Saturday, March 8, 2008

Rockets Game Notes vs. Americans

Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets and Americans are meeting for the third of just four times this season. The Rockets are 0-1-1-0 in the first two games, having been out-scored 12-6. These two teams conclude the seasonal series March 14th in Kennewick Washington. The Rockets enter tonight’s game riding a four game home ice losing streak. Over that period the Rockets have been out-scored 17-6 in those four games. The Rockets last win at home was February 16th in a 3-2 overtime victory against Edmonton. Overall the Rockets have just two wins in their last 8 games, having scored just 13 goals over that period. Following tonight’s game the Rockets are in Chilliwack tomorrow night before hosting the Bruins on Wednesday. The Rockets have just five games left in the regular season.

Seasonal Series Breakdown: The Rockets are 2 for 9 on the power play in the seasonal series (22%) while the Americans are 7 for 14 (50%) with the extra man. The Americans have out-shot the Rockets 63-55 in the first two games. Kristofer Westblom has started both games in goal, but was pulled after giving up 4 goals in a 6-1 loss in Tri City November 21st.

The Colin Long and Short of It: Rockets leading scorer Colin Long has been involved in 41 percent of the Rockets goals this season. Long has played in 156 career games and has 127 career points. Long has 95 points this season, but who was the last Rocket to record over 100 points in a season? Jesse Schultz had 104 points in the 2002-2003 season. Who was the last Kelowna Rockets center to register over 100 points? Jason Deleurme had 103 points (51+52=103) back in the 1997-98 season.

Who’s Hot-Who’s Not: Colin Long has points in 10 of his last 11 games. Long had 5+8=13 over that period. Brandon McMillan has one goal in his last 19 games and no goals in his last 14. Evan Bloodoff has not scored in 14 games. Tyson Barrie has 3+10=13 in his last 15 games. Lucas Bloodoff has points in 8 of his last 13 games (8+2=10). Myles MacRae has 3 goals in his last 20 games and just 2 goals in his last 15.

Quick Hitters: The Rockets have scored 79 power play goals, 40 more than a year ago. The Rockets have had 384 power play chances this season, second most of any team in the WHL. The Rockets are one of five teams in the Western Conference to score over 200 goals. The Eastern Conference has 8 teams with over two hundred goals scored. The Rockets have scored 231 goals this season, 75 more than a year ago. The Rockets and Giants have six shootout losses this season, tops in the Western Conference. Both Edmonton and Moose Jaw lead the league in shootout losses with seven. The Rockets are 5-9-0-1 in 15 games without Jamie Benn. When Benn scores the Rockets are 14-5-0-3. Benn's last game was January 26th against the Medicine Hat Tigers…The Rockets have scored a power play goal in 13 of their last 15 games….The Rockets have just two road wins in their last 9 games. The Rockets are (2-6-0-1) over that period…The Rockets are 6-6-0-0 in their last 12 home games…Kristofer Westblom has started five straight games, and has won 4 of his last 7 starts…The Rockets are 10-11-0-2 since the trade deadline….The Rockets have clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference for the 16th time in franchise history. The team has missed the playoffs just once in 17 years…The Rockets are 4 and 6 in the shootout this season with wins over Edmonton, Seattle and Vancouver (twice). The Rockets have lost shootout games to Kamloops (twice), Moose Jaw (twice), Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. The Rockets have been held to a single goal 5 times at home and 7 times on the road this season. The Rockets have been shutout twice this year.

Games Played Ticker:
Brady Leavold: 195 Colin Long: 156 Dylan Hood: 106 Tyler Myers: 128
Cody Almond: 155 Brandon McMillan: 121 Myles MacRae: 179
Kyle St. Denis: 63 Evan Bloodoff: 123 Tysen Dowzak: 161
Lucas Bloodoff: 134 Luke Schenn: 184 Colin Joe: 243

Rockets vs. Divisions:
vs. BC: 19-12-0-2 vs. US: 7-9-2-0 vs. Central: 4-2-0-1 vs. East: 5-3-0-2

Rockets Players by Province: BC=12 US=4 ALB=3 SASK=2 MAN=1 EURO=1 Total=23



Rockets Schedule - Next 5 Games: Rockets Results - Last 5 Games:
March 9 @ Chilliwack Rockets 3 Vancouver 2 SOW
March 12 vs. Chilliwack Rockets 2 Spokane 5 L
March 14 @ Tri City Rockets 1 Seattle 5 L
March 15 vs. PG Rockets 2 Portland 1 W
Game #1 of Playoffs Rockets 1 Vancouver 4 L

Record by Month:
Month Games Record Home Road
September: 4 1-2-1-0 0-1-1-0 1-1-0-0
October: 11 5-5-0-1 3-3-0-1 2-2-0-0
November: 13 9-2-1-1 4-1-0-0 5-1-1-1
December: 12 6-4-0-2 2-1-0-0 4-3-0-2
January: 13 10-2-0-1 8-0-0-0 2-2-0-1
February: 11 3-7-0-1 2-5-0-0 1-2-0-1
March: 9 1-2-0-0 0-1-0-0 0-2-0-0

Rockets Season Highs and Lows:
Most Goals Scored: 11 @ Prince George Jan 11/08 in an 11-1 win.
Most Goals Allowed: 9 vs. Lethbridge February 1/08 in a 9-4 loss.
Most Power Play Chances: 11 @ Chilliwack Feb 2/08 in a 6-3 loss, @ Swift Current Jan 25/08. The Rockets were 0/11, losing 4-0.
Most Power Play Goals Scored: 4 @ Cougars Jan 11/08 (11-1 W), vs. Cougars Jan 4/08 in a 6-0 win, @ PG Nov 10/07 (6-1 W)
Most Power Play Goals Allowed: 4 @ Vancouver Dec 29/07 (5-2 L), @ Everett Sept 29/07
Most Shots Taken: 41 @ Prince George Jan 12/08 (5-2 W).
Fewest Shots Taken: 9 @ Vancouver Sept 29/07 (5-0L)
Most Shot Allowed: 48 @ Vancouver Sept 30/07
Fewest Shots Allowed: 13 vs. Blazers Oct 30/07 (6-1 W)
Last Shutout: - Kristofer Westblom 22 saves vs. Cougars Jan 4/08 in a 6-0 win. Kristofer Westblom 28 saves vs. Calgary (5-0 W)
Last Time Shutout: - @ Swift Current Jan 25/08 – Guggenberger 30 saves (4-0 L)
Most Points by a Player: Jamie Benn had 2+4=6 vs. Prince George Jan 19/08.
Most Goals by a Player: Brady Leavold scored 4 goals vs. Prince George Jan 19/08.
Penalty Shots: Dylan Hood fails to score Feb 16/08 in a 3-2 shootout win vs. Edmonton. Juuso Puustinen fails to score on Torrie Jung Feb 8/08 in a Rockets 2-1 shootout loss to the Blazers. Lucas Bloodoff fails to score on Justin Leclerc in 4-3 loss to Kamloops December 28th. Torrie Jung stops Bruins forward Cody Smuk in a 4-1 win in Chilliwack Dec 31/07. Torrie Jung stops Hawks forward Luke Walker Nov 17/07 in a 4-1 win in Portland. Kristofer Westblom stops Everett’s Shane Harper in a 3-2 overtime loss Nov 16/07 in Everett. Torrie Jung stopped Michal Repik in the 3rd period of a 5-0 loss Sept 29/07.
Overtime Winning Goal: Jamie Benn scored at 4:59 December 15/07 in a 3-2 win in Saskatoon. Tyler Myers scored at 3:58 of overtime December 5/07 in a 4-3 win over Medicine Hat. Colin Long scored at :44 of overtime Nov 23/07 in a 7-6 win over Kootenay. Jamie Benn scored at 1:07 of overtime Nov 2/07 in a 3-2 win over Chilliwack.
Shootout Game Winning Goals: Colin Long scores vs. Giants Feb 24/08 in a 3-2 win. Tyson Barrie scores vs. Edmonton Feb in a 3-2 shootout win. Dylan Hood scores in a 4-3 win in Seattle October 6/07. Colin Long scored the game winner in a 2-1 win over Vancouver October 24th.

Roster Stats:
Player total: 24
Year by Year Breakdown:
20’s – 3 Westblom, McEwan, Leavold
19’s – 3 Dowzak, MacRae, Joe
18’s – 8 Long, Kytnar, L. Bloodoff, Jung, Schenn, Almond, Benn
17’s – 6 St. Denis, E. Bloodoff, McIntosh, Myers, McMillan, Hood
16’s – 4 Bowman, Barrie, Paradis, Verdino
Average Age: 17.7
Rookies – 7

NHL Draft Picks-Training Camp Attendees: Jamie Benn (Dallas 07), Torrie Jung (Tampa Bay 07), Cody Almond (Minnesota 07), Milan Kytnar (Oilers 07), Tysen Dowzak (Tryout Philadelphia).

Game Notes Compiled by Regan Bartel (AM 1150)

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