Pregame show on The Zone in Victoria @ 91.3 FM or online at www.thezone.fm
It’s the 4th of 8 season meetings with the Rockets leading the series 2-1. Most recently a 4-2 loss last Wednesday in Kelowna. The Royals outshot the Rockets 32-25 that night, but surrendered 3 power play goals while striking out on their 9 nine chances.
Victoria is coming off a 5-2 win over the visiting Tri City Americans Saturday, picking up 3 of a possible 4 points in the 2 game set after falling 3-2 in overtime the night before.
The 6th place Royals move to within 4 points of the 5th place Americans. Victoria has 3 wins since the break, and points in 4 of their last 5. They’ve hit the 20 win mark at game 38, last year 20 wins came by game 62.
Kelowna ranked 5th in the CHL, returns home from Prince George after sweeping the 2 game set by 4-2 and 8-4 scores Friday and Saturday. They’ve won 15 straight at home and have only 2 losses in their last 19 games. Overall their home record is (16-2), outscoring the opposition 88-34 in that span with their only 2 losses coming to Spokane and Kamloops.
With 60 points, the Rockets have moved into a tie for 2nd in the West with the Blazers, and have a game in hand.
Victoria made a trade Tuesday, sending 19yr old defenseman Jesse Zgraggen to Calgary for a 4th round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
The Royals welcome the return of defenseman Joe Hicketts and Ryan Gagnon who were away at the U-17 tournament in Quebec where they finished 5th. Victoria will still be without F Ben Walker (Upper, 1-2 weeks), F Logan Nelson (Lower, 3-5 weeks), and F Luke Harrison (Upper, indefinite).
After Kelowna, Victoria plays in Everett Friday and Seattle Saturday before returning home for a pair against Kamloops.
How the 2 teams match up
Kelowna
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Victoria
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| Team Record | 29-10-1-1 -- 60 points | 20-15-1-2 -- 43 points |
| Division Ranking | 1st B.C. | 3rd B.C. |
| Conference Ranking | 2nd Western | 6th Western |
| League Ranking | 2nd | 11th |
| Past 10 Games | 9-1-0-0 | 5-3-1-1 |
| Streak | 6-0-0-0 | 1-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 8-4 W @ Prince George (Jan 5 2013) Final | 5-2 W vs Tri-City (Jan 5 2013) Final |
| Home Record | 16-2-0-0 | 13-5-1-1 |
| Away Record | 13-8-1-1 | 7-10-0-1 |
| GF | 176 | 115 |
| GA | 102 | 122 |
| PP (Overall) | (36/163) 22.1 | (33/181) 18.2 |
| PP (Home) | (17/66) 25.8 | (15/91) 16.5 |
| PP (Away) | (19/97) 19.6 | (18/90) 20.0 |
| PK (Overall) | (30/198) 84.8 | (36/173) 79.2 |
| PK (Home) | (7/81) 91.4 | (16/80) 80.0 |
| PK (Away) | (23/117) 80.3 | (20/93) 78.5 |
| Leading Rookie | Chartier (9-9-18) | Hicketts (1-8-9) |
| Most PIM | Goulbourne - 73 | Kanzig - 84 |
| Team PIM/GM | 16.2/Game | 20.2/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Bell (26-33-59) | Gogolev (13-27-40) |
| Franko (17-32-49) | Magee (16-15-31) | |
| McKinlay (13-25-38) | Nelson (8-23-31) | |
| Olsen (18-17-35) | Crooks (18-12-30) | |
| Sissons (14-18-32) | Walker (13-17-30) | |
| Last 5 Games | 8-4 W @ Prince George (Jan 5 2013) Final | 5-2 W vs Tri-City (Jan 5 2013) Final |
| 4-2 W @ Prince George (Jan 4 2013) Final | 3-2 L vs Tri-City (Jan 4 2013) Final OT | |
| 4-2 W vs Victoria (Jan 2 2013) Final | 4-2 L @ Kelowna (Jan 2 2013) Final | |
| 5-1 W vs Everett (Dec 30 2012) Final | 4-3 W vs Prince George (Dec 29 2012) Final SO | |
| 5-3 W @ Vancouver (Dec 28 2012) Final | 5-1 W vs Prince George (Dec 28 2012) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 22-3-0-0 | 10-3-0-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 25-4-0-0 | 11-0-0-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 5-3-1-0 | 6-3-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 2-1-0-0 | 2-1-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-4-0-1 | 4-9-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-5-1-1 | 7-14-0-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 21-5-1-1 | 9-4-0-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 7-5-0-0 | 9-11-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 5-5-1-1 | 11-2-1-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 8-3-0-0 | 4-3-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 5-1-0-0 | 2-7-0-0 |
