My take on the first two games

• The Rockets have scored six goals in the first two games of their playoff series with the Tri City Americans, after a 5-3 loss in game one and a 3-2 win in game two. The Rockets scored just six goals in four games against the Americans during the regular season.
• Take note. When the whistle blows, rarely do the Americans get involved in pushing and shoving after the play. We have seen little extra curricular activities once the whistle blows and the Rockets have caught on early. Americans coach Jim Hiller says he wants to see his team play hard, but when the whistles blows, things screech to a halt. Man do they. The Americans are the best in the league at it.
• Drew Owsley. The Americans goaltender does not like to play the puck. In fact, has he played the puck even once in this series? A non-puck handling goaltender, unlike Mark Guggenberger, makes it extremely tough on your defenceman, who need to come back and retrieve pucks and often times pay the price by being hit by an opposing forward.
• The Rockets top two forwards in terms of work ethic in the first two games without question is Lucus Bloodoff and Brandon McMillan. These two veteran players want it. Sure, both have two goals in this series, but they are hard to play against. They are as committed to the defensive side of the game as they are to the offensive side. They are fun to watch because of the intensity they bring and the willingness to win puck battles.
• Officiating. Whistle happy referee's are the worst. I applaud the officiating crews in games one and two for not getting involved. Sure, soft infractions have been overlooked, but the games are being decided by the two teams, not with the help of an official that wants to get every ones attention. STAY OUT OF IT. Do you notice that when the referee's are good, the linesman are often bad? Can't we have everyone on the same page for once!
• While the Rockets have been out-shot in both games, those numbers don't concern me at all. The Rockets are creating enough quality chances in the offensive zone five-on-five. Those shot totals would be higher if the Rockets were granted more power plays, but the Americans just don't take dumb penalties. They don't take the lazy ones, so the penalties the Rockets create will have to be earned. My concern would be high shot totals and struggles around the net. The problem often doesn't get better, it becomes worse.
• He sure looks good at practice. Cody Chikie is waiting for the doctors ok to be injected back into the lineup. An x-ray early this week should give him to the go ahead to re-join his teammates in either game three or four. But where does he play? Limited ice time will obviously be part of the process as he gets back up to speed.
• I spoke with Americans defenceman Riley McIntosh before game two. Always a smile on his face, McIntosh has not played a single playoff game after being edged out as a top six defenceman. I will admit to having a soft heart for a player who is now 19, isn't playing, and will be hard pressed to play as a 20 year-old with the Americans next season. When I think of McIntosh as a member of the Rockets, the one image that comes to mind is his 6 foot 5 frame sitting on the bus beside 6 foot 7 inch Tyler Myers. When they were rookies, McIntosh and Myers were inseparable. They would sit with each other on the bus and would often be seen sleeping in the same position. Two big, lanky kids, enjoying each others company while traveling across Western Canada. How times have changed. One is now flying around the country on a charter aircraft (Myers) making big money, while the other (McIntosh) likely has two seats at the back of the Americans bus to stretch out.
• Gord McGarva and I were treated tremendously by the Americans organization over the first two games. This organization has a small market feel to it, yet they produce big time results. General Manager Bob Tory is the reason why this organization is so well respected across the league. Sure the winning record is vital, but the way the day-to-day operations are handled gives it a family feel. That's the vibe I get as an outsider.
• I appreciate the Tri City fans that have stopped by this blog over the last couple of days. For those that leave comments, I may not agree at times, but I respect your opinion. If I didn't, I wouldn't post them. It's not a matter of who's right or wrong on a particular issue, but the dialogue between fans is always healthy. I count this as a privilege to be chatting about our teams at this time of the season because were are fortunate to be watching playoff hockey. I hope you feel the same.