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| The Rockets finish up celebrating a goal Friday in Prince Albert. |
Since the
start of the 2000-01 campaign, the Rockets have been one of premier franchises
in the WHL. They’ve won the WHL title on four occasions on 2003, 2005, 2009 and
2015.
The Rockets
captured the Memorial Cup as CHL champions hosting the major junior hockey
title tournament in 2004. During that 2003-04 campaign, the Rockets topped the
WHL standings with a record of 47 wins, 21 losses and four ties.
They
advanced to the WHL Western Conference Championship series falling in a series
deciding seventh game to the expansion Everett Silvertips.
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| Captain Nolan Foote comes up big in clutch moments for the Rockets. |
The Rockets
have only missed the playoffs twice since moving from Tacoma, Wash., to Kelowna
for the start of the 1995-96 campaign.
One of
those playoff misses came last season, when the Rockets posted a 28-32-6-2
record. They played in a standings tiebreaker game to qualify for the WHL
post-season but dropped a 5-1 decision to the Kamloops Blazers in that contest.
The Rockets
will host this season’s Memorial Cup slated to run from May 22 to 31 in the new
year.
Of course,
there is always a lot of pressure for the Memorial Cup host to ice a strong
squad, so some took notice of the fact the Rockets missed the playoffs last
season.
The Rockets
started this season with a 9-8-1-1 record. They are currently riding a
three-game winning streak and have seven wins and an extra time setback over
their last eight games.
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| Former NHLer Adam Foote guides the Rockets as head coach. |
Objectively
at the moment, one would have to say the jury is still out on the Rockets, but
they have to be encouraged about the wins they piled up over their last eight
games.
They have
rediscovered an old Rockets trait in finding ways to win games. They are
starting to string together a number of gutty wins too.
At the
start of their current six-game road trip through the WHL’s East Division, the
Rockets showed how opportunistic they can be.
They won the first two games of
that swing, and they were outplayed in both of those contests.
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| Kaedan Korczak stars on the Rockets back end. |
On Friday
night in Prince Albert, the host Raiders, who are the defending WHL champions,
and Rockets were locked in a 1-1 draw going into the final 10 minutes of the
third period.
The Rockets
got some breaks on the penalty call front and found themselves scoring the
winning goal on a two-man advantage with captain Nolan Foote netting the
deciding goal in a 2-1 victory.
On Saturday
in Saskatoon, the host Blades led the Rockets 3-2 with three minutes remaining
in the third. Foote fired a shot on goal, and his follow through clipped Blades
overage defenceman Scott Walford.
Walford
went down in a heap between the two faceoff circles and visible blood came down
on to the ice. The officials elected to let play continue, and Foote set up
Trevor Wong for the equalizer that forced a 3-3 tie with 2:52 remaining in the
third.
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| Matthew Wedman was a big trade pick up for the Rockets. |
Foote is
legit good, and he will attend the main selection camp for Canada’s world
junior team that starts today in Oakville, Ont.
Yorkton,
Sask., product Kaedan Korczak is a great all-around star defenceman, who is
showing every night why he was selected in the second round and 41st
overall in last June’s NHL Entry Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights. He has
appeared in all of the Rockets 27 regular season games posting three goals, 19
assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department.
Overage
power forward Matthew Wedman gives the Rockets a much needed a shot of
toughness, which goes along with his skill. He arrived in a trade last Thursday with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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| Centre Jadon Joseph provides the Rockets with grit. |
The Rockets
are down some key players too. Czech import forward Pavel Novak sat out the
Rockets last eight games due to a league imposed suspension.
Novak
received the suspension for taking a checking from behind major penalty and a
game misconduct during a Rockets 5-2 setback to the Blazers in Kamloops on Nov.
11. He drove Blazers forward Kyrell Sopotyk from behind into the boards, and
Sopotyk isn’t expected to return action until after Christmas with a separated
shoulder.
Novak is
slated to return to the Rockets next game on Tuesday against the Wheat Kings in
Brandon.
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| Roman Basran is rounding into a star goalie. |
Dillon
Hamaliuk missed the Rockets last two game due to illness.
All four of
those players are key contributors to the Rockets offence.
While the
Rockets are stringing together gutty wins right now, they have the potential to
win in a more convincing style.
Former NHL
star defensive defenceman Adam Foote is showing to be the right fit as the
Rockets head coach coming on board with the team on Oct. 23, 2018. Nolan Foote
is the head coach’s son.
Bruce
Hamilton, the Rockets general manager, president, governor and owner, is likely
eyeing up some moves to strengthen his team.
Hamilton
has built a cult like sense of belonging with the Rockets, and he can be often
seen bringing alums down to the dressing room to see the current team on road
trips.
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| As Memorial Cup hosts, the Rockets want to keep their recent roll going. |
The Rockets
did a phenomenal job hosting the Memorial Cup in 2004, and it wouldn’t be a
surprise to see them duplicate that this coming May.
While the
Rockets have had a good run in their last eight games, they still haven’t
reached their potential of just winning games in gutty fashion. Considering the
team’s pedigree, you have to expect they will get there.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
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