GAME DAY: Rockets & Blazers go toe-to-toe in game 4 in Kamloops
Rockets @ Blazers
March 29th, 2017
Game Time – 7:05 pm
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets play game four of an opening round playoff series when they face the Kamloops Blazers. The Rockets have a 2-1 series lead after a 4-0 win in game one, a 3-2 victory in game two and a 4-1 loss in game three. Games four is tonight with game five in Kelowna Friday night. Here is a quick recap of the first three games.
Game 1: Carsen Twarynski scored twice leading the Rockets to a 4-0 win. Tomas Soustal and Reid Gardiner added singles while rookie Nolan Foote had two assists. Michael Herringer earned the win in goal with a 15 save performance. The Rockets were 2/4 on the power play and a perfect 3 for 3 on the penalty kill. Overall, the Rockets out-shot the Blazers 48-15.
Game 2: Dillon Dube scored two-third period goals in the Rockets 3-2 win. The Rockets built up a 3-0 lead on goals from Cal Foote and a shorthanded and power play goal from Dube. Michael Herringer was the first star with a terrific performance. The Rockets were 1 for 6 on the power play while going 4 for 5 on the penalty kill. The Rockets out-shot the Blazers 37-35.
Game 3: Lane Bauer scored twice leading the Kamloops Blazers to a 4-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets. Kole Lind scored the lone goal in the loss, his first career WHL playoff goal. Michael Herringer made 34 saves in the loss. The Rockets were 0 for 2 on the power play while going 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.
Playoff Pondering: Michael Herringer has been named the WHL Goalie of the Week. Herringer was 2-0-0-0 on the weekend, posting a goals against average of 1.00 and a save percentage of .960….The Rockets are 1-4-0-0 in their last 5 playoff games at Sandman Centre. The Rockets only win in Kamloops in last year’s playoff series was in game three, but the game was played at Memorial Arena. The last time the Rockets won a playoff game at Sandman Centre was in game four of an opening round series in 2009. The date was March 25, 2009 in a 5-3 win. Jamie Benn had 1+3=4 in the victory….The Rockets are attempting to advance to the Western Conference final for a fourth straight season…The Portland Winterhawks went to the Western Conference final 5 consecutive seasons (2010-2015).
Season in Review: The Rockets finished in 2nd place in the BC Division with 95 points this season. That was one point shy of Prince George in the fight for a BC Division banner. The team was 45-22-5-0, which was good for 6th place in the overall WHL standings. The team scored the third most goals in the WHL (283) and tied with Seattle for the 4th fewest goals against. The team scored 14 more goals and allowed 12 fewer against than in 2015-2016. The Rockets had the third best power play in the WHL and the 9th best penalty killing unit. Cal Thurkauf led the team in goals with 33. Kole Lind had a team high 57 assists while Lind was the scoring leader with 87 points. Nick Merkley led the team with 12 power play goals. Cal Foote had a team high +39 rating. Rodney Southam had a team leading 121 penalty minutes.
Rockets Award Winners: General Manager Bruce Hamilton has been named the Western Conference nominee for Executive of the Year. Hamilton won the award back in 1991-1992 with the Tacoma Rockets and in 2002-2003. Forward Kole Lind was named a Western Conference 2nd team all-star. At the teams annual year end awards, Calvin Thurkauf was the MVP, Cal Foote was the Top Defenceman and Nolan Foote was the Rookie of the Year. The Unsung Player of the Year was Devante Stephens while the Most Improved Player was Kole Lind. Lind had 46 more points than he had a season prior.
Reaping Reward of New Recruits: Reid Gardiner played in 28 regular season games with the Rockets after being acquired at the WHL trade deadline. The 21 year-old was held off the scoresheet just three times and collected 18+19=37 in 28 games. Carsen Twarynski, also acquired at the deadline, had 7+15=22 in 28 regular season games after his acquisition from the Calgary Hitmen. If you follow the bouncing ball, the Rockets essentially obtained Twarynski for Joe and Danny Gatenby.
That’s a fact Jack: The Rockets have generated 30 or more shots in 31 of their last 35 games….The Kelowna Rockets lost 10 of their first 21 regular season games. Since then, the team has 13 losses in the last 53 games… In the Rockets last 14 losses (regulation or overtime loss) the opposition has opened the scoring…The Rockets are 22-8-2-0 since the trade deadline….The Rockets have 6 players on their roster from the 2015 WHL championship team.
Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel of AM 1150
