A 'Royal' Rumble!

Shoot the Breeze Photography

• One! Gordie Ballhorn now has one. One game winning goal in 159 career games in the Western Hockey League over three seasons. The 20 year-old defenceman is having a career year offensively with 30 points, nearly twice his total (18) from the two previous seasons combined. Ballhorn's blast from the blue-line, on the power play in the second period, stood up as the game winner in a 5-4 win Monday afternoon against the arch rival Victoria Royals. It was Ballhorn's first goal in 17 games. I don't think any of the 5 thousand, 625 fans thought it would be the game winning goal at the time with the home team enjoying a 5-2 lead. The Royals, a determined bunch, scored two straight goals to make everyone nervous, before time expired as the Rockets earned their 20th home ice win of the season. Dillon Dube and Kole Lind each chipped in with three points as the Rockets moved back into sole possession of first place in the BC Division, one point up on the Royals while holding two games in hand.
• The hit. Let's discuss the hit that sent Kelowna Rockets leading point producer Kole Lind to the dressing room. It happened in the second period after Lind was hit hard in front of the Royals net by defenceman Ralph Jarratt. Lind, skating on right wing, made one last move at the right face-off circle, and with his eyes squarely looking for a hole behind goaltender Griffin Outhouse, was blindsided by Jarratt with a huge hit. It sent the 30 goal scorer air-born before crashing onto the ice. No penalty was called on the play. Lind stayed motionless on the ice for no less than two minutes before being helped off the ice. Usually hits like these have Lind gathering his composure and skating away. Not this time. Lind, with the help of teammates, made his way to the dressing room in what can only be described as a fog. After looking at the hit on video, you can't help but notice Jarratt leaving his skates either before or during impact. Regardless, the 6'2, 223 pound blue-line saw a vulnerable player and laid a licking on him. Is the hit suspendable? Without a shadow of a doubt. Should Lind have opened himself up to the possibility of being hit hard in his attempt to score a goal? Probably not, but if Jarratt keeps his skates on the ice and doesn't attempt to take Lind's head off, a suspension isn't warranted and Lind is shaken up, but otherwise ok.
• The game was full of emotion. You could feel it prior to puck drop considering these two arch rivals were facing one another for the third time in four days. It started with a bang when 10 seconds into the opening face-off, Rockets rookie Kyle Pow dropped the gloves with Royals forward Braydon Buziak. Buziak has 20 career WHL fights to his credit while Pow leads his team with 7. Both were immediately ejected from the game for not participating in the play, instead wanting to set the tone by trading punches with one another.
• The win came at a cost. Not only did the Rockets lose Kole Lind to injury, starting goaltender James Porter Junior was hurt in a goal mouth collision in the third period with Royals forward Andrei Grishakov. Dillon Dube, back checking, appeared to make contact with Grishakov, sending him sailing into Porter, who's only focus at the time was keeping the puck out of the net, not looking at anyone coming at him from the side. Porter, suffering what appeared to be a lower body injury, was also helped off the ice and was replaced by backup Brodan Salmond. Let's hope Porter is ok and the Rockets have 15 year-old Cole Tisdale's phone number on speed dial.
• Cal Foote was again a huge force for the Rockets in the one goal win. Seemingly never leaving the ice, the 19 year-old was so good at both ends. I can't say enough about his terrific play. Playing against the teams top players, used on the power and on the penalty kill, the first round NHL draft pick of the Tamapa Bay Lightning must have played 30 minutes - easy! What you may not notice is how many times he bails out his defensive partner, who makes a terrible read and often escapes trouble with tremendous body positioning and a calm deameanor. I'd argue, Cal Foote could be considering for the team MVP award for his stellar play at both ends of the ice. Kole Lind and Dillon Dube will catch your eye in the offensive zone, but Foote does it with consistency at both ends. We are often astonished when he makes a bad play, because he rarely ever does. I see him play every night, and in my mind he is a WHL Western Conference all-star. Whether it's a first or second team all-star, Cal Foote is a stud.  
• Carsen Twarysnki scored his 35th goal of the season in the victory. Again, playing as physical as any forward on both teams rosters, I thought the 20 year-old was terrific with his aggressive play. Twarynski's forehand to backhand move for his goal shows what type of hands he possesses. If he can score 40, which he will with 15 games left in the regular season, he will become the first player since Tyson Baillie (43) to do so.
• Have you seen an improvement in Connor Bruggen-Cate's overall play? It is really neat to see him finally making an impact with more consistent play. From three goals last season to 16 this season is a massive improvement. Something happened over the Christmas break. Since then the soft spoken forward has 10 goals and 6 assists.
• Leif Mattson is riding a 5 game point streak after an assist.
• Can you imagine if the Rockets and Royals met in a playoff series? It would be a blood bath. These two organizations detest one another.  
• The Rockets host the Red Deer Rebels Wednesday. Look out for the Rebels, who had been struggling until beating the Rockets January 27th in overtime. Since then, Brett Sutter's group have been winning consistently and looking nothing like they did when they went through a stretch where they were losing on a consistent basis.