Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Rockets game notes vs. Royals



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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