By Regan Bartel

10 thoughts from last week

A letter from Lou

Dec 7, 2022 | 6:00 AM

He was known as a control freak.

It was his way or the highway.

In his first few years in the NHL, not much happened on the ice, or off it, without Lou Lamoriello knowing.

A case in point is the letter I received from him years ago about a job opening.

The 80-year-old is known for his time with the New Jersey Devils, where he spent 28 seasons before taking over the same duties with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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The long-time executive is now the general manager of the New York Islanders.

Lamoriello is old school. It is legendary.

Players, unless they’re veterans or young players just coming up for a few games, aren’t allowed to wear high numbers.

The idea is that the numbers on the back of jerseys need to be close together for unity. A high number is just too much individuality.

Facial hair and long hair are also not allowed during the regular season.

Lou’s rules reign supreme.

It has been suggested that since a Lamoriello’s team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in the salary cap era, rules like these are no longer a necessary part of a winning culture.

1. Elite Hockey’s website makes it easy for those without a mathematical mind. They look at a player’s current scoring pace, and then project or calculate those efforts over a 68-game regular season schedule. Andrew Cristall, who currently has 18 goals and leads the Kelowna Rockets with 45 points in 24 games, is projected to score 51 times this season. Who is the last Rockets player to score 50 or more goals? Justin Keller found the back of the net 51 times in the 2005-2006 season. That was 16 years ago.
2. Congratulations to former Kelowna Rockets d-man Luke Schenn for becoming the NHL all-time leader in hits. The record was set last Saturday in the Vancouver Canucks game against Arizona. Schenn has played 15 seasons in the NHL, recording 2974 hits, surpassing the old mark set by Brooks Orpik. Schenn set the record in just 888 career NHL games.
3. If you don’t listen to our 104-7 – The Lizard – pre-game shows, you should. Head Coach Kris Mallette is often informative and throws out an interesting quote every once in a while, like this one. “In the words of Ice Cube, it is going to be a good day”.  Ice Cube, an American rapper, released the tune – ‘It was a good day’ – back in 1992. Even during times of struggle, Mallette has a good sense of humour as one of the best coaches I’ve ever interviewed, and I’ve been around many. The worst? Let’s move on.
4. Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard is riding a 27-game point streak. The Kelowna Rockets franchise record for games with at least one point is held by Brett McLean. McLean, who is now an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild, had a 24-game point streak in the 1996-97 season.
5. I simply love the fact the Kelowna Rockets are playing no less than two games in the U.S when crossing the border. During a U.S Division road trip last weekend, the team played three games in three nights with stops in Spokane, Tri-City, and Everett. It is that travel schedule that gives your team a fighting chance. That said, I will be gritting my teeth when the team plays at home on December 30th before traveling through the night to Seattle (Kent) for a game on December 31st. The good news is the T-Birds, the team they face on back-to-back nights are in the same boat.
6. The Kelowna Rockets Teddy Bear Toss game is Friday at Prospera Place. The Rockets won’t have to worry about dealing with it on an Eastern Conference road trip next week. Swift Current (Scheduled Dec 10. vs. Lethbridge), Lethbridge (Promotion already completed vs. Brandon), and Medicine Hat (Promotion already completed vs. Saskatoon) will have completed the holiday hockey tradition. That said, the Vancouver Giants’ home game this Saturday against the Rockets, will see the stuffed bears raining from the stands, if, the Giants score.
7. The Rockets have a record of 8 and 1 in Ted Bear Toss games. Dillon Dube, now with the Calgary Flames, has the bragging rights of scoring the Teddy Bear Toss goal in back-to-back seasons. Andrew Cristall should have extra motivation after scoring the first goal of the game during the promotion a year ago.
8. Do you remember Tysen Dowzak?  Now 34, the former Kelowna Rockets d-man is living in Naples, Florida, where he is working as a realtor. A member of the Rockets 2009 WHL championship team, Dowzak last played in Scotland with the Dundee Stars in 2013-14. “After two compression fractures and three disk herniations, I figured it was time to move on. It gives me more time for golf”, Dowzak told RocketFAN.
9. Did you know that the WHL requires all home teams to have 30 pucks available for both teams for warm-up during the pre-game skate? Now you do.
10. New players arrive every season and with that comes new and interesting names. The same holds true for WHL officials. During Saturday night’s game in Tri-City, I was introduced to a new name involving a referee. Tatu Kunto is a 25-year-old from San Diego, California.