Friday, October 12, 2018

Rockets d-man makes debut down south.

Dalton Galley makes debut 

Game Day Preview: The Kelowna Rockets face the Tri City Americans for the first time this season and for the first time since the 2018 playoffs. The Americans beat the Rockets in the opening round in four games. These two teams meet tomorrow night in the rematch at Prospera Place. The Rockets are coming off a 9-6 loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds Wednesday night. Leif Mattson had 2+2=4 and Kyle Topping had 0+4=4 in the teams’ fourth straight loss. The Rockets enter the game with a record of 1 and 8, which is the slowest start in franchise history. Next weekend the Rockets are in Victoria for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday before playing their third game in three nights Sunday October 21st in Vancouver. 

Let’s Make a Deal: The Rockets made two trades this week. The team acquired 20 year-old defenceman Dalton Galley (October 10, 2018) from the Medicine Hat Tigers for a 10th round bantam pick. Gally has played two full seasons with the Tigers and hails from Eagle River, Alaska. In a separate deal, the hockey club acquired 18 year-old forward Michael Farrin (October 11th) from the Saskatoon Blades for a third round WHL bantam pick. Farrin, from Richmond, BC, has played 133 WHL regular season games and had five points in 8 games this season before requesting a trade. 

Trade Winds Blow: The Rockets made a trade with the Victoria Royals Saturday September 29th. The team acquired 20 year-old Lane Zablocki for a conditional 7th round and conditional 4th round bantam draft pick. Zablocki is a third round NHL draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings (2017 – unsigned). In the 2016-2017 campaign, Zablocki scored 28 goals split between the Regina Pats and Red Deer Rebels. Zablocki has played with the Pats, Rebels, Hurricanes and the Royals.  Zablocki never played a game with the WHL team that drafted him in 2013 – the Prince George Cougars. 

Broadcasters Notebook: We’ve got the Cup! The Rockets were awarded the 2020 Memorial Cup on Wednesday. The ten day tournament will take place May 22nd to 31st. It marks the second time in franchise history the team has hosted (2004) and will mark its 6th appearance at the prestigious event. The team has made previous appearances in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2015….Five members of the Kelowna Rockets have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s “Players to watch’ list. Forward Nolan Foote is an ‘A’ prospect, meaning a first round candidate. Kaedan Korczak is a ‘B’ prospect which means he is projected to be selected in the second or third round. Roman Basran, Kyle Topping and Lassi Thomson are ‘C’ prospect, which means they could be taken in the third to the seventh round…. The Rockets have failed to open the scoring in 8 of the 9 games this season….The Rockets have trailed going onto the third period in 8 of the 9 games.

Season Highs/Lows:
Most goals scored: 6 vs. Seattle October 10/18 (9-6 L)
Most goals allowed: 9 vs. Seattle October 10th, 2018 (9-6 L)
Most shots on net: 45 @ Seattle October 6th, 2018 (4-1 L), 40 vs. Kamloops September 22nd, 2018 (3-1 L)
Fewest shots on net: 21 vs. Vancouver October 3rd, 2018 (5-0 L)
Most shots allowed: 39 @ Prince George September 29th, 2018 (5-2 W)
Fewest shots allowed: 23 vs. Victoria October 5, 2018 (4-3 L)
Last time shut out: October 3rd, 2018 vs. Vancouver (5-0 L)  
Most power play goals allowed: 4 vs. Seattle October 10th, 2018 (9-6 L). T-Birds were 4/5 on power play.
Most power play goals scored: 2 vs. Seattle October 10, 2018 (9-6 L)

Roster Stats:
Player total: 26
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s (1998) – 4   Gally, Zablocki, Chizen, Bowen
19’s (1999) - 5   Topping, Mattson, Gardiner, Bruggen-Cate, Cowell
18’s (2000) - 10 Farrin, Thomson, Porter, Foote, Zabransky, Kindree, Brennan, Kushniryk, Pow, Steffler,
17’s (2001) - 6   Korczak, Crosbie, Basran, Liwiski, Wilton, Augustine
16’s (2002) - 1   Ernst

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150


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