Game Day: Rockets look to make it two in a row
Rockets vs. Royals
Friday, December 7th, 2018
Game Time – 7:05 pm
Game Day Preview: This is the final home game for the Kelowna Rockets before the Christmas break. The Rockets host the Victoria Royals to wrap up a three-game homestand. The Rockets have an overtime loss (5-4) to the Saskatoon Blades and a shootout win over the Tri-City Americans (3-2) over that period. This is the fifth meeting of the season between these two teams. The Rockets are 3-1-0-0 in the seasonal series, including a 3-1 victory at Prospera Place back on November 23rd. The Rockets have won the last three meetings after dropping a 4-3 decision on home ice back on October 5th. The Rockets power play is 6 for 16 (37.5%) in the opening four games against Victoria. Liam Kindree has 4+5=9 against the Royals while Lassi Thomson has 3+4=7 against the BC Division rivals. Roman Basran has a sparkling 3-0-0-0 record and a goals against average of 1.33. The Rockets are in Cranbrook this Tuesday to open a four-game road trip. The Rockets are 9-5-2-0 in 16 games under head coach Adam Foote.
Who’s Hot: Nolan Foote has points in 7 of his last 8 games. Foote has 6+5=11 over that stretch. Leif Mattson has four goals in his last 6 games. The 19-year-old has registered at least one shot on goal in 29 of the teams 30 games this season. Kyle Topping has 3 goals in his last 6 games. Topping has registered a point in 22 of the teams 30 games this season. In his last four appearances, goaltender James Porter has stopped 113 of the last 122 shots (.926 save percentage) he has faced. The Rockets penalty killing unit is 15 for 15 in their last three road games.
Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets have acquired the playing rights to 17-year-old forward Alex Swetlikoff from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 4th round bantam pick. Swetlikoff, a Kelowna product, was originally drafted in the third round by the Seattle Thunderbirds. This season, Swetlikoff, who is committed to playing NCAA hockey at the University of Denver…Lassi Thomson has been invited to Team Finland’s training camp for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships….Libor Zabransky has been invited to Team Czech Republic’s training camp as well……The Rockets traded 19-year-old Jack Cowell to the Kootenay Ice November 29th for a third-round bantam pick… The Rockets are 5-8-1-0 against BC Division teams this season…Nolan Foote has scored 9 home goals and 8 road goals this season …7 of Kyle Topping’s 12 goals have come on the road…16 of Topping’s team-leading 31 points have come on the road….The Rockets have only one December birthday to celebrate. Lane Zablocki officially turns 20 on December 27th….Four members of the Kelowna Rockets have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s November “Players to Watch’ List. Forward Nolan Foote is an ‘A’ prospect, meaning a first-round candidate. Kaedan Korczak is a ‘B’ prospect which means he is a second or third round candidate. Roman Basran/Lassi Thomson are ‘C’ prospects, which means he could be taken in the third to the seventh round…Adam Foote was officially named the new head coach of the Kelowna Rockets on October 23, 2018, replacing Jason Smith….The Rockets are 3-7-1-0 when playing the second game of back-to-backs.
Season Highs/Lows:
Most goals scored: 8 @ Victoria October 19/18 (8-2 W)
Most goals allowed: 9 vs. Seattle October 10th, 2018 (9-6 L)
Most shots on net: 45 @ Seattle October 6th, 2018 (4-1 L).
Fewest shots on net: 13 @ Edmonton November 17, 2018 (3-1 L)
Most shots allowed: 50 @ Portland November 10, 2018 (3-0 L)
Fewest shots allowed: 20 @ Victoria October 19, 2018 (8-2 W)
Last time shut out at home: October 3rd, 2018 vs. Vancouver (5-0 L)
Last time shut out on road: November 10, 2018 @ Portland (3-0 L)
Most power play goals allowed: 4 vs. Seattle October 10th, 2018 (9-6 L). T-Birds were 4/5 on power play.
Most power play goals scored: 4 @ Victoria October 19, 2018 (8-2 W)
Roster Stats:
Player total: 22
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s (1998) – 3 Gally, Zablocki, Chizen
19’s (1999) – 4 Topping, Mattson, Gardiner, Bruggen-Cate
18’s (2000) – 8 Farren, Thomson, Porter, Foote, Zabransky, Kindree, Brennan, Steffler,
17’s (2001) – 6 Korczak, Crosbie, Basran, Liwiski, Wilton, Augustine
16’s (2002) – 1 Ernst
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
