Rockets/Royals ready to rumble

Shoot the Breeze Photography

Game Night Preview: Call it a best of three. In a quirk in the WHL schedule, the Kelowna Rockets face the Victoria Royals in three consecutive games, with two in Victoria tonight and tomorrow followed by a matinee affair in Kelowna Monday afternoon (2 pm). The Rockets are 2-1-0-0 at home and 1-1-0-0 on the road for an overall record of 3-2-0-0 in five of the eight meetings. In the last engagement, January 20^th, the Rockets were 8-4 winner. The Rockets are coming off a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Giants Wednesday night. Kole Lind and Carsen Twarynski each had 1+1=2 in the victory. Brodan Salmond earned the win in goal with a 25 save performance. Overall, the Rockets have points in 15 of their last 21 games (14-6-1-0). The Rockets are opening a portion of their schedule playing 6 games in 9 nights. After these two games in Victoria, the Rockets host the Royals this Monday, Red Deer next Wednesday, travel to Kamloops Friday February 16^th before hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday February 17^th.

Broadcasters Notebook: Kole Lind had his 20 game point streak snapped last Saturday in Everett. Lind had 15+23=38 over that period, which was good for the third longest point streak in franchise history. Tyson Barrie had a 21 game point streak in 2009-2010 while the team record is 24 games set by Brett McLean. McLean had 18+31=49 in the 1996-1997 campaign…The Rockets have 20 wins in their last 28 games….James Porter was named the WHL and CHL Goaltender of the Week ending December 31^st after posting a 2-0-0-0 record including one shutout with a goals against average of 0.48 and a save percentage of .987…The Rockets have four hat-tricks this season from Carsen Twarynski (vs. Portland/Prince George), and Kole Lind (Prince Albert/Kamloops)…The Rockets have sent 17 players to Canada’s roster at the World Junior… The Rockets had their 13 game home ice winning streak snapped January 5^th vs. Seattle…The Rockets are 7 and 3 in overtime with game winners coming from Kole Lind (twice), Dillon Dube Carsen Twarynski (twice) and Cal Foote (twice). The only losses in OT came against the Tri City Americans, Portland Winterhawks and Red Deeer Rebels….Erik Gardiner has missed 39 games after being injured October 28^th vs. Prince George…: NHL Central Scouting has released its mid-term rankings. Forward Kyle Topping is rated 65^th among North American skaters. Defenceman Libor Zabransky is rated 110th…Dillon Dube has scored 20+ goals in three consecutive seasons. Dube had 20 goals last season in 40 games and had a career high 26 in 2015-2016.…The Rockets won their 30^th game of the season January 24^th vs. Lethbridge, marking the 11^th straight season the team has achieved that mark. The last time they fell short was in 2006-2007 when the team earned 22 victories…Liam Kindree is missing his 17^th straight game with a lower body injury…Goaltender James Porter has missed 11 games with an upper body injury. The 17 year-old’s last start was against the Giants January 13^th.

Streaking: Cal Foote has points in 14 of his last 16 games…Dillon Dube has points in 14 of his last 15 games…Carsen Twarynski has 5 goals in his last 8 games…Leif Mattson has 4 goals in his last 8 games.    

Milestones: Nolan Foote played in his 100^th career game February 3^rd vs. Everett….Kole Lind has 203 career points ….Dillon Dube has 199 career points, two shy of 200…;Connor Bruggen-Cate played in his 100^th game December 30^th vs. Victoria…Kyle Topping played in his 100^th career game January 10^th…Jack Cowell played in his 100^th career game January 12^th in Seattle…Head Coach Jason Smith coached his 100^th career regular season game against the Kootenay Ice on December 2nd…Carsen Twarynski played in his 200^th career game October 28^th against the Prince George Cougars…James Hilsendager played in his 200^th career game November 14^th vs. Oil Kings. 

Roster Stats:

Player total: 26

Year by Year Breakdown:

20’s (1997) – 3   Ballhorn, Twarynski, Hilsendager           

19’s (1998) - 5   Salmond, Lind, Dube, Cal Foote, Chizen

18’s (1999) - 6   Topping, Mattson, Gardiner, Bruggen-Cate, Cowell, Skvrne

17’s (2000) - 9   Porter, Foote, Zabransky, Kindree, Brennan, McGauley, Kushniryk, Pow, Hair

16’s (2001) - 2   Korczak, Basran

15’s (2002) - 1 Cole Tisdale

NHL Drafted Players: Cal Foote (Tampa Bay 2017), Kole Lind (Vancouver 2017), Dillon Dube (Calgary 2016), Carsen Twarynski (Philadelphia 2016), Brayden Chizen (Minnesota 2016).  

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150