GAME DAY: Rockets-Giants Close Regular Season
(Photo: Derek Cain)
Tickets Available: selectyourtickets.com
Rockets vs. Giants
Saturday March 15, 2014
Game Time – 7:05 pm
Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets wrap up the regular season schedule tonight with a home game against the visiting Vancouver Giants. These two teams exploded for 11 goals last night in Vancouver with the Rockets holding on for a 6-5 win. Justin Kirkland and Madison Bowey each scored twice while Myles Bell had a goal and two assists in the franchise record setting 56th win of the season. The Rockets are 6-1-0-0 in the seasonal series against the G-Men with six of the seven games decided by two goals or less. The Rockets have won thirteen of their last sixteen games overall. The Rockets open the playoffs one week from tonight at home against the Tri City Americans. This is the teams 4th game in five nights.
Bowey One-Up’s Barrie: Captain Madison Bowey set a new franchise record for goals by a defenceman in a season. Bowey scored his 19th and 20th goals last night becoming the first Kelowna Rockets d-man to hit the 20 goal plateau. The old mark was 19 goals set by Tyson Barrie.
Who’s Hot: Nick Merkley has points in eleven of his last 14 games. Merkley has 11+5=16 over that period. Marek Tvrdon has 20 points in his last 17 games (7+13=20). Damon Severson has points in thirteen of his last 19 games…Myles Bell has points in 8 of his last 12 games. The 20 year-old has 4+7=11 over that period….The Rockets are 47-6-0-4 in their last 57 home games dating back to last season. Rourke Chartier has 4+8=12 in his last 11 games…Chartier has 35 points in his last 35 games.
Better than before: Several players are enjoying career seasons. Madison Bowey has 29 more points than he had last season. Bowey has 8 more goals and 21 more assists…Damon Severson has 60 points, 8 more than a season prior. Severson has 15+45=60…Rourke Chartier has 25 more points than a year ago. Chartier has scored 10 more goals and 16 more assists than in 2012-2013…Tyrell Goulbourne has 9 more points than last season including three more goals.
This and That: The Rockets tied the league record for wins on the road (29) in last night’s 6-5 win in Vancouver. The 29 wins matches the record set by the Portland Winterhawks last season….The Rockets have claimed the WHL regular season title in 2013, 2003 and 2002…The Rockets will face the Tri City Americans in round one of the WHL playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history. Game one is Saturday March 22nd at Prospera Place…For the first time in franchise history the Kelowna Rockets are enjoying back-to-back 50 wins seasons….Myles Bell became the first player since Geordie Wudrick to score 40 or more goals in a season. Wudrick had 43 in 2010-2011….The Rockets had eight more wins on the road than the 21 they had all of last season…Of Myles Bell’s 42 goals this season, 23 have been scored on the road with 19 coming on home ice…The Rockets are 11-6-0-0 in their last 16 road games…The Rockets are 9-2-0-2 in their last 13 home games…The Rockets are 23-6-0-2 since the WHL trade deadline.…The Rockets have been involved in 11-one goal games on home ice this season…Cole Martin is +108 over the last two seasons…The Rockets have scored six or more goals twelve times on home ice this season… The Rockets are 18-4-0-0 in the second game when facing back-to-back scenarios this season….The team has been rated as the best team in the CHL according to the Top 10 junior rankings for an 11th consecutive week….After losing two of his first three games, Jackson Whistle has won 17 of his last 19 games…The Rockets have played in 9 shootout games this season and are 5 and 4. Four of the five shootout wins have come on the road in Tri City, Victoria, Prince George and Seattle…Jordon Cooke is 45-7-0-3 at home in last 55 starts at home dating back to last season…The Rockets scored 4 or more goals in 26 of their 36 road games this season…In 9 of the Rockets 11 regulation losses this season, leading scorer Myles Bell has failed to score…Bell is tied for the league lead in game winning goals with 9….Cole Martin turns 20 today. Ryan Olsen will turn 20 on March 25th….Nick Merkley is one goal shy of Shane McColgan’s record of 25 goals scored by a 16 year-old rookie.
