Photo credit: RocketFAN
Quotes, notes and anecdotes
Things that make me go hmm….
Feb 7, 2024 | 8:00 AM
- Let me introduce you to Jan Vandervort. I met the about-to-turn 79-year-old at Veterans Memorial Coliseum two years ago and chatted with her this past week when the Kelowna Rockets visited the Portland Winterhawks both Wednesday and Friday for two games. Vandervort is a longtime Hawks season ticket holder, telling RocketFAN she has missed just 15 home games in the last 44 years. “I just love the entertainment,” she said. Vandervort is an interesting woman, arriving at the arena with her husband well over two hours before game time, where she sits in her season ticket seats, biding her time by reading an interesting novel until the pre-game warmups for both teams start. Using a wheelchair to get around, she arrives well in advance to avoid the crowds. Holding three season tickets since 1986, one of each for herself, her husband and the middle seat for her jacket and purse, Vandervort has billeted several Winterhawk players in the past. That list includes Byron Dafoe, Travis Green, and Joaquin Gage. She told us only one rule applied when she billeted players. “They couldn’t invite guests unannounced,” she said. “I needed to know in advance who was coming over for supper and then I could prepare for them.” Vandervort is just one of the lovely opposition fans I’ve met over my time visiting the U.S. Division.
- D-man Caden Price is on the cusp of recording his 100th point in the WHL. Entering action tonight against Victoria with 99 points in 155 career games, it is a matter of if, not when, the likable 18-year-old reaches that milestone. “A lot of credit goes to my teammates and the organization I am playing for, and the opportunity I’ve had here,” Price told RocketFAN. “I played forward pretty much up until bantam, so I liked scoring goals. In my bantam draft year, I had a good year, especially offensively. It is just over my time in junior that I have dialed-in the defensive side of my game.” A second-round draft pick of the Rockets in 2020, and chosen 30th overall, Price earned his first point, an assist, and first goal, a night later against the Victoria Royals in October of 2021. Who is the last Rockets defender to earn 100 points on the blueline? Jake Lee had 120 points in 277 games, earning that 100th career point on January 8, 2022, in a home game against Portland.
- Of the five teams in the BC Division, the Vancouver Giants earned the most points in January. The G-Men had 15, while Prince George was a close second with 14. Kelowna and Victoria had 11 points apiece while Kamloops had 8.
- How would you like to celebrate your birthday, not once, but twice in Spokane? Kelowna Rockets forward Andrew Cristall, who turned 19 years old on Sunday, spent the day blowing out candles in an eventual 8-5 road loss. Cristall also celebrated his 17-year-old birthday in Spokane, but with a 4-1 win over the Chiefs.
- Last week, we approached second-year defenseman Marek Rocak and asked if he would be interested in being interviewed by RocketFAN. Joining the team from Czechia after the Christmas break last year, the now 18-year-old looked a little overwhelmed at the time with the language and cultural change, so we wanted to step gently and give him his space. A season later, and far more outgoing, he agreed to our request this week, and it was nothing short of wonderful. “I think I have better English since I have come here,” he said honestly. “It still isn’t great. I am still learning. We learn [English] from age eight in Czechia, so it is pretty easy for us.” As a big soccer fan, we asked him about his favorite team and his favourite player. “Athletic Club Sparta Prague,” he said with a glimmer in his eyes. “I love that team. My grandpa was a big fan. My dad, my brother, we are all big fans. I also like Real Madrid from Spain,” he added. “Who is the best soccer player in the world? There is just one option, Cristiano Ronaldo. My teammates say, no, no Messi is way better, but they are just trying to piss me off.” We so love that honest comment and it sounds even better when you hear the audio version, which you can hear tonight in the first intermission on our 104.7 The Lizard broadcast.
- We are embarrassed to admit we learned this piece of data from another media source about Rockets rookie Horoki Gojsic. The 17-year-old has scored 13 goals this season. That we knew! Of those 13 goals, 10 have been scored on the road. We didn’t know that. The latest road goal outburst came Sunday afternoon with a three-goal effort against Spokane in an 8-5 loss. Tij Iginla leads the team with 13 road goals, Gojsic has 10 and Andrew Cristall has nine.
- Is it the self-absorbed world we live in where you take a selfie of yourself, post it on social media and say, ‘This is what (insert your age) looks like’ in an effort to get Happy Birthday greetings from perfect strangers? Is it? Ok, just checking.
- RocketFAN had to address an incident Friday night when veteran goaltender Jari Kykkanen was pulled after giving up seven goals on 25 shots, in an eventual 11-1 loss to the Winterhawks. Kykkanen was not happy. We assume the 19-year-old was sour with being pulled so late before Jake Pilon was inserted into the game in the second period. We asked head coach Kris Mallette about why Kykkanen was kept in the game for so long. “I believe in Jari Kykkanen,” Mallette said stone faced. “I believe with him in the net, despite the score, he gave us the best chance to come back in the game.” We think this needs to be pointed out, as fans make comments on social media that simply are not accurate. One included a few weeks ago when Kykkanen celebrated with great exuberance at CN Centre after an impressive win in Prince George. It was suggested that Mallette was not impressed with that explosion of emotion and didn’t play Kykkanen because of it. That is such an inaccurate take, its laughable. Please don’t make things up. Maybe ask us first here on RocketFAN rather than throwing your so-called ‘hot take’ out there and reacting and reading the entire situation wrong. Again, we are not scared to ask the tough questions for you. Rant over.
- Rockets forward Max Graham is leading the team in penalty minutes with 93. The power-forward is second in the WHL in minutes served, only behind rookie Aiden Foster of the Prince George Cougars. Remember the days when over 300 minutes would be needed to be spent in the ‘sin-bin’ to be the penalty minutes leader? The last time that happened was when Darren Kramer had 306 pims in the 2010-2011 season.
- Who was the last Rockets player to lead the WHL in penalty minutes? It was Nick Marach, acquired from Vancouver, who earned 179 minutes in the 2001-2002 season. It is hard to believe, but as tough as Tyrell Goulbourne was in his time in Kelowna, his career high for penalty minutes in one season was just 135. That placed ‘Goulby’ 11th in the league that season.
- Remember the days when players just wanted to make it to the WHL, which was the pinnacle of the mountain they wanted to climb in their hockey careers? Sure, some had NHL aspirations, but they were content with playing in the best junior league in the world. What changed? When did the ‘if I don’t play or get my way I am going to leave and take my toys with me’ attitude? This may be a broad brush here, but I came from an average to below-average family when it came to wealth. It was a humble beginning, where playing in the WHL, if I had the natural ability, would have been like winning the lottery. With the wealthy and now famous playing the game, maybe that is where the entitled attitude started.
- Remember Leif Mattson? He came to mind Sunday when the Rockets visited the Spokane Chiefs. Mattison was traded to the Chiefs in his 20-year-old season when the team was formulating its roster for the 2020 Memorial Cup. Mattison set a franchise record with the Quad City Storm last week. Mattson scored goals in five straight games. Quad City plays in the S-P-H-L, an independent pro league that formed back in 2004. Mattson was a pretty good player at the WHL level. He was a three-time 20+ goal scorer and had seasons of 60, 63, and 57 points. That’s a nice injection of offense for a player chosen in the 8th round of the prospects draft by Brandon in 2014.
- It was two years ago – Tuesday – that Chicago Blackhawks rookie Conner Bedard scored an amazing between-the-legs goal as a member of the Regina Pats against the Calgary Hitmen. The play was shown across all social media platforms and will go down as arguably one of the best goals he scored at the junior level. The d-man turned inside out on that goal was Matthew Sutter, who played just 49 games in the WHL and may be playing hockey at NAIT.
- At 1573 words, it is time to shut the barn doors for another week. Oh, do you laugh as hard as I do when you get Siri in your vehicle to send a text message to someone, and she dictates back to you with a swear word included before you say, ‘send’? It makes me chuckle every time. Chat with you on 104.7 The Lizard tonight at 6:35 pm.
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