Rockets return to face Chiefs

Pavel Novak - Shoot the Breeze photo

·       Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets host the Spokane Chiefs in a weekend home and home series. The two teams meet tomorrow in Spokane. This is the third meeting of the season between the two teams. On opening night the Rockets were a 4-3 overtime winner. Dillon Hamaliuk scored the game winning goal. Back on November 9^th, the Chiefs were a 6-1 winner. The Chiefs fired 55 shots on goal. Mark Liwiski opened the scoring before the Chiefs scored 6 straight. Tonight’s game marks the return of ex-Rocket Leif Mattson to Prospera Place. The 20 year-old was dealt to the Chiefs December 5^th for a 2020 3^rd round WHL bantam pick. Mattson played 203 games with the Rockets after being acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings on October 6, 2016 for a 9^th round pick. Mattson was the Rockets Humanitarian award winner last season.

·         Broadcasters Notebook: Pavel Novak is trying to do something one other European born player has accomplished with the organization. Novak leads the team in points. Vaclav Varada tied for team lead in points (88) with Tacoma in 1994-95…After returning for one game after playing for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, Nolan Foote has missed 7 straight games with an injury. The Rockets are 8 and 12 in 20 games without him this season. Foote did not play against the Chiefs in the season opener as his was still with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning….The Rockets are playing their 48^th game of the season tonight, meaning only 20 games remain…The team has 13 home games left and only 7 on the road…..The Rockets are 8-4-0-0 against teams in the US Division….The Rockets are now 19-5-0-0 when scoring the games first goal…The Rockets have played in 24-1 goal games this season, the most in the WHL…The Rockets are 10-14-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets are 6 and 1 in overtime with game winning goals coming from Matthew Wedman, Dillon Hamaliuk, Nolan Foote, Kaedan Korczak (twice) and Liam Kindree….Head Coach Adam Foote coached in his 100^th game last Sunday against the Vancouver Giants.

·         Milestone Makers: Rockets 20 year-old Matthew Wedman is playing in his 298^th game tonight. Nolan Foote is 5 games shy of 200 for his career. Defenceman Kaedan Korczak is one point shy of a career high in points. The 18 year-old has 33 points heading into tonight’s game…Jake Lee is one point shy of the career high 24 points he put up last season in Seattle…Goaltender Roman Basran is three appearances shy of 100 for his career.

He's back!

·      Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets play their 39^th game of the season when they host the Victoria Royals. These two teams met last Friday, with the Royals earning a 2-1 win. This is the 6^th meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rockets are 2-2-0-1 in the opening five games, having been out-scored 13-12 in the process. The Rockets have a one point lead on the Royals for second place in the BC Division, with Victoria holding two games in hand. The Rockets are riding a two game winning streak after a 3-2 shootout win Saturday over Vancouver followed by a 7-3 win in Tri City on Sunday. Following tonight’s game, the Rockets are in Kamloops Friday before hosting the Blazers Saturday night.

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     The Golden Guy: Nolan Foote will be recognized before tonight’s game after helping Canada win gold at the World Junior Hockey Championships. The Rockets captain scored three goals in the tournament and became the 10^th player in the organizations history to win gold at the prestigious event. On that list is Blake Comeau, Luke Schenn, Shea Weber, Jamie Benn, Tyler Myers, Madison Bowey, Josh Morrissey, Dillon Dube and Cal Foote.

·         Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets were 5-6-0-0 while Nolan Foote was at the World Junior Hockey Championships….Nolan Foote has 5 goals in his last 5 games…Pavel Novak has 30 in 30. The rookie forward has 30 points in his first 30 games of his WHL career …Matthew Wedman had four assists Sunday in Tri City. Wedman’s only other four point game came as a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds back on December 17, 2017 against Spokane (1+3=4)…The Rockets will play three games in three nights three times this month. They do it again January 17-19 before doing it again January 24^-26…The Rockets have played in 21-1 goal games this season, the most (tied with Everett) in the WHL.

·         Digg’n Deep: The Rockets are 17-3 when opening the scoring….The Rockets are 9-10-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets are 4 and 1 in overtime with game winning goals coming from Dillon Hamaliuk, Nolan Foote, Kaedan Korczak and Liam Kindree….Head Coach Adam Foote is closing in on a milestone. Foote will coach in his 100^th game January 26^th, at home, vs. Vancouver….Dillon Hamaliuk’s goal Sunday was his first in 9 games…Connor McDonald is 5 assists shy of 100 for his career…Liam Kindree has 4+1=5 in his last five games.

Giant undertaking

·       Tonight’s Preview: The third and fourth place teams in the BC Division meet tonight as the Kelowna Rockets host the Vancouver Giants. The Rockets hold a slim four point lead the G-Men for third place in the division. This is the fourth meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rockets are 0-3-0-0, having lost by scores of 4-0, 4-3 and most recently 6-2. Overall, the Rockets have been out-scored 14-5 in the seasonal series. Connor McDonald leads the team with 3 assists in two games. The Rockets power play is just 1 for 15 (6.7%) against Vancouver. The Rockets are coming off a 2-1 loss last night to the Victoria Royals. Kaedan Korczak had the lone goal. The Rockets are playing three games in three nights for the second time this season. The team is in Tri City on Sunday (4:05 pm). Back in late September the Rockets played three games in three nights, losing in overtime in Kamloops (3-2), beating Everett at home (5-1) before losing (4-0) in Vancouver.    

·        Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets will play three games in three nights three times this month. They do it again January 17th, 18^th and 19^th before doing it again January 24^th, 25^th and 26^th …Liam Kindree has three goals in his last four games….Nolan Foote is playing for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships, becoming the 18^th player in the organization to do so…12 of the Rockets last 15 games have been decided by one goal…The Rockets have played in 20-1 goal games this season, the most in the WHL…The Rockets have played in a Western Conference high 20 road games. 

·        Digg’n Deep: The Rockets are playing their 6^th straight game against a team based in the BC Division. The Rockets are 1-4-0-0 in the five games….Kaedan Korczak has goals in back-to-back games. The 18 year-old has 7 goals this season in 36 games. It took him 140 career games to score 7 goals heading into this season…Roman Basran has started in 6 of the teams last 7 games….The Rockets are 8-10-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets are 4 and 1 in overtime with game winning goals coming from Dillon Hamaliuk, Nolan Foote, Kaedan Korczak and Liam Kindree….Head Coach Adam Foote is closing in on a milestone. Foote will coach in his 100^th game January 25^th, on the road, in Vancouver (Langley)….Dillon Hamaliuk plays in his 150^th WHL game this evening…Connor McDonald is 5 assists shy of 100 for his career.