GAME DAY: Rockets Close out Trip in Kootenay
Rockets @ Ice
Saturday January 31, 2015
Game Time ‑ 7:00 pm
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets wrap up a four game in five night road trip this evening against the Kootenay Ice. This is the one and only meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rockets are 2-0-0-1 in the first three games of the trip after a 4-3 shootout win in Red Deer (Tuesday), a 2-1 shootout loss in Edmonton (Wednesday) and a 6-3 win in Lethbridge (last night). In last night’s win, Leon Draisaitl and Gage Quinney each scored twice in the three goal win. Justin Kirkland had 1+2=3 while Madison Bowey also scored in the team’s 38th win of the season. Rookie Michael Herringer made 22 saves, improving to 5-0-0-0 on the season. The Rockets were 1 for 4 on the power play while delivering 51 shots at the Hurricanes net. Following tonight’s tilt, the Rockets are home to the Kamloops Blazers on Friday February 6th.
Broadcasters Notes: Gage Quinney had two goals in Lethbridge as a member of the Prince Albert Raiders earlier this season…Leon Draisaitl has just one career three goal game over his WHL career….Gage Quinney’s two goals last night in Lethbridge snapped an eight game goal scoring drought…Madison Bowey has five goals in his last eight games…Ten of Bowey’s thirteen goals this season have been scored on home ice….Tyrell Goulbourne has 17 goals this season. Nine of those 17 goals have been scored in four games…Madison Bowey and Josh Morrissey have been paired together in just one of eight games since they rejoined the team from the World Junior Hockey Championships.
This and That: The Rockets have been held to just one goal four times this season. Edmonton (road), Calgary (road) Regina (home) and Prince Albert (home) have turned the trick against the highest scoring team in the Western Conference…The Kelowna Rockets have scored the most goals on the road (115) in the WHL this season. That is an average of 4.36 goals per game on opposition ice…The Rockets are still on pace to set a new WHL record for wins on the road in one season. To set a new record (the record is 29 set by Kelowna/Portland) the Rockets must win 8 of their final 10 road games…The Rockets are again rated as the 2nd best team according to this week’s CHL Top 10 junior rankings….The Rockets have lost only twice in regulation time on the road this season. Those two losses came in Tri City and Calgary…The Rockets have points in 7 straight road games (6-0-0-1)….The Rockets are 50-9-2-1 on opposition ice in the last two seasons….The Rockets have 22 games left in the regular season. Of those 22, ten will be played on the road with twelve on home ice…The Rockets have a league high 21 road wins this season…Justin Kirkland set a new career high with his 18th goal of the season last night in Lethbridge…The Rockets played 11 games without Madison Bowey and Josh Morrissey. The Rockets were 9-2-0-0 in those 11 games.…The Rockets have played in 13-one goal games this season….The Rockets have not been shut-out in 126 consecutive games. The last time the Rockets were held without a goal was March 3, 2013 in a 3-0 loss in Kamloops…Tyrell Goulbourne was named the WHL Player of the Week. Goulbourne tallied seven points (3+4=7) in just two games last weekend, leading the Rockets to two victories over the visiting Everett Silvertips.
Rockets catch eye of NHLCSS: Three members of the Kelowna Rockets made the mid-term rankings for NHL’s Central Scouting Service. Nick Merkley is rated 13th, Devante Stephens is ranked 108th and 17 year-old defenceman Joe Gatenby is 134th among North American skaters. Stephens makes his first appearance on the list after failing to catch the eye of Central Scouting in the preliminary rankings. The 2015 draft will be held June 26-27 at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
Who’s Hot: Madison Bowey has 5+4=9 in his last 8 games…Leon Draisaitl has points in eight of his last ten games. The 19 year-old is 6+9=15 in those ten games…Tyson Baillie has 9+8=17 in his last 16 games….Rourke Chartier has 8+8=16 in his last 13 games…Chartier has points in 17 of his last 21 games…Cole Martin has 15 assists in his last 18 games…Justin Kirkland has 9+13=22 in his last 17 games…Rourke Chartier has 16 more goals (40) than he had all of last season. Chartier has goals in 22 of his last 32 games….Nick Merkley has 6+8=14 in January…Rourke Chartier has 5+8=13 in January…Tyson Baillie has 6+6=12 in January…Rookie goalie Jake Morrissey hasn’t allowed more than two goals per game in all seven appearances this season.
Three Star Balloting: *Other first star winners are: Leon Draisaitl (three), Tyrell Goulbourne (twice) and Cole Martin.
Player: 1st Star 2nd Star 3rd Star Total
Rourke Chartier: 6 6 2 14
Jackson Whistle: 7 4 2 13
Nick Merkley: 5 2 5 12
Tyson Baillie: 2 5 3 10
Madison Bowey: 2 2 3 7
Walking wounded:
Tanner Wishnowski: missed 50 games Mitch Wheaton: missed 46 games
Dillon Dube: missed 25 games Joe Gatenby: missed 7 games
Jake Morrissey: missed 6 games. Justin Kirkland: missed 6 games
Cole Martin: missed 1 game Rourke Chartier: missed 1 game.
Total # of games = 167 man games lost to injury and includes departed players. (Unofficial)
