GAME DAY: The Rockets kick off their Victoria double header
Rockets @ Royals
November 20th, 2016
Game Time – 7:05 pm
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets make their first visit to Victoria since last season’s epic game 7 playoff win. Justin Kirkland tied the game with .2 seconds left in regulation time before Calvin Thurkauf scored in overtime. This is the second of eight meetings between these two teams. Back on October 26th, the Rockets were a 6-4 winner. Calvin Thurkauf and Rodney Southam each had two goals in the win while Kole Lind had a goal and three assists. Following tonight’s game, these two teams meet again Tuesday night. The Rockets wrapped up a four game home stand Friday night with a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants. Cal Foote’s power play goal stood up as the game winner. Kole Lind, Tomas Soustal, Dillon Dube and Kyle Topping also scored in the teams’ 12th win of the season. Brodan Salmond earned the victory in goal. Overall, the team has 9 wins in their last 12 games. The Rockets next home game is next Saturday against the visiting Regina Pats.
Broadcasters Bits: How evenly matched are these two teams? The Rockets have a record of 12-11-1-1 against the Royals in the last five seasons…Four of the Rockets next five games are on the road ….The Rockets have scored seven power play goals in their last three games. Of the 14 goals they have scored over that stretch, half of them have come with the extra man….The Rockets are the only team in the WHL that has failed to surrender a shorthanded goal against this season…The Rockets are 4-6-0-0 against BC based teams this season……The Rockets are 12-10-0-0 after 22 games. Last season the team was 16-5-1-0 after 22 games ….Rookie forward Leif Mattson returns to the lineup Friday after serving a four game suspension for a checking from behind penalty November 1st against Kamloops….Michael Herringer has started in five of the last six games and 11 of the last 13…The Rockets are 5-0-0-0 against U.S Division teams this season…The Rockets have carried the lead into the third period in 8 of the last 12 games …Veteran 20 year-old Michael Herringer was named the WHL Goaltender of the Week from October 17th to October 23rd. Herringer went 3-0-0-0, posting a goals against average of 1.99…November birthdays to remember. Lucas Johansen turned 19 on November 16th. Kyle Topping turned 17 on Friday while Nolan Foote turns 16 on November 29th. Head Coach Jason Smith turned 43 on November 2nd.
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Injury Report: Riley Stadel has missed 8 games with an upper body injury. Gordie Ballhorn missed 7 games with a lower body injury but returned to the lineup Friday against the Royals. Both were hurt in a game against the Victoria Royals on October 26th.
Octoberfest: After starting the month of October with a 3-0 shutout loss in Prince George (October 1st) the team was able to win 8 of their next 11 to close out the month of October. In November, the Rockets play 10 games with six of them on home ice. Six of those 10 will be played against BC Division based teams including a visit to Victoria on November 20th and 22nd.
Who’s Hot?: Tomas Soustal has goals in 7 of his last 8 games and has 8+7=15 over that period…Calvin Thurkauf has points in 8 of his last 9 games (5+10=15)…Kole Lind has points in 10 of his last 12 games (6+11=17)…Nick Merkley has goals in 5 of his last 8 games…16 year-old Nolan Foote has points in four of his last 6 games. Foote has 2+2=4 over that period……Merkley has points in 10 of his last 12 games (6+8=14)…Merkley will play in his 200th career game Tuesday in Victoria.
Roster Stats:
Player total: 24
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s – 3 Stadel, Herringer, Southam
19’s – 6 Johansen, Merkley, Soustal, Stephens, Ballhorn
18’s – 7 Dube, Kryski, Lind, Borstmayer, Chizen, Salmond, Thurkauf
17’s – 6 C. Foote, Topping, Bruggen-Cate, Cowell, Smart, Mattson
16’s – 2 N. Foote, Belcourt
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
