Sunday, February 3, 2013

40 never looked so good

  • The Kelowna Rockets hit the 40 win plateau Saturday night with a 5-0 shutout win over the Vancouver Giants. It marked the 9th time in Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets franchise history that the team accomplished the feat. The 40 wins is only bettered by the Portland Winterhawks who have enjoyed 43 wins this season. 
  • Myles Bell and Colton Sissons each had three point efforts in the teams 23rd consecutive win at Prospera Place. Bell had two goals and an assist while Sissons chipped in with three assists. Sissons ran his point streak to 11 games and has points in 24 of his last 25 games. It was Bell's 8th - two goal game this season.
  • Jordon Cooke earned the win and shutout with a 22 save performance. Cooke now has 5 shutouts this season, which is one off the league lead. Cooke leads the WHL in wins with 29.
  • The Rockets scored two shorthanded goals. Dylen McKinlay scored his team leading 5th of the season and then MacKenzie Johnston surprised everyone in the building by winning a puck just outside the blue line, skated in and somehow put the puck past Giants goaltender Payton Lee. It looked like Johnston fanned on the shot before it went through Lee's legs, but it was nice to see the defensive defenceman get a goal like that. (Listen to the audio above of Johnston's surprising goal)
  • Just one fight last night but it was a long one between Rockets forward Tyrell Goulbourne and Giants d-man Arvin Atwal. It lasted about a minute as the two struggled to throw punched. Goulbourne was clearly the aggressor but Atwal surprised me with his ability to dodge punches and throw a few of his own. 
  • In case you were wondering, the Rockets just ended a stretch of playing 7 games in 10 nights. This broadcasters throat was feeling it.     
  • The best Vancouver Giants player - in my opinion - over the last two nights is defenceman Reid Zalitach. Zalitach is only 16 but moves the puck well and has a bright future in this league. He will take his licks this season but watch for Zalitach to develop into a real good player down the road.
  • The fans deserve a lot of credit for eagerly participating in the game. Each seat had a noise maker on it and the crowd was willing to use it repeatedly during stoppages of play. By keeping rhythm with the music during stoppages, Prospera Place came alive with the sounds that should resonate from an arena where wins are common place and losses are few are far between.

3 comments:

g.k said...

Hey Regan can you update the injuries to Lees & Rigby, hopefully they can get back in the lineup by the weekend, I think we really missed them out there last night, even though the young guys that filled in did a great job, but against Portland we will need all hands on deck!! Also would be nice to see Wheaton back there, his size sure is missed!! I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the building last night, the fans were loud & it was a fun environment. Go Rockets!!

jaz301 said...

I have not commented much lately on here because really what can you say about this team without sounding like a broken record player? Everything there is to say has been said. This team is unbelievably good. Just look at the stats. 23 straight home wins, Current streak is 17-0-2-0, Overall record 40-10-3-1, rated 4th best team in CHL out of 60. Cooke has the most wins in league, Myles bell is 5th in points and so on.

I am really looking forward to next weekend. Been anticipating it for the past month or so now and with the home streak on the line makes it all that more interesting. These two games will be the biggest challenge for the rockets this season. There is so much on the line (standings wise). Kelowna could potentially even pass Portland for first place. I hope the fans come out because both these games should be sellouts.

Regan Bartel said...

Lees is out with a lower body injury. Rigby isn't out with anything. Health scratch.