100 Points For An 11th Round Bantam Pick

• Congratulations to Kelowna Rockets forward Colin Long for reaching the 100 point mark in his final regular season game Saturday night. Long had two assists in the Rockets 6-2 win over the Prince George Cougars. Long is the first Rockets player since Jesse Schultz to reach the 100 point mark. Jesse Schultz had 104 points during the 2002-2003 campaign. Long finished the year with 31 goals and 69 assists, an improvement of 72 points from a season ago. Long was held off the score sheet just 15 times. Long fell short of the team record for assists. Marty Flichel had 79 assists for the Rockets in 1995-96. Long was the only Rocket to play in all 72 games this season.
• Why is Long wearing the headband or in Japanese the Hachimaki? Long's uncle purchased it in Japan and gave it to him earlier on this season. Long promptly wore it to the rink and had a great game. From there, Long now wears it as good luck during the team's jump-around prior to game time.
• The Rockets rolled over the Cougars Saturday night with a dominating effort. Evan Bloodoff and Cody Almond scored just 7 seconds apart in the first 3 minutes of the game and the route was on. Jamie Benn had 2+1=3 while Brady Leavold had 1+2=3 in the Rockets 38th win of the season.
• The Rockets recorded a season high 46 shots on goal, breaking the previous high of 41 shots on goal against the Cougars January 12th in a 5-2 win.
• Torrie Jung again got the start in goal, making you wonder if the 19 year-old will make his first career playoff start Friday in Seattle. While some would think that's a strange move considering veteran Kristofer Westblom has played in a Memorial Cup tournament in 2005, Westblom technically has just five games of playoff experience under his belt, after replacing injured goaltender Derek Yeomans in game one of the WHL final in 2005. Westblom played four games in that series before seeing duty in just one playoff game a year later again behind Yeomans.
• The win, coupled with Chilliwack's 5-1 win over Everett, officially clinched 5th place in the Western Conference for the Rockets. It means a first round date with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Game one and two are in Seattle this Friday and Saturday with games three and four back in Kelowna Monday and Tuesday.
• The Rockets were 4-1 and 5-2 losers to the T-Birds on home ice this season while winning 4-3 in a shootout and losing 5-1 at the Key Arena.

This banner was found outside of Prospera Place Saturday welcoming hockey fans to the Rockets final home game of the regular season.