Rockets Game Notes vs. Giants

Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Giants meet for the 10th and final time this season. The Rockets are 5-4-0-0 in the first nine games including 2-2-0-0 at home and 3-2-0-0 on the road. Despite having a winning record in Vancouver, the Rockets were out-scored 17-14 in the five games at Pacific Coliseum. At home the Rockets have out-scored the Giants 8-7 in four games. In all four games in Kelowna the losing team has scored just one goal while the largest margin of victory is just 3 goals. The Rockets are coming off a 2-1 win in Portland Sunday. Lucas Bloodoff and Kyle St. Denis scored in the win, while Kristofer Westblom made 17 saves. Overall the Rockets have just two wins in their last 7 games, having scored just 12 goals over that period. Following tonight’s game the Rockets host Tri City Saturday before traveling to Chilliwack on Sunday.

Who’s Hot-Who’s Not: Colin Long had a nine game point streak snapped Sunday in Portland. Long had 4+8=12 over that period. Brandon McMillan has one goal in his last 18 games and no goals in his last 13. Evan Bloodoff has not scored in 13 games. Tyson Barrie has 3+10=13 in his last 14 games. Lucas Bloodoff has points in 8 of his last 12 games (8+2=10). Myles MacRae has 3 goals in his last 19 games and just 2 goals in his last 14.

Quick Hitters: The Rockets have scored a league leading 79 power play goals, one better than the Vancouver Giants. The Rockets have had 380 power play chances this season, tied with Everett and Lethbridge for the league lead. The Rockets are one of five teams in the Western Conference to score over 200 goals. The Eastern Conference has 8 teams with over two hundred goals scored. The Rockets have scored 230 goals this season, 74 more than a year ago. The Rockets and Giants have six shootout losses this season, tops in the Western Conference. Both Edmonton and Moose Jaw lead the league in shootout losses with seven. The Rockets are 5-8-0-1 in 14 games without Jamie Benn. When Benn scores the Rockets are 14-5-0-3. Benn's last game was January 26th against the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Rockets Tidbits: The Rockets have scored a power play goal in 13 of their last 14 games….The Rockets have just two road wins in their last 9 games. The Rockets are (2-6-0-1) over that period…The Rockets are 6-5-0-0 in their last 11 home games…James McEwan returned to the Rockets lineup last Saturday in Seattle after missing 25 games with a lacerated wrist suffered in a fight in late December against the Vancouver Giants…Kristofer Westblom has started four straight games, and has won 4 of his last 6 starts…The Rockets are 10-10-0-2 since the trade deadline….The Rockets have clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference for the 16th time in franchise history. The team has missed the playoffs just once in 17 years…The Rockets have 2 road games left with stops in Chilliwack and Tri City…The Rockets are 4 and 6 in the shootout this season with wins over Edmonton, Seattle and Vancouver (twice). The Rockets have lost shootout games to Kamloops (twice), Moose Jaw (twice), Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. The Rockets have been held to a single goal 4 times at home and 7 times on the road this season. The Rockets have been shutout twice this year.

Games Played Ticker:
Brady Leavold: 194 Colin Long: 155 Dylan Hood: 105 Tyler Myers: 127
Cody Almond: 154 Brandon McMillan: 120 Myles MacRae: 178
Kyle St. Denis: 62 Evan Bloodoff: 122 Tysen Dowzak: 160
Lucas Bloodoff: 133 Luke Schenn: 183 Colin Joe: 242

Rockets vs. Divisions:
vs. BC: 19-11-0-2 vs. US: 7-9-2-0 vs. Central: 4-2-0-1 vs. East: 5-3-0-2

Rockets Players by Province: BC=12 US=4 ALB=3 SASK=2 MAN=1 EURO=1 Total=23

Rockets Schedule - Next 5 Games: Rockets Results - Last 5 Games:
March 8 vs. Tri City Rockets 1 Vancouver 3 L
March 9 @ Chilliwack Rockets 3 Vancouver 2 SOW
March 12 vs. Chilliwack Rockets 2 Spokane 5 L
March 14 @ Tri City Rockets 1 Seattle 5 L
March 15 vs. PG Rockets 2 Portland 1 W
End of Regular Season

Record by Month:
Month Games Record Home Road
September: 4 1-2-1-0 0-1-1-0 1-1-0-0
October: 11 5-5-0-1 3-3-0-1 2-2-0-0
November: 13 9-2-1-1 4-1-0-0 5-1-1-1
December: 12 6-4-0-2 2-1-0-0 4-3-0-2
January: 13 10-2-0-1 8-0-0-0 2-2-0-1
February: 11 3-7-0-1 2-5-0-0 1-2-0-1
March: 8 1-1-0-0 0-0-0-0 0-2-0-0

Rockets Season Highs and Lows:
Most Goals Scored: 11 @ Prince George Jan 11/08 in an 11-1 win.
Most Goals Allowed: 9 vs. Lethbridge February 1/08 in a 9-4 loss.
Most Power Play Chances: 11 @ Chilliwack Feb 2/08 in a 6-3 loss, @ Swift Current Jan 25/08. The Rockets were 0/11, losing 4-0.
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 4 @ Cougars Jan 11/08 (11-1 W), vs. Cougars Jan 4/08 in a 6-0 win, @ PG Nov 10/07 (6-1 W)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 @ Vancouver Dec 29/07 (5-2 L), @ Everett Sept 29/07
Most Shots Taken: 41 @ Prince George Jan 12/08 (5-2 W).
Fewest Shots Taken: 9 @ Vancouver Sept 29/07 (5-0L)
Most Shot Allowed: 48 @ Vancouver Sept 30/07
Fewest Shots Allowed: 13 vs. Blazers Oct 30/07 (6-1 W)
Last Shutout: - Kristofer Westblom 22 saves vs. Cougars Jan 4/08 in a 6-0 win. Kristofer Westblom 28 saves vs. Calgary (5-0 W)
Last Time Shutout: - @ Swift Current Jan 25/08 – Guggenberger 30 saves (4-0 L)
Most Points by a Player: Jamie Benn had 2+4=6 vs. Prince George Jan 19/08.
Most Goals by a Player: Brady Leavold scored 4 goals vs. Prince George Jan 19/08.
Penalty Shots: Dylan Hood fails to score Feb 16/08 in a 3-2 shootout win vs. Edmonton. Juuso Puustinen fails to score on Torrie Jung Feb 8/08 in a Rockets 2-1 shootout loss to the Blazers. Lucas Bloodoff fails to score on Justin Leclerc in 4-3 loss to Kamloops December 28th. Torrie Jung stops Bruins forward Cody Smuk in a 4-1 win in Chilliwack Dec 31/07. Torrie Jung stops Hawks forward Luke Walker Nov 17/07 in a 4-1 win in Portland. Kristofer Westblom stops Everett’s Shane Harper in a 3-2 overtime loss Nov 16/07 in Everett. Torrie Jung stopped Michal Repik in the 3rd period of a 5-0 loss Sept 29/07.
Overtime Winning Goal: Jamie Benn scored at 4:59 December 15/07 in a 3-2 win in Saskatoon. Tyler Myers scored at 3:58 of overtime December 5/07 in a 4-3 win over Medicine Hat. Colin Long scored at :44 of overtime Nov 23/07 in a 7-6 win over Kootenay. Jamie Benn scored at 1:07 of overtime Nov 2/07 in a 3-2 win over Chilliwack.
Shootout Game Winning Goals: Colin Long scores vs. Giants Feb 24/08 in a 3-2 win. Tyson Barrie scores vs. Edmonton Feb in a 3-2 shootout win. Dylan Hood scores in a 4-3 win in Seattle October 6/07. Colin Long scored the game winner in a 2-1 win over Vancouver October 24th.

Roster Stats:
Player total: 24
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s – 3 Westblom, McEwan, Leavold
19’s – 3 Dowzak, MacRae, Joe
18’s – 8 Long, Kytnar, L. Bloodoff, Jung, Schenn, Almond, Benn
17’s – 6 St. Denis, E. Bloodoff, McIntosh, Myers, McMillan, Hood
16’s – 4 Bowman, Barrie, Paradis, Verdino
Average Age: 17.7
Rookies – 7

NHL Draft Picks-Training Camp Attendees: Jamie Benn (Dallas 07), Torrie Jung (Tampa Bay 07), Cody Almond (Minnesota 07), Milan Kytnar (Oilers 07), Tysen Dowzak (Tryout Philadelphia).

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel (AM 1150)