January blues? I don't think so!

Remember the children's book, 'The Little Engine That Could'?

The phrase often used was - I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

It appears the 2021-2022 edition of the Kelowna Rockets have taken it a step further.

I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.

We witnessed it again last night in a 3-1 win over the visiting Vancouver Giants. Trailing 1-0 after 40 minutes, the home team played to a quicker pace, put the foot on the accelerator and scored three unanswered goals in their 22nd win of the season. The Giants lost for the first time in 15 games when holding the lead after two periods. One common theme is this teams ability to elevate in the third period. Again, the numbers only punctuate my point. Not only has this team allowed a league low - 23 - third period goals against - they've scored 49 times in the final frame. The third period, specifically, is when the Rockets play at their best.

• It has been amazing to watch this team galvanize together, where no one player is a star. They likely won't have a top 10 scorer on the roster this season. Pavel Novak just cracks the top 20. This may be the first team I've seen in my 25+ years of calling games for the Kelowna Rockets where 'strength in numbers' is personified. I'd suggest this team plays one of the best 'team games' I've witnessed. The data backs me up. The Rockets have 12 players with 20 or more points. 12! It is a diversified attack. By comparison, the Edmonton Oil Kings have 13 players with 20 or more points. The Winnipeg Ice have 12 players while Kamloops has 11. The WHL's best team - the Everett Silvertips - have 10 players. The Rockets are NEVER mentioned in the same conversation as those four teams because they don't play a sexy game. It's lunch bucket, but effective.
• Again, it isn't one, two or three players doing the heavy lifting here. Pavel Novak has points in 9 of his last 11, but it goes far beyond the 19 year-old's exploits. Colton Dach has points in 9 of his last 10. Jake Lee has points in 11 of his last 13 games. Andrew Cristall is chipping in with points in 11 of his last 15. Mark Liwiski has points in 11 of his last 15 games too and has six goals in his last 9 games. The big surprise is the elevation in play of Jake Poole. The 19 year-old is riding a career high 7 game point streak and has goals in 7 of his last 10. He started the year with 4 goals in his opening 19 games and was basically a non-factor. Coach Kris Mallette made him a healthy scratch and since that point moving forward, Poole has made an impact. 
• I'd like to share a story of how Mallette is pulling the right strings for a new coach with under 70 WHL games under his belt. I won't share it right now on this blog, but Mallette is making far more great moves in getting the most out his team than you might think. Some of them are gutsy or bold in my eyes, but I like the success he is seeing by making the ballsy call.
• When did the team turn the corner from being a pretender to a contender? Was it the deal that saw the team solidify its goaltending with the acquisition of Tayln Boyko? Acquired November 7th from Tri City, the team is 16-7-1-2 under his watch. That's points in 19 of 26 games. Boyko is 15-5-0-2 as the teams #1 starter. Let's remember Boyko wasn't lights out terrific in his first few starts and even was pulled a few times by Mallette. The New York Rangers draft pick worked through the kinks in his game and is well on his way to earning a pro contract. 
• Boyko better not argue about ice time. He has started 20 of the teams last 22 games.
• Team chemistry is hard to create. Either you like each other or you don't. This group, in my small observations, really like one another off the ice. It's a big deal that no coach can create. Wanting to play for each other and celebrating the accomplishments of a teammate is very underrated. Watch the video from last night's game and the celebration when Jake Poole scores his third period goal. Everyone on the ice wearing Rockets colours are as happy as Poole that he found the back of the net. Tyson Baillie was such a good teammate that way. While a gifted scorer, his face would light up when a line-mate had success. I want more Tyson Baillie's. I think this team has more than a few.   
• I can look back to Colton Dach's first game with the Rockets in Victoria on the first weekend of the regular season as the defining moment for me. I didn't know Dach, but I assumed he would come back to the WHL with a certain swagger after spending time with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. Again, this is only observation, but the 18 year-old quickly acclimated himself into the group. It looked seamless. It was right then and there that I thought to myself, this player and this group is going to have tremendous chemistry moving forward.
• It was the Rockets 6th consecutive win last night. Sure, sure, four of those victories came against the Victoria Royals, but you still have to beat the teams that the schedule maker puts in front of you. That 6 game winning streak is the longest of the season and ties the mark set by the 2017-2018 team. The 2016-2017 edition of the Kelowna Rockets won 7 straight games.
• The Rockets 22 wins this season, is the exact same number of victories as the non-playoff team in 2006-2007. Yikes, that was an awful season, but it paved the way to WHL championship success two seasons later. Again, you have to lose before you can win. 
• The Rockets played back to back games against the Giants without second leading scorer Colton Dach, power play assist leader Nolan Flamand and captain Tyson Feist. Don't worry folks, all three are out with injuries and their absences are not the result of COVID. 
• The Rockets have 21 wins against teams in the BC Division. That is impressive considering first place Kamloops also has 21 victories. 
• What I like about this years team is the ability to score even strength. The team has found the back of the net 138 times, with only 27 goals coming on the power play. That means only 19.6 % of the goals scored are coming with the extra man. By comparison, Victoria has scored 114 goals with 36 of them coming with a opposition player in the penalty box. That means the Royals are scoring 32% of their goals with the man advantage.  
• The Rockets are now 9-3-1-0 in the second game of back-to-backs.
• The Rockets end off the month of January with a record of 7-1-1-0 in 9 games. Not bad considering three games were postponed and the team had to pause after a few cases of COVID-19. Some ask me if the team will catch Kamloops for first place in the BC Division in the final two and a half months of the regular season. If the mental approach remains a constant of - 'I know I can, I know I can, I know I can, it leaves no doubt in my mind that it's best not to bet against them.

Rockets a handful on home ice

Rookie Marcus Pacheco unloading one of his career high 6 shots on net 

Wrestling fans would call it an old fashioned beat down.

The old timers would categorize it as taking the opposition to the woodshed.

The mathematicians in the crowd would use these numbers: 15-5.

Whichever way you want to slice it, the Kelowna Rockets showed little mercy Saturday night in a 9-1 dismantling of the Victoria Royals. Out-scoring them 15-5 in back-to-back games, the nine goal outburst saw Jake Poole put up 5 points (1+4=5) while Pavel Novak and Adam Kydd scored twice in the lopsided win. The accelerator was applied early in this one with the home team building up a five goal first period lead. Unlike the previous night where the Royals scored three of its four goals on the power play in a 6-4 loss, it appeared the visitors just ran out of gas in this one and not even its power play could keep them close. Dealing with injury and players in COVID protocol, the Rockets took full advantage. Before we feel sorry for the opponent, let's remember the home team was playing without its best d-man (Jake Lee), it's fifth leading scorer (Nolan Flamand) and arguably it's best forechecker (Mark Liwiski). Lee was ill. Flamand is hurt and Liwiski was serving game two of a two game suspension. To suggest the Rockets were at full strength and the Royals were not would be inaccurate. 

• Up until last night, the Rockets highest goal total was 7. They beat Vancouver 7-6 in overtime and earned a 7-4 win against Kamloops prior to the Christmas break. The team hasn't scored 9 goals since January 2017 when they beat the Royals 9-2. That season they put up 10 goals in one game in a 10-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
• Do the Rockets have scoring depth? Well, the team has 8 players with 20 or more points. Tyson Feist and Gabriel Szturc are one point shy of joining that group. By comparison, the Royals have just three. First place Kamloops has 9 players with 20 or more points.
• He may be the quietest player on the team. Heck, he sits behind me in the bus so I should know. It is likely the reason why I really like Marcus Pacheco. As a shy, quiet teenager myself, I can relate. I was so pleased to see him score his first career goal last night. 'Patches' as he is known by his teammates, the 16 year-old is such an elite skater, but his lack of finding the back of the net had to be weighing heavily on him. I loved the fact that head coach Kris Mallette wasn't going to take him off the power play in an effort to get that elusive - first one! I also enjoyed the celebration from his teammates when they rallied around him when he found pay dirt. It is one of those regular season 'memorable moments' for me. I can only image how the 16 year-old felt with the monkey off his shoulders. 
• Small observation. Is goaltender Talyn Boyko tracking the puck better? In my opinion he is. In dealing with traffic, he is able to make saves and look around opposing forwards more proficiently. Maybe goaltending coach Eli Wilson gets credit here. The extra work has paid off. 
• Boyko has one loss in his last 9 starts. The 19 year-old has started a career high 10 straight. 
• He can't complain. Boyko has started 17 of the last 18 games. He leads the league in saves and is second in minutes played. 
• Tyson Feist had a nice weekend. Physical and setting the tone early. No less than six big hits were applied at his own blue line. Word to the wise. Keep your head up!!
• Do I dare say the Rockets have once again re-established themselves on home ice? Remember when opposition teams had little hope when entering Prospera Place that they would exit with two points? The Rockets used to be one of the best home ice teams in the league. They lost that certain something when they went 14-15-4-1 in 2018-2019. It felt odd to see the team be so ordinary on home ice. It appears now, with 13 home ice victories, the mojo is back. The 13 wins ties them with Everett for the Western Conference lead. 
• With much uncertaintly in this COVID world, the plan is for the team to begin a stretch of five straight games on the road. It starts Friday night in Everett followed by a stop in Vancouver Saturday. Then it's off Victoria for two games before another stop against the Giants on January 28th. That is 5 games in 8 nights for those counting.   
• I did some digging. Royals forward Bailey Peach has 21 goals in 32 games. He is currently on the exact same pace as Matthew Phillips, who scored 50 goals with Victoria in 2016-2017. That season, Phillips had 50+40=90 points. 

"We are taking every day as a blessing"

"We are taking every day as a blessing that we can play and hopefully that continues."

Those words from Kelowna Rockets head coach Kris Mallette after it was learned three of his teams games have been postponed due to cases of COVID-19.

Friday's home games was postponed against the Vancouver Giants while this Tuesday and Wednesday's road games in Prince George have also been put on hold.

In both cases, the Giants and Cougars had an abundance of positive cases and couldn't ice a team. 

"It is still around (Omicron). It has been a long time since it has been around. It's unfortunate. I have my booster set for Monday, so I am doing all I can and I know other people are doing the same thing. I just hope we can get through this," Mallette added.

The Rockets have had a few cases of COVID, but not enough to force a complete shutdown. The Rockets are one of the lucky ones. Fifteen other teams across the WHL, and one point, have been put on pause due to the pandemic.

"Isn't it ironic? We were the only team to get it last year in the bubble. You don't want to say not if, but when. I don't want to be a pessimist but studies show that once it gets into a team environment that it goes through you real quick. Hopefully if we do have that amongst our group, it is nothing serious and all of us get through it."

The WHL has said all along, all postponed games will eventually be played. Some are suggesting the season may have to be extended beyond April 3rd for that to happen.

3 out of possible 4 points

Jake Lee hits 100 point plateau

• Golf is a game of inches. So is hockey. Just ask the Kelowna Rockets d-man Jake Lee. In  overtime Sunday afternoon, the soft spoken defender rings one off the goal post. The puck comes the other way and Zach Ostopchuk scores seconds later. Game over! Call it bad luck. Or call it a point in the standings. Frankly, I left the Langley Events Centre feeling ok with the effort and result considering the team was trailing 3-2 heading into the third period. The statistics were against the Rockets in earning a point. They had only one win after trailing after two periods and the Giants were 7-0-0-0 at home when leading after 40 minutes. Getting a clutch power play goal from Colton Dach to tie the score just 7 seconds into the man advantage was massive. This team has no quit. I've seen it too many times to doubt them. I am awfully impressed by the will this team has to fight back when the chips are down. That belief to win may be the reason why the coaches and players - as a collective group - were dissatisfied with Sunday's result. They believe they should have won the game. They were sour with the end result. That is a great thing. 
• You may want to watch the video of Dach's tying goal. The beauty isn't the shot, which is drilled into the net with proficiency from the 19 year-old. It's the picture perfect pass from 16 year-old Andrew Cristall that makes this goal possible. At the top of the right face-off circle, Cristall threads the needle with a tremendous - flat pass - through no less than two Giants sticks to find Dach at the left dot. Dach, in one tremendous motion, fires it home and it's a new game. Cristall is such a special player. His skill level is elite. I don't want to take it for granted. I want to continue to me mesmerized by his soft hands. Remember, he is 16. 16!! Not since Nick Merkley or Shane McColgan, have we seen such a young player do so many veteran type things.
• Cristall has 6+5=11 in the last 8 games. By comparison, leading scorer Pavel Novak also has 11 points (3+8=11) in his last 8 games.
• Positives? Lots in my seat from the press box. The Rockets opened the scoring in this one. They had gone 7 straight road games without the opening goal. Heck, the visitors had a 2-1 lead after one period, impressive considering the team was on the bus in the early morning hours for the 4 pm start time. 
• Jake Lee hit the 100 point mark with an assist on Dach's power play goal. The 20 year-old has played 105 games with the Rockets since being acquired from Seattle in a blockbuster deal at the WHL bantam draft in 2019. Lee has almost been a point a game player this season. I didn't see that coming. He easily will surpass the 30 points he had in 2019-2020. He already has a career high 8 goals after scoring 5 times two years ago. Oh, did we mention, Lee is riding a 8 game point streak (2+9=11), the longest point streak (tied with Novak) of any Rockets player this season. 
• Who is the next Rockets played to reach 100 points? Pavel Novak has 92. 
• The Rockets would have won this game had Justin Sourdif not played. The 19 year-old returned after playing for Team Canada at the world juniors and was typically noticeable. I've never see him take a game off. The third round NHL draft pick is always a factor. The Giants captain had two assists and a team high 5 shots on net. In the seasonal series, Sourdif has 2+8=10.
• I was hoping the Rockets could capitalize with Fabian Lysell absent from the Giants lineup. The first round NHL draft pick of the Boston Bruins is back in Sweden taking more time off after playing for his country - for a limited time mind you - at the world juniors. It's not a great look. His countrymen, Giants goalie Jesper Vickman, didn't go home after playing at the prestigious tournament. He played Sunday against the Rockets.  Lysell isn't expected to play this Friday when the two teams meet again - this time at Prospera Place.
• Head Coach Kris Mallette wanted to see his team play disciplined against the G-Men. Man, did they ever comply. Jake Poole took the only penalty for the road team. Coming into the game, the Giants had scored 7 goals on 15 power play chances. 
• It was hard to believe but Talyn Boyko was making his first start at the LEC - ever! The 19 year-old has been on a roll as of late, with 5 consecutive wins up until Sunday's overtime defeat. 
• It was the Rockets first overtime loss this season. They had won four consecutive games in OT with two coming against Victoria and one each vs. Kamloops and Vancouver. 
• The Rockets are 15-5-1-0 against the BC Division this season. 
• Impressive in the second of back-to-back games. The Rockets are 6-3-1-0 this season in that situation. 
• Hold onto your hat. This Friday will be the start of 12 games in 23 days including two home games this weekend against Vancouver and Portland before traveling up to Prince George for two games against the Cougars one week from today.