Friday, March 2, 2007

Rockets Game Notes vs. Cougars

Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Cougars are meeting for the 8th time this season. The Rockets are 4-3-0-0 in the seasonal series. The Rockets have out-scored the Cougars 22-20 in the first 7 games, with the Cougars earning a 3-2 victory the last time these two teams met on January 16th. The Rockets will meet the Cougars three times in their final 8 games including tomorrow night and then back at Prospera Place March 17th to close out the regular season and seasonal series. Four of the seven games so far have been decided by a single goal, with the Rockets winning two of those four games. The Rockets have lost 4 straight games, having been out-scored 18-4 in the process. The Rockets last win was a 2-0 shutout victory over Chilliwack February 20th. The hockey club has four wins in their last 12 games overall (4-7-0-1), and have points in six of their last thirteen. After tonight’s game the Rockets face the Cougars before hosting the Kamloops Blazers at home Wednesday.

Watching the Wack: The Rockets trail Chilliwack by 2 points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the B.C division. The Bruins have 8 games left in the season, 6 at home and 2 on the road. The Bruins have 3 games left against Vancouver, 2 more with Kamloops and single games with Seattle, Portland and Spokane.

Road Rash: The Rockets are winless in 12 straight road games (0-10-1-1) which is a franchise record. The previous mark was 10 straight road games without a win from December 13/1998 to February 14/1999. The Rockets have been shutout five times in those 12 games and have been out-scored 47-13 overall. Of those 13 goals scored over that period, 8 have come on the power play. The Rockets last road win was a 3-2 victory in Chilliwack December 27th. That road win was 28 games ago.

Sick of the Shutout: The Rockets have been shutout 12 times this season. Nine of those 12 have been suffered on the road. Portland leads the way having been shutout 13 times this season. If you think that’s bad just look at the Swift Current Broncos. In 2004-2005 they were shutout a whopping 17 times.

Rocket Tidbits: The Rockets ended the month of February with 4 regulation wins in 13 games. The Rockets were 4-11-1-1…The ten shots the Rockets recorded Wednesday against Vancouver were the lowest total ever in franchise history….The Rockets have been shutout in back-to-back games and haven’t scored a goal in 122 minutes. The last goal scored, came off the stick of David Schulz at the 18 minute mark of the third period in a 7-1 loss in Chilliwack…The Rockets have scored the fewest amount of goals on the road this season of any team in the W.H.L (57)…The Rockets have 18 wins this season, with the teams lowest total in franchise history being 24 set in the teams expansion year when they had 24 wins and 53 points….Chris Ray has missed the last five games with a badly bruised shoulder. The Rockets are subsequently 1-4-0-0…The Rockets have registered just 23 shots on goal combined in the third period in their last six games…The Rockets have just one win in their last 17 road games (1-13-2-1) and are riding a 12 game road losing streak…The Rockets are 12-16-2-0 in 30 games against BC division opponents this season…The Rockets have been involved in 22 – one goal games this season. In those games the Rockets are 7-6-5-4…The Rockets have been held to a single goal 16 times this season, 7 times at home, 9 times on the road….The Rockets have lost 37 times this season. The team’s highest loss total is 43 set back in the 1999-2000 campaign. That team still managed to win 25 times…Torrie Jung has started 11 straight games with a record of 3-7-0-1 over that stretch…The Rockets had technically five players attend the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse. Kyle St. Denis, who they picked up in a trade with Regina in December, was also part of Team BC…The Rockets have 10 wins in their last 38 games dating back to December 1st.

Time Ticking Down: With 8 games left in the regular season the Rockets have 5 games at home and 3 games on opposition ice. The Rockets have 7 games left against BC division opponents and just 1 game against a US division team.

Who’s Hot – Who’s Not: Cody Almond has 5+2=7 in his last 7 games. Luke Schenn has just one point (1A) in his last 14 games and hasn’t scored since December 13th. Justin Bernhardt has 3+5=8 in his last 14 games. David Schulz has 3+7=10 in his last 14 games. Myles MacRae has just one goal in his last 16 games. Colin Long has 1+4=5 in his last 8 games.

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