SectionNDeserter
12-17-2008, 08:32 AM
I have to admit, I wasn't at all positive going into this one, we haven't won a lot of back to back games this season, much less 3 in a row! But the boys found a way to win.
The lone goal of the game comes in the first on a comedy of mistakes by the Rockets blueline, as Bowman grabs the Rebel forward that was going to the net, and falls to the ice with him, then McMillan (who played defense last night) skated over to check Archer who was moving in with the puck, at which point McMillan tripped and fell over his own player Bowman. Archer had all the room in the world with both Rocket's defensemen on the ice, and he just roofs one on Brown.
The rest of the game was pretty much just tight checking by both teams for the most part, and some spectacular goaltending from both goaltenders, particularly Kuemper, who had to withstand a barrage of shots more than once in the 3rd.
It was my first look at Jordie Deagle. He didn't look particularly spectacular, nor did he look particularly bad. I thought he was definitely a better player when he didn't have the puck on his stick though, and he had a lot of hustle.
who/what I liked in this game;
Darcy Kuemper - Played an absolutely incredible game tonight and earned the shutout. Played the angles well, and a lot of his rebounds ended up in the corner. Also handled the puck well on a number of occasions, clearing the zone with it once.
Brett Ferguson - Played with a ton of confidence with the puck tonight, and made a handful of nice plays from behind the net in the 2nd.
Tommi Kivisto - Normally plays a simple, conservative game, but tonight I saw him move in and shoot a few times with the puck. He has the skill to pull it off, good to see!
Connor Redmond - Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! That was the sound that the Rockets heard when he was on the ice last night. He was a punishing physical presence.
Shane McColgan - WHL site has him tagged at 5'11, 170lbs. He looks to be about 5'4 and 90lbs. He is the smallest player I can remember ever seeing play in a WHL game. Don't let his size fool you though, he has some big skill. Was probably the best Rocket on the ice last night, logged a ton of ice time and even put a solid hit on big Alex Petrovic.
Adam Brown - Didn't have as many challenging saves as Kuemper, but he played well and kept his team in the game right to the very end.
who/what I didn't like in this game;
The on-ice officials and Mitchell Callahan - What exactly does this guy have to do to get a penalty after the whistle? Referee Ryan Agar appeared to make it clear that he wasn't taking any crap off of anyone last night with some of his early calls, but yet he continued to warn this guy over and over and over and over after every whistle about coming in 5 seconds after the play had stopped and punching someone a few times. One time even shoving someone right after receiving a warning. I have never seen two officials so scared of a player before.... Blackmail pictures? :D
Faceoffs - Did we win any last night? Closest I saw was when Ferguson came in and dug it out of the scrum after a faceoff and skated away with it. This team needs a good faceoff guy (or two) badly.
Tomas Polak - Made some nice moves to peel away from his checkers, only to make some horrendous plays/decisions with the puck right after.
The lone goal of the game comes in the first on a comedy of mistakes by the Rockets blueline, as Bowman grabs the Rebel forward that was going to the net, and falls to the ice with him, then McMillan (who played defense last night) skated over to check Archer who was moving in with the puck, at which point McMillan tripped and fell over his own player Bowman. Archer had all the room in the world with both Rocket's defensemen on the ice, and he just roofs one on Brown.
The rest of the game was pretty much just tight checking by both teams for the most part, and some spectacular goaltending from both goaltenders, particularly Kuemper, who had to withstand a barrage of shots more than once in the 3rd.
It was my first look at Jordie Deagle. He didn't look particularly spectacular, nor did he look particularly bad. I thought he was definitely a better player when he didn't have the puck on his stick though, and he had a lot of hustle.
who/what I liked in this game;
Darcy Kuemper - Played an absolutely incredible game tonight and earned the shutout. Played the angles well, and a lot of his rebounds ended up in the corner. Also handled the puck well on a number of occasions, clearing the zone with it once.
Brett Ferguson - Played with a ton of confidence with the puck tonight, and made a handful of nice plays from behind the net in the 2nd.
Tommi Kivisto - Normally plays a simple, conservative game, but tonight I saw him move in and shoot a few times with the puck. He has the skill to pull it off, good to see!
Connor Redmond - Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! That was the sound that the Rockets heard when he was on the ice last night. He was a punishing physical presence.
Shane McColgan - WHL site has him tagged at 5'11, 170lbs. He looks to be about 5'4 and 90lbs. He is the smallest player I can remember ever seeing play in a WHL game. Don't let his size fool you though, he has some big skill. Was probably the best Rocket on the ice last night, logged a ton of ice time and even put a solid hit on big Alex Petrovic.
Adam Brown - Didn't have as many challenging saves as Kuemper, but he played well and kept his team in the game right to the very end.
who/what I didn't like in this game;
The on-ice officials and Mitchell Callahan - What exactly does this guy have to do to get a penalty after the whistle? Referee Ryan Agar appeared to make it clear that he wasn't taking any crap off of anyone last night with some of his early calls, but yet he continued to warn this guy over and over and over and over after every whistle about coming in 5 seconds after the play had stopped and punching someone a few times. One time even shoving someone right after receiving a warning. I have never seen two officials so scared of a player before.... Blackmail pictures? :D
Faceoffs - Did we win any last night? Closest I saw was when Ferguson came in and dug it out of the scrum after a faceoff and skated away with it. This team needs a good faceoff guy (or two) badly.
Tomas Polak - Made some nice moves to peel away from his checkers, only to make some horrendous plays/decisions with the puck right after.