Rockets/Royals reunited

Liam Kindree - Shoot the Breeze Photography

Game Day Preview: The Kelowna Rockets welcome the Victoria Royals to Prospera Place. This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in 2019. The Rockets are 4-1-0-0 in the seasonal series, having out-scored the Royals 21-8. In the opening five games, Liam Kindree leads the team with 4+5=9 while Lassi Thomson has 3+5=8. Both Kindree and Foote have four goals against the Royals. Roman Basran has played in four games, posting a 4-0-0-0 record with a goals against average of 1.00 and a save percentage of .953. The Rockets power play has struck for 7 goals in 19 chances for a 36.8% success rate. After tonight’s game, the Rockets will visit the Royals for back-to-back games February 18^th and 19^th to close out the seasonal series. The Rockets host the Vancouver Giants tomorrow night at Prospera Place before the G-Men play host to a Sunday afternoon affair (4 pm) at the Langley Events Centre. The Rockets close out the month of January with a home game this Wednesday against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. Overall, the Rockets are 3-5-1-1 in 10 games since the Christmas break. The Rockets are 15-12-3-1 in 31 games under head coach Adam Foote. 

Who’s Hot: Kyle Topping has 4+5=9 in his last 9 games…Nolan Foote has 3+6=9 in his last 7 games….Lassi Thomson has 3+3=6 in his last 7 games…The Rockets penalty killing unit is 39 for 49 in their last 11 road games…The Rockets have points in 11 of their last 13 home games (9-2-2-0).   

New Boys on Blue Line: The team acquired 20 year-old Shael Higson from the Brandon Wheat Kings for 20 year-old Braydyn Chizen and a 5^th round bantam pick. The team then claimed 20 year-old defenceman Matt Barberis off waivers from the Vancouver Giants. To make room for Barberis, the team released overage forward Lane Lablocki, who is now with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers.

Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets have just 23 games left in the regular season. Of those 23, 15 are against teams in the BC Division….The Rockets are playing three games in three nights. The team is 3-3-0-0 in that situation…..The team will play three games in three nights March 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd…..The team has been out-shot in 9 straight games…The Rockets are 5-7-0-0 in 12 games against a US Division team this season. Three of the four wins have come against Tri City with a single victory over Everett and Seattle…The team plays 8 more games against US Division rivals with four games against Spokane, two with Portland and a single against Everett and Seattle.…The Rockets have played 12-one goal games at home this season. Last year they played 15-one goal games at Prospera Place…The team has played in eight-one goal games on the road….The Rockets have seven birthday’s in January which include Ethan Ernst and Dalton Gally (Jan 26^th), Ted Brennan (Jan 28^th) and Kaedan Korczak (January 29^th)…Leif Mattson has 5-two goal games this season. Four of those five-two goal games have come on the road…The Rockets are 7-10-2-1 against BC Division teams this season…Five members of the Kelowna Rockets have made NHL Central Scouting’s latest rankings. Lassi Thomson is rated 14^th, Nolan Foote is ranked 26^th and Kaedan Korczak is 31^st. Kyle Topping is 195th while Alex Swetlikoff is 217^th, Among goalies, Roman Basran is 11^th among North American netminders…..Adam Foote was officially named the new head coach of the Kelowna Rockets on October 23, 2018 replacing Jason Smith.,,The Rockets are 6-10-1-0 when playing the second game of back-to-backs.

Season Highs/Lows:

Most goals scored: 8 @ Victoria October 19/18 (8-2 W)

Most goals allowed: 9 vs. Seattle October 10^th, 2018 (9-6 L)

Most shots on net: 45 @ Seattle October 6th, 2018 (4-1 L).

Fewest shots on net: 13 @ Edmonton November 17, 2018 (3-1 L)

Most shots allowed: 50 @ Portland November 10, 2018 (3-0 L)

Fewest shots allowed: 16 vs. Victoria December 7, 2018 (2-0 win)

Last time shut out at home: October 3rd, 2018 vs. Vancouver (5-0 L)  

Last time shut out on road: November 10, 2018 @ Portland (3-0 L)

Last shutout at home: December 7, 2018 vs. Victoria (2-0 W - Roman Basran 16 saves)

Last shutout on the road: January 18, 2019 @ Everett (2-0 W – James Porter 40 saves)

Most power play goals allowed: 4 vs. Seattle October 10^th, 2018 (9-6 L). T-Birds were 4/5 on power play.

Most power play goals scored: 4 @ Victoria October 19, 2018 (8-2 W)

Overtime Games: @ Kamloops (3-2 Loss) December 28, 2018, vs. Saskatoon (5-4 Loss) December 1, 2018, @ Tri City Nov 30, 2018 (3-2 win), @ PG (4-3 Loss) November 14, 2018, vs. PG (4-3 win) October 27, 2018.   

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150