams are undefeated when leading after
two periods. The Rockets are 3-0-0-0 while the Rebels are 4-0-0-0 after 40
minutes.
Who’s Hot: Rookie Justin
Kirkland has goals in three of his last four games…Kirkland has points in five
of his last six games (3+3=6)…Calvin Thurkauf has goals in three of the last five
games and has points in four of his last five games. Thurkauf has 3+3=6 over
that stretch…Tomas Soustal has 6+5=11 this season. The second year forward had
8+10=18 in 65 games last season…Soustal has goals in two of his last three
games…Dillon Dube has points in four of six games this season…Tyson Baillie has
three-three point games this season.
Milestone Makers: Rourke Chartier has
played 195 career games, which is five short of 200…Dillon Dube played in his
50th career game Tuesday in Medicine Hat….Cole Linaker plays in his
190th career game tonight which is 10 shy of 200…Nick Merkley has
149 points – 1 shy of 150…Merkley is playing in his 144th game which
is 6 shy of 150…Riley Stadel is playing in his 194th career game
this evening which is six shy of 200…Stadel has 94 career points.
This and That: The Rockets are
wearing special pink jerseys tonight to help raise funds for breast cancer. The
jerseys will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Canadian Breast
Cancer Foundation…Rookie Kole Lind turns 17 on Friday. Head Coach Brad Ralph
blows out 35 candles on Saturday…Rookie defenceman Jonathan Smart has been
selected by Hockey Canada to participate in the 2015 World Under-17 Hockey
Challenge in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John October 30th to November
7th...Riley Stadel has three fighting majors this season. Stadel had
eight fighting majors last season….The Rockets next play three games in three
nights January 29th, 30th and 31st with two of those
three games on home ice…The Rockets play eight of their first 11 games on the
road…Baillie‘s goal last Saturday in Red Deer was the 100th of his
career….The Rockets had two players taken in the NHL draft. Nick Merkley was
taken in the first round by Arizona. Devante Stephens was chosen in the 5th
round by Buffalo…Cole Linaker (Oilers), Tomas Soustal (Flames) and Tyson
Baillie (Flames) all received free agent tryouts…The Rockets were 3-2-0-0 in
five games during the pre-season…The Rockets were shut-out at home last Friday
for the first time since February 8/2012 when Seattle beat Kelowna 2-0 at
Prospera Place. The team went 117 consecutive home games without being shut-out.
New Kids on the
Block: The
Kelowna Rockets named 34 year-old Brad Ralph as the head coach on August
fourth. Ralph took over from Dan Lambert, who resigned at seasons end to take
an assistant coaching position with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Ralph is the
ninth head coach in Rockets franchise history after leaving the Idaho
Steelheads after three seasons in the ECHL. On defense, the team welcomes 16
year-old Cal Foote, the son of former NHL’er Adam Foote. Foote was the team’s
second round bantam pick in 2013 and his younger brother Nolan was the Rockets
second round pick in this past May’s draft. The Rockets selected 18 year-old
Swiss forward Calvin Thurkauf in this summer’s CHL Import draft. Other new faces include rookies Danny Gatenby
(Joe’s younger brother) and 18 year-old Gordie Ballhorn, who played last season
with the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines.
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