Getting blitzed by the Blazers

• If you want to be a good goaltender at the Western Hockey League level, a short memory is crucial. The Kamloops Blazers coaching staff can rest assure that 20 year-old netminder Jeff Bosch doesn't let past poor performances bother him. After letting in three soft goals in a 7-1 loss in Kelowna Thursday night, Bosch rebounded with a solid effort in his teams 5-1 win over the Rockets Sunday night. Bosch, who was named the games third star, was extremely good early in the game and made a spectacular right pad save on Rockets forward Max Adolph on a power play late in the game to prove the point that he wasn't rattled after being pulled after two periods at Prospera Place. While Bosch was terrific at one end, Rockets goaltender Adam Brown was only average in the teams 17th loss of the season.
• The one real bright spot for the Rockets was the play of back up goaltender Jordon Cooke who replaced Brown after the Blazers 5th goal. Cooke came into the game in a relief appearance and was razor sharp, making 18 saves. It was Cooke's first appearance since a 3-2 shootout win in Lethbridge back on December 15th.
  
• For a second straight game the Rockets appeared to miss defenceman Tyson Barrie and Mitchell Callahan. Again, defensive miscues were common place and a solid fore-check was hard to establish. Give the Blazers credit for building up a 3-0 lead after one period and never letting off the gas pedal. For the Rockets, even getting the transmission into first gear appeared to be a daunting task on this night.
  
• The Rockets again struggled on the power play, going 0 for 6. Over the last three games the Rockets have failed to score a power play goal in 17 chances.
• Rookie forward Zach Franko scored his first goal in 12 games.
  
• This game featured two fights including a tilt between 16 year-old Rockets rookie Tyrell Goulbourne and Blazers spark plug Chase Souto. Souto was involved in his 8th fighting major of the season while Goulbourne found himself in the first scrap of his major junior career. The second fight had 17 year-old's Shane McColgan trading punches with Blazers forward Colin Smith. These two players pride themselves on putting up points but decided that pummeling on each other was a better option. My concern in the McColgan fight is the fear that the Rockets leading scorer could break a hand or knuckle.
  
• Sunday's loss marked the first time since October 30th that the Rockets gave up five or more goals on the road. The Rockets gave up six in a 6-1 loss to the Portland Winterhawks.
• The Rockets played the majority if not the entire third period without forward Colton Sissons, Tyrell Goulbourne and Kevin Smith. The injuries to those three are unknown at this time but will be evaluated early next week.
• Goulbourne ended his four game stint with the team Sunday night. The likable Edmonton product will return to his midget team for the remainder of the season.
• The Kamloops Blazers are getting their fans to sell season tickets. If I understand it correctly, the organization is offering a 100 dollar bill by referring friends and family to be a season ticket holder with the team. The pitch man for the promotion on the video screen at the Interior Savings Centre was Blazers captain Chase Schaber, with a crisp 100 dollar bill in his hand.
  
• I was surprised to learn that the Blazers hockey club has essentially cut off player and coach accessibility to the Kamloops Daily News. The local newspaper was issued a letter from Blazers ownership before Christmas saying the decision was made because of negative reporting by the paper towards the hockey club. That means veteran WHL writer Gregg Drinnan is unable to obtain quotes from the hockey club and is forced to interview the opposition team instead. In a day and age where WHL teams like the Seattle Thunderbirds and Portland Winterhawks are thirsting for more media coverage, be it positive or negative, the Blazers theory is they are best served by radio, TV and the Internet.