Friday, December 14, 2012

Rockets game notes vs. Tigers


Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets look for 5th straight win tonight when they visit the Medicine Hat Tigers. This is the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams. Back on October 24th the Tigers earned a 4-3 shootout win. The Rockets fired a season high 58 shots at the Tigers net. Zach Franko and Myles Bell each had a goal and an assist in the loss. During the Rockets four game winning streak they have out-scored the opposition 19-9 and have gone 6 for 14 on the power play (43%) over that stretch. Overall, the Rockets have four regulation losses in their last twenty-two games (17-4-0-1) with setbacks to Tri City (3-2) twice by the same score, a 5-3 loss in Edmonton October 27th and a 4-2 setback in Seattle December 1st. The Rockets have won fourteen of their last seventeen games overall. The Rockets are playing the third game of five straight on the road over six days. The Rockets beat Kootenay 3-1 Tuesday night and Lethbridge 3-1 Wednesday night. The pre-Christmas schedule concludes with games Saturday in Red Deer and Sunday in Calgary. Five of the Rockets seven losses on the road this season have been decided by a single goal.    

Hard to Win in the ‘Hat’: The Rockets are 2-7-0-3 in their last 12 stops in Medicine Hat dating back to the start of the 2003-2004 season. One of those two wins came in a shootout victory. In fact, in three of the last four games in Medicine Hat, the Rockets and Tigers have been forced to a shootout.      

This and That: The Rockets are 21-9-1-1 after 32 games this season. Last season after 32 games the team was 13-15-3-1. The team essentially has 14 more points than they did at this point last season….Madison Bowey was named to the roster for the upcoming CHL-NHL Top Prospects game. Last season two members of the organization participated in the game. Damon Severson and Colton Sissons showcased their skills and were both 2nd round draft picks this summer by New Jersey and Nashville…Tyson Baillie has 10 goals, the same number he registered all of last season….Baillie has four goals in his last three games…Cole Martin has three career WHL goals. All three have been game winners…Jordon Cooke has played in the exact same number of games (25) he appeared in all of last season….The Rockets won their 12th straight home game Saturday night with a 7-2 win over Prince George.  The team record is 18 straight wins in 2002-2003 season…Myles Bell hit the 150 point mark in his WHL career with an assist Tuesday night against Kootenay…Bell and line-mate Dylen McKinlay are the only two Rockets to play in every game this season…The Rockets have led going into the third period in 18 of their last 24 games with one game being tied heading into the final frame.…The Rockets have allowed ten power play goals against in their last seventeen games….The Rockets have twelve power play goal in their last nineteen games (12 for 59 over that span)….The Rockets have twenty-one wins in 32 games this season….In the Rockets 21 wins, Myles Bell as earned 35 points (13+22=35). Of the 102 goals scored by the team in those twenty-one wins, Bell has been in on 35 of them….Bell has 18+27=45 after 32 games; the same number of points as his career high 45 set with the Regina Pats as a 17 year-old….. The Rockets have scored 106 goals in their last twenty-four games....Jordon Cooke was named the CHL/Vaughn Goaltender of the Week for October 22-28th. Cooke had two wins last week which included a shutout and a save percentage of .967…Ryan Olsen played in his 150th career WHL game Nov 3rd against visiting Prince George…Ryan Huska recorded his 200th WHL regular season victory November 24th against the visiting Saskatoon Blades…The Rockets are 13 and 2 after 15 home games this season…Madison Bowey (10), Mitch heaton (22) are rated among the top skaters in the WHL by NHL Central Scouting for June’s draft. Jackson Whistle is ranked 7th among WHL goalies…Austin Glover (Team Western), Rourke Chartier (Team Western) and Riley Stadel (Team Pacific) will all play at the World U-17 Hockey Challenge in late December in Quebec. The Rockets have out-scored the opposition 72-28 on home ice this season…The Rockets have scored the second most goals in the WHL (130). Only Portland has scored more (144)…The Rockets have the best winning percentage on home ice in the WHL.

Who’s Hot: Myles Bell had 16 points in November (8+8=16). Bell has 20 points in his last twelve games. Colton Sissons is riding a seven game point streak (1+7=8). Ryan Olsen has (8+4=12) in his last twelve games. Zach Franko has 3+9=12 in last ten games. Tyson Baillie has 4+7=11 in last thirteen. 

Man Games Lost to Injury = 88 games lost
J.T Barnett: 21 games lost     Mitchell Chapman: 32 games lost
Carter Rigby: 12 games lost   Zach Franko: 2 games lost
MacKenzie Johnston: 17 games lost   Jordon Cooke: 2 games lost
Colton Sissons: 5 games lost

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