GAME DAY: Rockets Host Hitmen at Prospera
Tickets: Select Your Tickets
Rockets vs. Hitmen
Saturday February 28, 2015
Game Time ‑ 7:05 pm
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets close out the month of February with a home game against the Calgary Hitmen. This is the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams. They met in mid December in Calgary with the Hitmen earning a 4-1 win. The Hitmen were a 2-1 winner in Kelowna back on October 22, 2013. Zane Jones, who now plays in Vancouver, scored the game winning goal. Justin Kirkland had the lone Rockets goal. The Rockets are coming off a 4-0 win last night in Vancouver. Michael Herringer made 29 saves for his second career shutout. Leon Draisaitl, Gage Quinney, Rodney Southam and Dillon Dube all scored in the team’s 25th road win of the season. Quinney was named the first star with a goal and two assists. The Rockets are 20-5-0-1 since the Christmas break. Brandon is conversely 21-3-2-1. Overall, the Rockets have points in 15 of their last 17 games (14-2-0-1).
100 Points – Again! The Kelowna Rockets earned their 100th point of the season last night in a 4-0 win in Vancouver. It is the third consecutive season the team has earned 100 or more points. A franchise record 118 points was set last season. The team has hit the 100 point plateau five times now. They also accomplished the feat in 2013-2014 (118 pts), 2012-2013 (108 pts), 2004-2005 (104 pts) and in 2002-2003 (109 pts).
A Banner season: The Kelowna Rockets are BC Division regular season champions. It is the 7th time the Rockets have won title since its inception in 2001-2002. The Rockets have claimed three consecutive BC Division banners (2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015) and have also won the title in 2010-2011, 2004-2005, 2003-2004 and 2002-2003. While the Rockets have won it 7 times, the Vancouver Giants have earned it five times.
This and That: Road shutouts are hard to come by for the Kelowna Rockets. Michael Herringer’s 4-0 shutout last night in Vancouver was the team’s first (regular season) road shutout since Adam Brown made 27 saves in a 1-0 win in Red Deer February 25, 2011…Last night’s three point effort was Gage Quinney’s first in the WHL….Leon Draisaitl played in his 150th career game last night….During the Rockets eight game home ice winning streak the team is 11 for 33 on power play…Of the Rockets four losses on the road this season, three of them have come in the second of back to back games….Five of the ten losses this season have been suffered in the second of back to back games…..Rourke Chartier is 4 goals shy of 50 this season. The last Rockets player to score 50 goals was Justin Keller during the 2005-2006 season. Keller scored 51 times that year….During this eight game home ice winning streak, the Rockets have out-scored the opposition 52-20…Jackson Whistle has missed ten games after having appendix surgery on February 6th. The Rockets are 8-2-0-0 in those games…Michael Herringer has started four consecutive games….Riley Stadel has 2+15=17 in his last 18 games and has a goal and seven assists in his last six games playing as a forward…Justin Kirkland has points in nine of his last eleven games…The Rockets have been held to just one goal five times this season. Seattle (road), Edmonton (road), Calgary (road) Regina (home) and Prince Albert (home) have turned the trick against the highest scoring team in the Western Conference…The Kelowna Rockets have scored the second most goals on the road (135) in the WHL this season…The Rockets have lost only four times in regulation time on the road this season. Those four losses came in Victoria, Seattle, Tri City and Calgary…The Rockets have points in 11 of their last 13 road games (10-2-0-1)….The Rockets are 54-10-2-1 on opposition ice in the last two seasons….A win tonight will give the Rockets the Western Conference regular season championship for the second straight season.
200 Point Club: Nineteen year-old Tyson Baillie recorded his 200th career point against the Moose Jaw Warriors back on February 14th. Baillie now has 207 points in his four year career. Ready to join Baillie in the ‘200 Point Club’ is Leon Draisaitl, who has 199 career points heading into tonight’s game against the Hitmen. Josh Morrissey has 196 career points.
Dare to Compare: The Rockets have a record of 48-10-3-1 this season, good for 100 points. After 62 games last season the team was 49-9-0-4, which was good for 102 points. The team has scored 275 goals this season. At the same time last year after 62 games, 269 goals were scored and 160 goals were given up. This season the team has surrendered 154 goals against.
Hot to Trot: Leon Draisaitl has a seven game point streak (6+10=16)…Tyson Baillie has a 10 game point streak with five goals and 12 assists (5+12=17). Defenceman Josh Morrissey had an eleven game point streak snapped Wednesday night. Morrissey had (6+6=12) over that period.…Leon Draisaitl has nineteen points (6+13=19) in his last ten games…Draisaitl has goals in four straight games.
Another 40 win season: The Kelowna Rockets have won 40 games for the 11th time in franchise history. Here is the breakdown of 40 win seasons:
2014-2015: 48 wins and counting
2013-2014: 57 wins 2008-2009: 47 wins 1994-1995: 43 wins (Tacoma)
2012-2013: 52 wins 2005-2006: 46 wins 1992-1993: 45 wins (Tacoma)
2010-2011: 43 wins 2003-2004: 47 wins
2004-2005: 45 wins 2002-2003: 51 wins
