 |
| Shoot the Breeze Photography |
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets
face the surging Kamloops Blazers in a BC Division showdown tonight at Prospera
Place. This is the third meeting of the season, with the teams splitting the
first two games. The Blazers roared to a 9-2 win on September 23rd
before the Rockets regrouped for a 5-1 home ice win a night later. Following
tonight’s game, we won’t see the Blazers until December 27th. The
Rockets are riding high in the saddle with a six game winning streak after two
victories in Portland on the weekend. Tomas Soustal scored the game winning
goal with just over 8 minutes left in the third period in Sunday’s 3-2 win.
Brodan Salmond made 42 saves for his first win of the season. Nick Merkley and
Rodney Southam added singles in the 9th win of the season. That
victory came on the heels of a 5-3 win against the Winterhawks Saturday night.
Devante Stephens had the hat trick. During this six game winning streak, the
Rockets have beaten Everett (4-3 OT), Tri City (4-2), Seattle (5-1), Victoria
(6-4) and Portland (5-3) and (3-2). Following this game, the team is in
Vancouver Friday night (Langley) before hosting the Medicine Hat Tigers on
Saturday.
Winning Ways: The Rockets have
out-scored the opposition 27-15 during the six game winning streak. Only two of
the six games have been decided by a single goal. The Rockets have scored four
or more goals in 5 of the 6 games with the power play striking for no less than
a goal in four of the six games. The power play is 7 for 26 (27%) over that
stretch while the penalty killing until has allowed 4 goals against in 31
kills. This winning streak (6 games) is the longest since 2014-2015 when the
team started the season 10-0-0-0.
Octoberfest: After starting the
month of October with a 3-0 shutout loss in Prince George (October 1st)
the team was able to win 8 of their next 11 to close out the month of October.
In November, the Rockets play 10 games with six of them on home ice. Six of
those 10 will be played against BC Division based teams including a visit to
Victoria on November 20th and 22nd. The Rockets also
enjoy a visit from Prince Albert on November 12th and Regina on
November 26th, where they face Eastern Division teams they have failed to beat
so far this season after losses to visiting Swift Current and Saskatoon.
Broadcasters Bits: Five of the Rockets
next six games are on home ice. The only road game over that stretch is Friday
in Vancouver….Devante Stephens and Jake Kryski each played in their 150th
career games Sunday in Portland….The Rockets are 5-0-0-0 against U.S Division
teams this season...Devante Stephens three goals Saturday in Portland were the
first by a Rockets d-man since Riley Stadel scored three goals vs. Lethbridge
in 2013..Nick Merkley has been named an associate captain for Team WHL, which
will face the Russian Selects in the CHL Canada Russia Series….The Rockets have
opened the scoring in three of the last five games….The Rockets have carried
the lead into the third period in five of the last six games….Sixteen year-old Nolan Foote won’t
play in tonight’s game. Foote is one of 66 players participating in the 2016
Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario October 27th
to November 5th. Assistant Travis Crickard is a video coach for Team
Canada at the event …Veteran 20 year-old Michael Herringer was named the WHL
Goaltender of the Week from October 17th to October 23rd.
Herringer went 3-0-0-0, posting a goals against average of 1.99….Three members
of the Kelowna Rockets will represent the WHL and Hockey Canada, at the CHL
Canada-Russia series. Team WHL, who’s roster consists of Nick Merkley, Dillon
Dube and Cal Foote, will compete against the Russian Selects in games November
7th in Prince George and November 8th in Edmonton. The
Rockets
Who’s Hot?: Tomas Soustal has
goals in three straight games and has 4+2=6 over that period…Calvin Thurkauf
has a three game point streak (2+3=5)…Kole Lind has points in six straight
games (2+8=10)…Nick Merkley has goals in back-to-back games…16 year-old Nolan
Foote has points in three straight games (2+1=3)..The team has scored
shorthanded goals in back-to-back games…Merkley has points in 5 of his last 6
games (2+4=6).
Roster
Stats:
Player total: 24
Year by
Year Breakdown:
20’s – 3 Stadel, Herringer, Southam
19’s – 6 Johansen, Merkley, Soustal, Stephens, Ballhorn
18’s – 7
Dube, Kryski, Lind, Borstmayer, Chizen, Salmond, Thurkauf
17’s - 6 C.
Foote, Topping, Bruggen-Cate, Cowell, Smart, Mattson
16’s – 2
N. Foote, Belcourt
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
No comments:
Post a Comment