Ho, ho, ho, Rockets face G-Men

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Like Dach, Ostapchuck was the Giants’ captain and helped Canada win its 20th gold medal at the high-profile event.

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Both Dach and Ostapchuk are 19-year-old power forwards [Dach just turned 20 on January 4th] who were chosen in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, with Ostapchuk chosen 39th by Ottawa while Dach was taken off the board at number 62.

Both were also signed players by their respective NHL teams.

Alberta-born, Ostapchuk calls Edmonton home while Dach was raised 16 kilometers north in Fort Saskatchewan.

With the teams trading captains, the Giants were first to move by naming forward Ty Thorpe [6th oldest player in WHL] as the teams 20th captain in franchise history back on January 11th.

Eight days later, the Rockets also named a replacement to Dach, choosing European forward Gabriel Szturc to wear the ‘C’ for the remainder of the season.

The similarities don’t end there, though.

Both teams enter a home and home series with one another at the Langley Events Centre, struggling.

The Kelowna Rockets have lost four straight.

The Vancouver Giants have dropped three in a row.

While the Rockets play the Giants in three of the next four games, Vancouver’s schedule has them facing the Rockets four consecutive times.

It is hard to imagine, but the way the schedule has been designed, these two BC Division rivals have played only one game against each other with two months left in the regular season. The two teams play game 68 against one another on March 25th.

In the only meeting, December 10th at the LEC, the Giants scored in overtime in a 3-2 win.

You may recall, Samuel Honzek scored the game-winning goal while the Rockets were on the power play.

In four of the Rockets last eight games in Langley, the team has been forced into overtime, winning just once.

The Giants have been to overtime a WHL high 13 times this season.

Like the Rockets, with six home ice wins and seven on the road, the Giants have struggled this season on home ice with six wins in 20 home dates, yet earning 10 road victories.

With the G-Men scoring only 53 home ice goals, only Spokane (52) and Edmonton (43) have scored fewer times.

With 53 road goals, only Edmonton (40), Victoria (45), and PA (47) have struggled more on opposition ice than the Kelowna Rockets.

The Giants are typical a slow starter, having manufactured just 28-first period goals. Only Edmonton has scored fewer in the opening 20 minutes with 25.

Both teams will have two players each participating in the NHL/CHL Top Prospects Game this Wednesday.

While Andrew Cristall and Caden Price will represent the Rockets, Samuel Honzek and Jaden Lipinski will play in front of the hometown crowd.

104-7 The Lizard has the broadcast as the Kelowna Rockets begin three games in three night’s, starting with the pre-game show at 7:05 pm and the play-by-play at 7:35 pm, or stream the game right here by clicking on the ‘Listen Live’ button at the top righthand side of the page.