World beaters but early struggles on the road.

Nolan Foote - Shoot the Breeze Photo

• What we've witnessed in the opening four games of the 2019-2020 regular season is the Kelowna Rockets are very much a difference team at home as opposed to the road. At Prospera Place, the Rockets look like a well-oiled machine poised to challenge for first place in the BC Division like many pundits have suggested. After two stops on the road, it looks much like a team that struggled to win 28 games a season ago. Why the drastic change in urgency and the ability to execute on home ice as opposed to playing away from the warm confines of Prospera Place? It is a small sample size (four games), but you know head coach Adam Foote will investigate why his team losses the spit and polish they've earned in solid wins over Spokane and Everett.
• In the two home ice wins, the Rockets have opened the scoring with Kyle Topping and Jake Lee finding pay dirt. On the road, the team has chased the game with the opposition scoring first.
• The Rockets have scored 9 goals on home ice and just two on the road. Again, small sample size, but even the shot totals tell a bit of the story. In the two road games, the team has generated just 34 shots on the opposition goaltender, or an average of 17 per game. That shot total won't win you many games. On home ice, 56 shots have been directed at the net, which translates into an average of 28 shots per game. That total gives you a fighting chance to win, which they have - twice. A 5 for 11 power play (46%) on home ice is also a big reason why the Rockets look like a contender.
• After an impressive 5-1 win over Everett Saturday night at home, I anticipated a much better effort from the team Sunday against the Vancouver Giants. Both teams were playing three games in three nights, but the G-Men looked fresher. They had more jump, even though the Rockets were in an Ok position after a scoreless first period. I thought a late scrum when time expired to end the first period would ignite the Rockets. Sadly, the fuse went off for the Giants, who seemed to mirror their play after last year's BC Division title team with a dominant effort. The home team struck for three goals while out-shooting the visitors 16-4.
• It was nice to see Nolan Foote stand up for himself in a rare fight with Giants d-man Seth Bafaro. The only problem with the tilt was Foote sat in the penalty box for 17 straight minutes after being accessed a two minute minor for instigating, a five minute major for fighting and a 10 minute misconduct. The Rockets need Foote on the ice where he can be used as a threat both even strength and on the power play. 
• Foote had a massive hit on rookie d-man Tanner Brown, who calls Kelowna home. It was nice to see him use his size. I hope he plays that power game this season on a consistent basis. 
• I also liked Mark Liwiski coming to the aid of Dillon Hamaliuk after he was rocked in the first period with a massive hit as he stepped out of the penalty box. Liwiski wanted a piece of anyone wearing Giants colours and got tangled up with Milos Roman before punching the Calgary Flames draft pick to the ice. Roman would have the last laugh with a two goal effort. 
• Cole Schwebius made his Rockets debut Sunday and didn't disappoint. I thought he was fine in net and was in no way a weak link in the loss. The 18 year-old had to be nervous playing with his new team and frankly has only 17 games of experience at the WHL level after being a backup a year ago in Seattle. I thought Schwebius made several solid stops. Roman's opening goal is one where the puck goes wide of the net and out the other side where the 19 year-old fired it home. The second goal was from in-tight while the third, the most stoppable of the three, came off a shot from Justin Sourdif who beat the Kelowna keeper high to the blocker side. The fourth goal was an empty netter. 
• It was interesting to see the Giants spend the night in Kamloops after losing to the Blazers 6-2 Saturday night. The team thought they would be better served staying the night in a hotel and then busing in for the game. You have to hand it to ownership for fitting the bill to give the team a better chance of winning, rather than busing back and arriving in the wee hours of the morning. It probably worked considering the turnaround time was quick with a 4 pm start at the Langley Events Centre. 
• The Rockets still have two wins in four games. That is a lot better than the 10 games it took them to reach that mark last season.
• The Tri City Americans provide the opposition Wednesday. While it is being showcased as Rockets 20 year-old Carson Sass' triumphant return against his old team, Sass never played a game with them after being claimed off waivers from the Red Deer Rebels.     

Hammer Time!!

• Dillon Hamaliuk was the key piece in a blockbuster deal involving the Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds in May. The 19 year-old proved it Saturday in his debut with his new team. The San Jose Sharks second rounder scored the game winning goal with .1 second left on the clock in a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory against the Spokane Chiefs. Hamaliuk ended the night with two goals and two assists and was named the first star. Not bad for a player who hadn't participated in a WHL regular season game since December 27th when he suffered a season ending knee injury that required surgery. Looking none the worse for wear, the Leduc, Alberta  product could have had three goals had he not been called for goaltender interference in the second period. With Hamaliuk scoring the game winner and newly acquired Jake Lee picking up the primary assist, the 53 hundred fans that left Prospera Place had a huge smile on their face believing, at least after one game, it was worth paying a high price to obtain Hamaliuk, Lee and goaltender Cole Schwebius from the T-Birds.
• Four point night's for a player making his debut with the Kelowna Rockets organization are very rare. Chuck Kobasew had a three goal night in his first game after leaving Boston College in the fall of 2001. Kobasew, a then 19 year-old, recorded the hattrick against the Portland Winterhawks in a season where he would find the back of the net 41 times.
• The Rockets power play was the real story in this one. The unit, under the guidance of new assistant coach Vernon Fiddler, erupted for three goals, including its opening power play of the game which saw a nice three way passing play executed between Leif Mattson, Hamaliuk and Kyle Topping. The unit also came alive when it was needed most, when down by a goal late in the third period, Kaedan Korczak's point shot seemed to change directions and found pay dirt to tie the score at 3. Just to think, the power play struck for three goals on only four chances without Nolan Foote, who led the team last season with 17 goals with the extra man.
• Korczak led all Rockets with 6 shots on goal. That is an impressive total for a defender who is regarded as a defensive defenceman. The 19 year-old had a career high 10 shots on goal against Swift Current last season, but firing six times on net in a shot happy, block at all costs league is impressive. Speaking of shot blocking, Korczak may have saves a third period goal when Bazran was out of position after making the original stop, but the Golden Knights draft pick was able to get his right shin pad on a secondary chance that kept the Rockets from going down by two.     
• Nolan Foote has returned from the training camp of the Tampa Bay Lightning and will be in the lineup for three games in three nights next weekend. Foote missed the opener Saturday night as he suited up for the Lightning in a 5-4 overtime setback to the Nashville Predators. 
• When you have a roster that is still top heavy, the scratches are of significant  interest at this time of the year. Second year forward Ethan Erst was a health scratch, allowing rookies Jake Poole and Pavel Novak to make their WHL debuts. Poole earned his first career point, an assist on Dillon Hamaliuk's third period goal. 
• One has to remember that the team the Rockets iced Saturday night had yet to play a game together. With seven players attending NHL training camps, the entire pre-season was null and void of many top end players, allowing the rookies to get their feet wet at the WHL level.  
• Last season the Rockets started with 4 consecutive losses before finally beating Prince George in game 5. To get into the win column as quickly as they did, it likely erased any memory of what went down last season where wins in the opening 10 games were few and far between.
• What a great way to start the season. In a well executed tailgate party across the street beside the Rotary Centre of the Arts prior to puck drop, fans gathered on a picture perfect day on the green space where they were treated to cold $5.25 beer, food trucks and two live bands. Also featured was the re-play of the 2004 Memorial Cup on a massive screen.   

Here we go!!

Game Day Preview: The Kelowna Rockets open their 25^th season in the Okanagan tonight against the visiting Spokane Chiefs. The Rockets are celebrating their silver anniversary after re-locating from Tacoma, Washington to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-1996 season. This is the first time in 8 seasons that the Rockets haven’t opened the regular season against division rival Kamloops. The last time the Rockets opened the season against a team other than Kamloops was September 24, 2011 vs. the Everett Silvertips. The Rockets won the game 5-4 in a shootout. The last time the Rockets opened the season at home to the Spokane Chiefs was way back on September 20, 1996 in a 4-3 overtime loss. Current Rockets assistant coach Kris Mallette played in that game and wore sweater #5. The game was played at Memorial Arena in front of a crowd of 18 hundred and 49 people. The game took 3 hours and 3 minutes to play. The Rockets were 1-2-1-0 against the Chiefs last season, with a 4-3 shootout victory, a 6-5 overtime loss and a 5-4 and 4-0 regulation time loss. After tonight, the Rockets are in Kamloops next Friday to face the Blazers. 

Welcome back! The team essentially welcomes back 17 of the 22 players that wore a Rockets jersey last season. That includes 5 of the teams’ top 6 scorers in Kyle Topping, Leif Mattson, Nolan Foote, Liam Kindree and Kaedan Korczak. Topping led the team with 69 points while Mattson and Foote collected 63 points apiece. Foote led the team in goals with 36. The team said farewell to 20 year-old’s Schael Higson, Dalton Gally and Matt Barberis. The team also parted ways with Lassi Thomson, Conner Bruggen-Cate and Ted Brennan. Adam Foote returns as head coach for his first full season behind the bench with Kris Mallette and Vernon Fiddler as his assistants. Fiddler was added to the staff on July 3^rd.

Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets play 4 of their opening 8 games against teams based in the U.S Division….Nolan Foote was selected in the opening round (27^th overall) of the NHL Draft in June by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Foote joins his older brother Cal, who was chosen 17^th overall by the Lightning in 2017….Foote attended Hockey Canada’s Summer Development Camp, collecting 2+4=6 in four exhibition games....Kaedan Korczak was chosen in the second round of the NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights….Newly acquired forward Dillon Hamaliuk was selected in the second round by the San Jose Sharks. Hamaliuk was acquired in a trade with Seattle back in May….Jake Lee received a free-agent tryout with the Sharks, attending the teams rookie camp….Leif Mattson and Kyle Topping attended the rookie camp of the Carolina Hurricanes…19 year-old d-man Sean Comrie received an invite to Philadelphia Flyers rookie camp which led to an invite to main camp…On May 2, 2019 the team acquired Dillon Hamaliuk, Jake Lee and goaltender Cole Schwebius from Seattle for the Rockets 10^th overall pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, a 2^nd round pick in 2021, a first round selection 2022 and Conner Bruggen-Cate. Hamaliuk and Lee were members of the 2017 WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds…The team will start the season with three-20 year-old’s after obtaining d-man Carson Sass from the Tri City Americans September 11^th for a 10^th round WHL bantam pick. Sass has played the majority of his career with the Red Deer Rebels…The team will have two-16 year-old’s on its roster this season. Trevor Wong, the Rockets 1^st round bantam pick from (18^th overall) 2018 is joined by 16 year-old blueliner Elias Carmichael. Carmichael was the teams 2^nd round pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft…The Rockets welcome Czech Republic forward Pavel Novak to the team this season. Novak was chosen 13^th overall in the opening round of June’s CHL Import Draft. Novak played recently for his country at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, helping the Czech Republic to a 5^th place finish...Back on October 3^rd, the Rockets were awarded the host site for the 2020 Kia Memorial Cup, beating out bids from Kamloops and Lethbridge. The Memorial Cup will be held at Prospera Place May 22^nd to 31^st and will represent the 102^nd edition of the Canadian Hockey League national championship.

Did you know? Vernon Fiddler played 203 games with the Rockets between 1997 and 2000 before being traded to Medicine Hat in his 20 year-old season….Fiddler played close to 800 NHL games with Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas and New Jersey…..Prospera Place celebrated its 20^th birthday on August 28th. It was August 28, 1999 that the facility opened its doors to its first official event, a rock concert with Canadian alternative band – Moist....The team had a record of 2-3-0-1 in six pre-season games. Kyle Crosbie led the team in scoring with 4+1=5 in 6 games. Liam Kindree (2=2+4), Alex Swetlikoff (2+2=4) and rookie Jake Poole (0+4=4) each collected four points in the exhibition seasn….Last season the Rockets were 28-32-6-2 and were just edged out by the Kamloops Blazers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.