World beaters but early struggles on the road.

Nolan Foote - Shoot the Breeze Photo

• What we've witnessed in the opening four games of the 2019-2020 regular season is the Kelowna Rockets are very much a difference team at home as opposed to the road. At Prospera Place, the Rockets look like a well-oiled machine poised to challenge for first place in the BC Division like many pundits have suggested. After two stops on the road, it looks much like a team that struggled to win 28 games a season ago. Why the drastic change in urgency and the ability to execute on home ice as opposed to playing away from the warm confines of Prospera Place? It is a small sample size (four games), but you know head coach Adam Foote will investigate why his team losses the spit and polish they've earned in solid wins over Spokane and Everett.
• In the two home ice wins, the Rockets have opened the scoring with Kyle Topping and Jake Lee finding pay dirt. On the road, the team has chased the game with the opposition scoring first.
• The Rockets have scored 9 goals on home ice and just two on the road. Again, small sample size, but even the shot totals tell a bit of the story. In the two road games, the team has generated just 34 shots on the opposition goaltender, or an average of 17 per game. That shot total won't win you many games. On home ice, 56 shots have been directed at the net, which translates into an average of 28 shots per game. That total gives you a fighting chance to win, which they have - twice. A 5 for 11 power play (46%) on home ice is also a big reason why the Rockets look like a contender.
• After an impressive 5-1 win over Everett Saturday night at home, I anticipated a much better effort from the team Sunday against the Vancouver Giants. Both teams were playing three games in three nights, but the G-Men looked fresher. They had more jump, even though the Rockets were in an Ok position after a scoreless first period. I thought a late scrum when time expired to end the first period would ignite the Rockets. Sadly, the fuse went off for the Giants, who seemed to mirror their play after last year's BC Division title team with a dominant effort. The home team struck for three goals while out-shooting the visitors 16-4.
• It was nice to see Nolan Foote stand up for himself in a rare fight with Giants d-man Seth Bafaro. The only problem with the tilt was Foote sat in the penalty box for 17 straight minutes after being accessed a two minute minor for instigating, a five minute major for fighting and a 10 minute misconduct. The Rockets need Foote on the ice where he can be used as a threat both even strength and on the power play. 
• Foote had a massive hit on rookie d-man Tanner Brown, who calls Kelowna home. It was nice to see him use his size. I hope he plays that power game this season on a consistent basis. 
• I also liked Mark Liwiski coming to the aid of Dillon Hamaliuk after he was rocked in the first period with a massive hit as he stepped out of the penalty box. Liwiski wanted a piece of anyone wearing Giants colours and got tangled up with Milos Roman before punching the Calgary Flames draft pick to the ice. Roman would have the last laugh with a two goal effort. 
• Cole Schwebius made his Rockets debut Sunday and didn't disappoint. I thought he was fine in net and was in no way a weak link in the loss. The 18 year-old had to be nervous playing with his new team and frankly has only 17 games of experience at the WHL level after being a backup a year ago in Seattle. I thought Schwebius made several solid stops. Roman's opening goal is one where the puck goes wide of the net and out the other side where the 19 year-old fired it home. The second goal was from in-tight while the third, the most stoppable of the three, came off a shot from Justin Sourdif who beat the Kelowna keeper high to the blocker side. The fourth goal was an empty netter. 
• It was interesting to see the Giants spend the night in Kamloops after losing to the Blazers 6-2 Saturday night. The team thought they would be better served staying the night in a hotel and then busing in for the game. You have to hand it to ownership for fitting the bill to give the team a better chance of winning, rather than busing back and arriving in the wee hours of the morning. It probably worked considering the turnaround time was quick with a 4 pm start at the Langley Events Centre. 
• The Rockets still have two wins in four games. That is a lot better than the 10 games it took them to reach that mark last season.
• The Tri City Americans provide the opposition Wednesday. While it is being showcased as Rockets 20 year-old Carson Sass' triumphant return against his old team, Sass never played a game with them after being claimed off waivers from the Red Deer Rebels.