GAME DAY: Hershey Halloween Scramble by London Drugs
Rockets vs. Hurricanes
Saturday October 31, 2015
Game Time ‑ 7:05 pm
Tonight’s Preview: Happy Halloween. The Kelowna Rockets wrap up a four game home stand when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes. This is the second of three meetings this season. The Hurricanes make a return visit on February 2nd. Back on October 4th, in Lethbridge, the Rockets earned a 6-3 win. Tomas Soustal and Tyson Baillie each had a goal and two assists while the departed Gage Quinney (traded to Kamloops) had two goals and an assist in the teams’ fourth win of the season. Jackson Whistle was named the first star with a 39 save performance. The Rockets had their three game winning streak snapped last night with a 2-1 loss to the visiting Prince George Cougars. Cole Linaker scored the lone goal for the Rockets. The Rockets open the month of November with seven of their next ten on the road. That includes three straight games south of the border with stops in Tri City (Tuesday Nov 3rd) and back-to-back games in Portland (Nov 6th and 7th). The Rockets have won four of their last six games overall.
Head to Head vs. Hurricanes: The Rockets are 10-2-0-0 in their last 12 meetings against the Hurricanes dating back five seasons. The Rockets are 5-1-0-0 at home and 5-1-0-0 in Lethbridge over that span. Both teams are undefeated when leading after the first period and undefeated when leading after 40 minutes.
Chartier out/Merkley in vs. Russians: Forward Rourke Chartier will not play when Team WHL faces the Russian Selects in the Canada-Russia series November 9th and 10th. Chartier is out with an upper body injury. Nick Merkley will play in both games in Kelowna (Nov 9th) and Kamloops (Nov 10th). The games are designed to give Hockey Canada an evaluation of the players they believe should receive an invite to the World Junior main camp in December.
Getting Better with Age: Tyson Baillie has eight multiple point games this season. Baillie had 20 multiple point games last season. Baillie has more points (9+15=24) after 14 games than he had after 14 games (11+8=19) last season.
Dare to Compare: The Rockets were 13-1-0-0 after 14 games last season. The Rockets are 9-5-0-0 after 14 games this season. The team has scored 54 goals so far this season. Last season after 14 games, the team found the back of the net 73 times.
Who’s Hot: Tyson Baillie has 3+9=12 in his last six games…Baillie is riding a four game point streak (2+8=10) over that period …Dillon Dube has 7+5=12 in his last five games and has collected 9 points in his last four games…Dillon Dube has points in eight of eleven games this season….Lucas Johansen has as many points this season as he did all of last year…Nick Merkley has five assists in his last five games. Who’s Not: Tomas Soustal hasn’t scored in seven straight games. The second year forward had five goals in his first six games of the regular season….Justin Kirkland has one point (a goal) in his last seven games…Calvin Thurkauf has one goal in his last seven games.
Milestone Makers: Rourke Chartier has played 195 career games….Cole Linaker plays in his 195th career game tonight …Nick Merkley has 155 career points.….Merkley is playing in his 150th game tonight vs. the Hurricanes…Riley Stadel is playing in his 200th career game this evening.…Stadel has 94 career points.
This and That: Tyson Baillie and Lucas Johansen share the same birthday. The two were born on November 16th. Baillie will turn 20 while Johansen will turn 18….The Rockets have attracted the 5th most fans in the WHL as they close out the month of October. The team has attracted an average of 5,107 fans per game after six home games …Jackson Whistle has started seven of the last nine games…Tyson Baillie has averaged 28 goals over his last three seasons….Rockets rookie defenceman Jonathan Smart is playing for Canada at Under 17 Challenge in Dawson Creek, Fort St. John this weekend….The Rockets reduced their roster October 14th by sending 20 year-old Gage Quinney to the Kamloops Blazers for a third round bantam pick…Riley Stadel has five fighting majors this season. Stadel had eight fighting majors last season….The Rockets next play three games in three nights January 29th, 30th and 31st with two of those three games on home ice….The Rockets had two players taken in the NHL draft. Nick Merkley was taken in the first round by Arizona. Devante Stephens was chosen in the 5th round by Buffalo…Cole Linaker (Oilers), Tomas Soustal (Flames) and Tyson Baillie (Flames) all received free agent tryouts…The Rockets were 3-2-0-0 in five games during the pre-season.
