Tonight’s Preview: Welcome
to Prospera Place. The Rockets open a three game home stand tonight against the
Victoria Royals. This is the first of eight meetings between the two BC
Division rivals. They meet again on November 18th and 19th
in Victoria before continuing the seasonal series February 13th at
Prospera Place. The Rockets again take the ferry to the Island for two games on
February 20th and 21st. Last season the Rockets were 3-4-0-1
in the eight game seasonal series with the Royals winning all four games at
Prospera Place, with one victory coming in a shootout. The Royals handed the
Rockets three of their four regular season losses on home ice last season. The
Rockets are coming off a 5-3 win in Vancouver Sunday afternoon. Rourke Chartier
scored twice while Michael Herringer earned his first win in a Rockets uniform
with a 16 save performance. Following tonight’s game, the Rockets host Spokane
on Friday November 7th before welcoming the Vancouver Giants on
Saturday.
Rodney’s a Rocket: The
Kelowna Rockets acquired 18 year-old Rodney Southam from the Tri City Americans
Tuesday for a 5th round bantam pick. Southam is a former teammate of
Rourke Chartier’s with the Saskatoon Contacts. The two won a Saskatchewan Major
Midget title together back in 2011-2012. Southam played 63 games with the
Americans after signing with Tri City in the summer of 2012. The Saskatoon
resident was a bantam pick of the Red Deer Rebels in 2011.
Alumni Update: Former
Kelowna Rockets forward Myles Bell is playing in the East Coast Hockey League
with the Evansville IceMen. Bell scored twice and added an assist and recorded
an amazing 11 shots on net in his second game with his new team (October 31st)
and was named the games second star. Bell has played three games in the ECHL
after leading the Rockets in scoring the last two seasons…Ryan Olsen, who is
enjoying his first pro season in the American Hockey League with the St. Johns
Ice Dogs has one goal in 12 professional games…Jordon Cooke, last season’s
Rockets MVP, is 2 and 3 with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Cooke has
a goals against average of 2.63 and a save percentage of .919 along with one
shutout.
Bowey/Baillie
represents WHL: Captain Madison Bowey and 19 year-old forward Tyson
Baillie will represent the Western Hockey League in the Subway Super Series in
November. Games against the Russian Selects will take place in Saskatoon
November 10th and in Brandon November 11th.
This and That: The
Rockets were 13-2-2-0 after 17 regular season games last season, which was good
for 28 points. This season the team is 14-1-1-0, which is good for 29 points...Rourke
Chartier is riding a ten game point streak on the road. The 18 year-old has 12
of his 14 goals on opposition ice….Chartier has been held off the score-sheet
three times this season, all on home ice…Justin Kirkland hasn’t scored a goal
in seven games. Kirkland’s last goal was October 11th vs. Lethbridge….The
Rockets are 3-1-0-0 in the second game of back-to-back games….Did you know that
Lucas Johansen and Tyson Baillie have the same birthdates? Both were born on
November 16th. Johansen will turn 17 while Baillie will turn 19…Rourke
Chartier has 6 goals in four games…Rourke Chartier is 5 games shy of 150 for
his career…Chartier and line-mate Nick Merkley have been in on 64 percent of
the Rockets 80 goals this season…The Rockets were 10-1-0-0 in October. Last
season they were 7-2-0-1 in 10 games in October….Jackson Whistle has the most
wins in the WHL with 12…Whistle is four wins shy of 50 for his career…Nick
Merkley leads the WHL with 13 power play assists….Assistant Coach Kris Mallette
earned his first WHL victory as a coach Thursday night in a 5-0 win over the
Portland Winterhawks… The Rockets have added 18 year-old goaltender Michael
Herringer to the roster. Herringer was listed by the Rockets a few weeks ago
after being released by the Saskatoon Blades. The Rockets are an incredible 124-28-4-5
in their last 161 regular season games dating back to the start of the
2012-2013 season….The Rockets have scored seven shorthanded goals this season.
Last season the team managed 13 shorthanded goals and had the best penalty
killing unit in the WHL… The Rockets have scored a power play goal in 13 of 17 games
this season…The opposition has opened the scoring in eight of the 17 games….The
Rockets have out-shot the opposition in 13 of the 17 games this season…Nick
Merkley has been held pointless only three times this season....Whistle’s 29
save shutout win Thursday was the first for a Rockets goalie on the road since
February 25, 2011 when Adam Brown made 27 saves in a 1-0 victory in Red Deer.…In
case you are wondering, the Rockets have not been shutout in 93 consecutive
games. The last time the Rockets were held without a goal was March 3, 2013 in
a 3-0 loss in Kamloops.
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