Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Rockets game notes vs. Victoria


Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets play their 39th game of the season tonight hosting the Victoria Royals. They may play in the same division, but this is the first appearance by the Royals at Prospera Place this season. These two teams met back on October 12/13th by splitting a pair of games in Victoria. The Rockets were a 4-1 winner before falling 3-2. Following tonight’s game the Royals make a return visit January 9th and 31st. The Rockets are in Victoria for a pair of games February 22nd and 23rd. The Rockets look for their 10th win in 11 games tonight. Overall, the Rockets have five regulation losses in their last 28 games (22-5-0-1) with setbacks to Tri City (twice), Edmonton, Seattle and Calgary. The Rockets have won 19 of their last twenty-three (19-4-0-0) games overall. The Rockets enter tonight’s game riding a 14 game home ice winning streak. The only two teams to beat the Rockets on home ice this season are Kamloops and Spokane. The Rockets play 14 games in January, with 8 of those on home ice. The Rockets travel to Prince George for back-to-back games this weekend.          

December’s Top Performers: The Rockets were 9-2-0-0 in 11 games in December. Damon Severson (2+14=16) and Zach Franko (3+13=16) led the team in points during the month. Rockets leading scorer Myles Bell (6+8=14) and Ryan Olson (4+10=14) had 14 points each. Dylen McKinlay and Tyson Baillie led the team in goals during the month with six apiece.   

This and That: Colton Sissons is celebrating his 150th career WHL game tonight against Victoria….Damon Severson has 2+13=15 in his last 9 games. Severson had just 11 points through his first 28 regular season games…Since a 3-0 win over the Kamloops Blazers November 1st the Rockets are 17-4-0-0. Since that loss to the Rockets, the Blazers are 10-9-1-1….The Rockets are 26-10-1-1 after 38 games this 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…The Rockets 14 game home ice winning streak is 4 wins shy of the 18 straight wins in 2002-2003 season…Myles Bell and Dylen McKinlay are the only two Rockets to play in every game this season…The Rockets have led going into the third period in 22 of their last 29 games with two games being tied heading into the final frame.…The Rockets have allowed 14 power play goals against in their last twenty-three games….The Rockets have 21 power play goal in their last 29 games (21 for 94 over that span – 22 %)…..In the Rockets 26 wins, Myles Bell as earned 43 points (18+25=43). Of the 130 goals scored by the team in those 26 games, Bell has been in on 43 of them…The Rockets have scored 136 goals in their last 30 games (average 4.5)....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 15 and 2 after 17 home games this season…Madison Bowey (10), Mitch Wheaton (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…The Rockets have out-scored the opposition 84-32 on home ice this season…The Rockets have scored the second most goals in the WHL (160)….Zach Franko has four more points (43) than the 39 he put up all of last season. Franko had a career high 53 points (22+31=53) in his rookie season in 2010-2011...MacKenzie Johnston played in his 200th WHL game Sunday against the Tips…J.T Barnett has 7+2=9 in 17 games with the Rockets…Colton Sissons returned to the lineup Sunday after missing 10 games with an upper body injury….Dylen McKinlay has three shorthanded goals, tied for the WHL lead in that category….Since relocating from Tacoma to Kelowna for the start of the 1995-96 season, the Rockets have picked up 653 wins over the last 18 seasons…Since entering the WHL in 1991, the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets have scored 4 thousand 493 goals (4,493)…Zach Franko has 43 points this season. Twenty-three (23) have been registered on the road with 20 coming on home ice…Carter Rigby plays in his 100th career game tonight vs. Victoria…Madison Bowey will play in his 100th career WHL game Saturday in Prince George. 

Focusing on Myles Bell: Myles Bell has scored the first goal of the game a team high five times this season….Bell (23) is four goals shy of the league lead in goals…Bell has 30 assists, one better than Zach Franko’s 29….Bell has just two of his 23 goals on the power play this season. Of Bell’s 53 points, only 15 have been collected on the power play. That means 72% of Bell’s points are scored five on five…Five of Bell’s six-two goal games have been registered at Prospera Place…Of Bell’s 23 goals, 12 have been scored on home ice…Bell has 53 points. 27 of those 53 have been registered on the road.               
 
Who’s Hot: Myles Bell has 5+3=8 in his last six games…Colton Sissons is riding a eight game point streak (2+7=9). Ryan Olsen has 2+8=10 in his last seven games… Zach Franko has 3+13=16 in his last ten games…..Damon Severson has points in eight of his last nine games (2+13=15.) 

Man Games Lost to Injury = 112 games lost
J.T Barnett: 21 games lost      Mitchell Chapman: 38 games lost
Carter Rigby: 13 games lost    Zach Franko: 2 games lost
MacKenzie Johnston: 20 games lost    Jordon Cooke: 5 games lost
Colton Sissons: 10 games lost    Henrik Nyberg: 3 games lost 

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