Prairie air is perfect!

• Maybe the cold prairie air isn't so bad? For the Kelowna Rockets, its darn right refreshing. Two games in the books and two victories. One in Prince Albert and the other in Saskatoon. Shucks, winning is fun, especially when its accomplished on the road. The Rockets are riding a season high four game road winning streak, having carved out wins over Seattle (3-2), Tri City (2-1), Prince Albert (2-1) and Saskatoon (4-3 in a shootout). The theme over those four games is a slim margin between winning and losing, but learning to play in those tight games, and winning them, is extremely valuable. Remember, this is all being accomplished essentially without Kyle Topping, Liam Kindree, Pavel Novak and most recently Dillon Hamaliuk. 
• Let's look back at Friday's win in Prince Albert. Sure, the Raiders didn't have their leading scorer in the lineup that night, but as mentioned, the visiting team didn't exactly have a loaded gun either. The Rockets really played that game they way they need too in order to beat a Raiders club that had previously lost only once at the Art Hauser Centre this season. The Rockets generated only 15 shots on net, but the Raiders took several foolish penalties and the visitors power play clicked at the most opportune time. 
• Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid had a great quote after the game, believing the referee's coward to Rockets head coach Adam Foote's every request. "There were three soft calls. They talked to him all night. I don't know if they (referee's) wanted his autograph because he is a Stanley Cup champion or what? It didn't look good. They talked to him all night. He ran line changes. He did whatever he wanted. He slowed the game down and they just let him do it. I don't know if they wanted his autograph or what the deal was"? That quote is gold...but it may get Habscheid fined. 
• A night later in Saskatoon, the Rockets were able to get a late third period goal to send the game into overtime before winning it in a shootout. The tying goal had some controversy surrounding it after Nolan Foote's follow through clipped Blades d-man Scott Walford. With the 20 year-old face down on the ice with blood visibly cascading on the ice, the Rockets maintained possession of the puck with Foote setting up rookie Trevor Wong for the equalizer. Should the play have been whistled down? It is at the discretion of the referee's, but because the Rockets maintained possession of the puck, play continued. It was Wong's first goal in 15 games.
• In the dying moments of regulation time, Blades 20 year-old Nolan Kneen made contact with forward Nolan Foote at the Rockets blue-line. Boarder line dirty, Foote went down and grimmest in pain as teammate Matthew Wedman engaged in a fight with Kneen, who felt obligated to answer the bell. Foote was able to skate off the ice and did return for overtime and the shootout while Wedman showed the organization his value by standing up for a teammate.
• Why did Rockets head coach Adam Foote elect to use 17 year-old Ethan Ernst in the shootout? Ernst has just one goal this season. The third round bantam pick has just two goals in 84 career WHL games. The fact is, in practice, where they work on these things, Ernst is pretty good at it. Boy, did he show quick, slick hands on the deke to score the game winning goal. Ernst had family and friends from Weyburn in attendance to cheer him on.
• It was nice to see Michael Farren score in his return to Sask-Tel Centre. The 19 year-old had a little more jump in his step against his old team and opened the scoring on a real nice individual effort. It has been tough for Farren to find traction in Kelowna after putting up a career high 11 goals with the Blades in 2017-2018. In his rookie year, again with Saskatoon, Farren had a career high 30 points, so much was expected from him to be an elite goal scorer. Turning 20 in April, the Richmound, BC product is looking forward to a strong second half. 
• The Rockets trailed 3-2 heading into the third period. It marked only the second time this season they were able to battle back and eventually win. The team is now 2 and 7 when trailing after 40 minutes.
• The most amazing statistic is this one. Without Pavel Novak in the lineup for 8 games (suspension), the Rockets went 7-0-0-1. At the time of his suspension, the 17 year-old was leading the team in scoring. Novak is back in the lineup Tuesday in Brandon.  
• The Rockets have points in 8 games (7-0-0-1) with 7 of the 8 decided by a single goal. The only game over that stretch not decided by one goal was a 4-1 victory over the Victoria Royals.
• Can we hand out the teams top defenceman award already. Kaedan Korczak is a slam dunk winner. 
• Most improved player? Jake Poole. I think he has come miles since he opened the season with the team. Tip of the cap to Poole for working on his game and the coaches for putting him into situations to succeed. It is hard for me not to believe that bigger is better. At 6'1 and closing in on 190 pounds, when 'big boy hockey' is required, those with a larger frame seem to really stand out.
• Speaking of 'big boy hockey', both games out here on this prairie road trip have been extremely physical. The timid and shy better sit this one out, as the Raiders and Blades were not scared to set the tone with hard hitting hockey. When the game gets a little greasy and board battles are the name of the game, the Rockets best defender for me is Jake Lee. Lee won't dazzle you with great foot speed or a pounding blast from the blue-line, but heck is he ever effective when bodies are flying everywhere and hard nosed play is required.
• You can tell the Rockets are playing a heavier game with the acquisition of Jadon Joseph and Matthew Wedman. The team looks visually bigger and those two players likely make everyone play with a little more courage and bite in their game.  
• The atmosphere in Prince Albert was really, really good. Winning helps that obviously and the fans up there deserve to support a winner and feel proud about their team. I went down during the first intermission and walked through the 'Ches Leach Lounge' where it was absolutely packed. Fans are wearing Raiders green and its really impressive to see. These are true, prairie hockey fans at its finest. It is an awesome spectacle. Good on ya Prince Albert.     
• The Blades game Saturday night featured a 'Girls Rock Night' theme. I liked it. I remember a similar event in 2011 when the Rockets paid a visit where Haley Wickenheiser was the featured guest. The best part of the event, in my opinion, was an 11 year-old girl introducing the Blades starting lineup over the PA system. Showing lots of enthusiasm, it was a nice change to the 34 home games the Blades play at Sask-Tel Centre. 
• It is off to Manitoba now for games in Brandon (Tuesday) and Winnipeg (Wednesday). The rest of the road trip will be played without leading scorer Nolan Foote (World Juniors), but Pavel Novak is back in the lineup and Dillon Hamaliuk is expected to return after an illness. I am told Tuesday night's low in Brandon is expected to be -28! Buckle up...here we go!