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Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets
play game two of a three game road trip tonight with a stop in Everett against
the Tips. This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the two
teams, with the Rockets having been unable to beat the Tips in three attempts.
Two of the three games have ended in overtime, but the Tips are the only team
the Rockets has been unable to take two points away from this season in the
Western Conference. The Rockets are coming off a 4-2 loss in Vancouver Saturday
night. Tyson Baillie and Lucas Johansen scored in the team’s 16th
loss of the season and fifth in the last eight road games. Brodan Salmond made
32 saves in the loss. In the big picture, the Rockets have points in 35 of 46
games (32-11-3-0). The Rockets are in Vancouver Friday before hosting the
Spokane Chiefs to close out the month of February.
The Royal Rumble: The Kelowna Rockets
are fighting with the Victoria Royals, for not only the BC Division regular
season title, but more importantly the WHL regular season crown. The Rockets
trail the Royals by one point. Kelowna has 12 games left while the Royals only
have 10. The Rockets will play those 12 games over 25 nights while the Royals
play their remaining 10 games over 23 evenings. The two teams clash for the
final time this season on March 16th at Prospera Place.
Baillie 300: Tip your hat to Tyson
Baillie. The 20 year-old forward is approaching the 300 point mark for his WHL
career. The third round bantam pick, who is the highest scoring 3rd rounder
in franchise history, has 297 points heading into tonight’s game. Only four other
players in franchise history (Tacoma/Kelowna) have recorded over 300 career
points with the Rockets. Brett McLean is the franchise leader with 375 points
(1994-1999). John Varga had 333 points (1991-95). Jason Deleurme had 313 points
(1994-1999) while Marty Flichel had 301 career points (1992-1996). Tyson Baillie leads the team in four
categories (goals/assists/points/power play goals).
Lordy, Lordy it’s 40! The Kelowna Rockets
won their 40th game of the season Tuesday night. It marked the
fourth consecutive season the team has won 40 or more games and is the 10th
time they have accomplished the feat in franchise history. Those ten 40+ win
seasons have come in the last 14 seasons. By comparison, the BC Divisions
oldest team, the Kamloops Blazers, have won 40 or more games 15 times since
1984. The Rockets have been around since 1991. The Vancouver Giants have 6-40+
win seasons including five in a row from 2005-2009. Prince George has two 40
win campaigns while wet behind the ears Victoria has one.
Number Crunching: The Rockets have
been out-shot in first period in nine consecutive games. The team has allowed,
on average, 14 shots on goal in the period over those nine games…The Rockets
are a combined 69-1-5-0 when leading after two periods when you combine this
seasons totals and last seasons….The Rockets are one of only three teams in the
WHL that have not lost when leading after 40 minutes. The Rockets are 28-0-2-0.
The Kamloops Blazers and Prince Albert Raiders are also without a regulation
loss after two periods …Rourke Chartier enters tonight’s game with 200 career
points.…The Rockets are a combined 53-18-8-0 against BC Division teams on the
road in the last five seasons…The Rockets are 22-3-1-0 when Tyson Baillie
scores. The only regulation losses when the 20 year-old finds the back of the
net were against Vancouver, Red Deer and Saskatoon…..The Rockets are attempting
to become the first team to reach the 50 win plateau in four straight seasons.
For that to happen, the team must win 9 of their final 12 games…The Rockets
have 12 games left in the regular season. Of those 12 games, 6 will be played
on home ice. Of those 12 games, 8 are against BC Division rivals…The Rockets
were 13-1-0-0 against Central Division opponents this season. The only loss
came in Lethbridge in the sixth game of the season….The Rockets have been
out-shot in 39 of 60 games this season.
Who’s Hot: Lucas Johansen has
2+8=10 in February and is riding a five game point streak (1+5=6). Johansen has
points in 9 of his last 10 games…Cole Linaker is riding a five game point
streak (3+2=5)…Linaker has a career high 40 points, one more point than a
season ago…Tyson Baillie is riding a 5 game point streak (3+4=7)…Baillie has
points in 7 of his last 8 games…Justin Kirkland has a five game point streak
(2+5=7)…Kirkland has points in 7 of his last 8 games…The Rockets are
203-56-11-6 in their last 276 regular season games dating back to the start of
the 2012-2013 campaign.
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