Game Notes: Rockets at Warriors

TEAM NOTES PREPARED BY REGAN BARTEL OF AM 1150

Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets play game six of a six game Eastern Division road trip tonight in Moose Jaw against the Warriors. These two teams met once last season, in Kelowna, with the Warriors earning a 5-1 win. Kyle Topping scored the lone goal for the Rockets. The Rockets are 3-2-0-0 on this Eastern Division road swing after a 2-1 win last Friday in Prince Albert followed by a 4-3 shootout victory in Saskatoon last Saturday. Then in Brandon, Tuesday, the Rockets were a 2-1 shootout winner followed by a 3-1 loss in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Last night the Rockets fell 4-3 to the Regina Pats; Pavel Novak, Matthew Wedman, and Mark Liwiski scored for Kelowna. The Rockets have points in 9 of their last 11 games (8-2-0-1) and have won 5 of their last 7 games on the road. The Rockets have played 16-1 goal games this season including in 8 of their last 9 where they are (6-1-0-1).

Bigger, Faster, Stronger: The team added size and scoring touch with the acquisition of 20 year-old Matthew Wedman from the Seattle Thunderbirds December 5th. Wedman led the T-Birds in scoring last season with 40+37=77 and played 275 games in a Seattle uniform. The Rockets also completed a trade with the Moose Jaw Warriors November 24^th by acquiring 20 year-old Jadon Joseph. Joseph was a member of the Vancouver Giants last season that went all the way to the WHL final. Joseph has 58 games of playoff experience under his belt, the most on the Rockets roster.

Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets are playing without four of their top forwards. Nolan Foote, Dillon Hamaliuk, Liam Kindree and Kyle Topping will not play tonight against the Pats. Only Foote has played (two games) on this road trip…The Rockets dealt 20 year-old Leif Mattson to Spokane last Thursday for a third round bantam pick….The Rockets traded 18 year-old d-man Cayde Augustine to Moose Jaw December 2^nd for a conditional 6^th round bantam pick….Roman Basran was named the WHL Eli Wilson goaltender of the week in back-to-back weeks ending December 1st…Nolan Foote was named the 25^th captain in franchise history (Tacoma/Kelowna) October 18th. Foote joins brother Cal, who captained the Rockets during the 2017-2018 season. Foote is attempting to crack Canada’s entry at the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships. The tournament will be played in the Czech Republic.