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| Jake Lee in a T-Birds uniform |
· Tonight’s Preview: It is a reunion of sorts for three members of
the Kelowna Rockets. Dillon Hamaliuk, Jake Lee and Cole Schwebius return to
where their WHL careers started when they face their old team, the Seattle
Thunderbirds this evening. All three were involved in a block buster trade in
May that saw the trio arrive in Kelowna for two-first round WHL bantam picks
and 20 year-old Connor Bruggen-Cate. The Rockets make a return visit to Kent,
Washington November 22nd. The T-Birds make two visits to Prospera
Place this season on January 24th and March 6th. Last
season the Rockets were 9-6 and 3-2 overtime losers to the T-Birds on home ice
and were a 4-1 loser before scoring a 3-1 victory at Accesso ShoWare Centre in
two appearances. Tonight’s game is the conclusion of three straight games on
the road, after the Rockets split a pair of games in Prince George on the
weekend. The Rockets were a 2-1 winner Friday when Pavel Novak scored twice in
the victory. A night later, the Rockets received their lone goal from Nolan
Foote in a 4-1 loss. The Cougars held a slim 2-1 lead after 40 minutes before
scoring two empty net goals for their first win of the season. Following
tonight’s game, the Rockets return home to face the Kamloops Blazers tomorrow
night before hosting Swift Current Wednesday.
·
Broadcasters
Notebook: Pavel Novak is a ‘C’ prospect for
next June’s NHL Draft. Those rankings released by NHL Central Scouting. A ‘C’
prospect is regarded as a player selected between the 5th and 7th
round. The 2020 NHL Entry Draft will be held in Montreal….Novak has 3+3=6 in
his last three games and has been named the first star in two of his last three
contests…The Rockets organization has the bragging rights of having 14 former
players start the season on an NHL roster. That is the most of any team in the
WHL, with Brandon next at 10 and Portland with 9 alumni….The Rockets have the
second most games played by alumni in the NHL of any team in the Canadian
Hockey League. Only the London Knights of the OHL have more….The Rockets are 4-2-1-0
after seven games this season. It took the team 13 games last season to reach
four wins.….Last season, the Rockets were 1-6-0-0 after seven games …Kyle Topping
has goals in four of seven games this season…Topping played in his 200th
career WHL game last Friday in Prince George….Roman Basran has started in six
of seven games this season…. Newly acquired forward Dillon Hamaliuk was
selected in the second round by the San Jose Sharks. Hamaliuk was acquired in a
trade with Seattle back in May….Jake Lee received a free-agent tryout with the
Sharks, attending the teams rookie camp…Back on October 3rd, the
Rockets were awarded the host site for the 2020 Kia Memorial Cup, beating out
bids from Kamloops and Lethbridge.
·
That’s
a fact - Jack! The team essentially welcomes back 17
of the 22 players that wore a Rockets jersey last season. That includes 5 of
the teams’ top 6 scorers in Kyle Topping, Leif Mattson, Nolan Foote, Liam
Kindree and Kaedan Korczak. Topping led the team with 69 points while Mattson
and Foote collected 63 points apiece. Foote led the team in goals with 36. The
team said farewell to 20 year-old’s Schael Higson, Dalton Gally and Matt
Barberis. The team also parted ways with Lassi Thomson, Conner Bruggen-Cate and
Ted Brennan. Adam Foote returns as head coach for his first full season behind
the bench with Kris Mallette and Vernon Fiddler as his assistants. Fiddler was
added to the staff on July 3rd.
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