Rockets/Tips preview

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Game Day Preview: Welcome to March. A sure sign playoff hockey is just around the corner. The Kelowna Rockets wrap up a three game road trip tonight against the Everett Silvertips. The Rockets are 0-2-0-1 in the three games against them, having lost 3-2 in a shootout (Sept 29^th), losing 3-2 (Feb 2^nd) and suffering an 8-2 loss (Feb 3^rd). Cal Foote leads the Rockets offensively in the seasonal series with 3+1=4 while Kole Lind has 0+3=3. The Rockets are coming off a 7-6 loss Wednesday night in Prince George. Kole Lind scored three times in the loss while Erik Gardiner, Cal Foote and Connor Bruggen-Cate scored in the teams’ second consecutive loss. Overall, the Rockets have points in 22 of their last 32 games (19-10-2-1) but ended the month of February with a record of 6-6-1-1 in 14 games. Those 14 games were played over 26 days. The Rockets host Spokane Saturday night before hosting Vancouver Wednesday night.

Broadcasters Notebook: Kole Lind signed an entry level contract with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Lind was a second round pick of the Canucks in last June’s draft…Former Kelowna Rockets goaltender Jordon Cooke has been named Canada West Goalie of the Year for a third consecutive season. Cooke is in his final year with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies… The Rockets have three-30 goal scorers in Carsen Twarynski (38), Kole Lind (35) and Dillon Dube (32). The last time that happened was in the 2008-2009 season when Jamie Benn (46) and Colin Long/Cody Almond (each 33) found the back of the net 30+ times…With 8 games left in the regular season, 5 of the 8 will be played on home ice. The three road games are in Everett, Kamloops and Vancouver…Of the 8 games remaining, 6 are against teams in the BC Division…Cal Foote has 17 goals. The franchise record is 21 set by Madison Bowey in 2014-2015…..The Rockets have 13 shorthanded goals this season, 1 more than all of last season…The team has 23 wins at home, matching their win total from last season at Prospera Place.

Tell me more: Kole Lind, Cal Foote and Dillon Dube are all approaching 200 games played in the WHL. Lind will play his 200^th game next Wednesday against the visiting Vancouver Giants. Dube is playing in his 197^th game tonight while Foote is playing in career game 196 this evening….Cal Foote has 14 points in his last 9 games and is riding a 6 game point streak (3+7=10)…Erik Gardiner returned to the line-up February 9^th in Victoria after missing 39 games with an upper body injury….Kole Lind had his 20 game point streak snapped February 3^rd in Everett. Lind had 15+23=38 over that period, which was good for the third longest point streak in franchise history. Tyson Barrie had a 21 game point streak in 2009-2010 while the team record is 24 games set by Brett McLean. McLean had 18+31=49 in the 1996-1997 campaign…The Rockets have five hat-tricks this season from Carsen Twarynski (vs. Portland/Prince George), and Kole Lind (PA/Kamloops/Prince George)……The Rockets had their 13 game home ice winning streak snapped January 5^th vs. Seattle…The Rockets are 7 and 4 in overtime with game winners coming from Kole Lind (twice), Dillon Dube Carsen Twarynski (twice) and Cal Foote (twice). The only losses in OT came against the Tri City Americans, Portland Winterhawks, Red Deer Rebels and Victoria Royals… …Dillon Dube has scored 20+ goals in three consecutive seasons…The Rockets won their 30^th game of the season January 24^th vs. Lethbridge, marking the 11^th straight season the team has achieved that mark. The last time they fell short was in 2006-2007 when the team earned 22 victories….The Rockets are 3-6-2-0 in their last 11 road games….The Rockets are 18-7-1-0 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets have opened the scoring 37 times this season…Goaltender Brodan Salmond has started in 6 of the last 8 games and 8 of the last 12……12 of the teams last 18 games have been decided by a single goal. The Rockets are 7-2-2-1 in those 12-one goal games…Leif Mattson played in his 100^th career Friday night in Prince George.

Roster Stats:

Player total: 25

Year by Year Breakdown:

20’s (1997) – 3   Ballhorn, Twarynski, Hilsendager           

19’s (1998) - 5   Salmond, Lind, Dube, Cal Foote, Chizen

18’s (1999) - 6   Topping, Mattson, Gardiner, Bruggen-Cate, Cowell, Skvrne

17’s (2000) - 9   Porter, Foote, Zabransky, Kindree, Brennan, McGauley, Kushniryk, Pow, Hair

16’s (2001) - 2   Korczak, Basran

 

NHL Drafted Players: Cal Foote (Tampa Bay 2017), Kole Lind (Vancouver 2017), Dillon Dube (Calgary 2016), Carsen Twarynski (Philadelphia 2016), Brayden Chizen (Minnesota 2016).  

 

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150