Welcome to Kent

• A cloudy, rainy day in Kent as the Rockets' prepare to open a U.S Division road trip tonight against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The T-Birds have made a few changes since we saw them a couple of weeks ago. Mitch Spooner was acquired from Regina while picking up d-man Ryan Botton from the Prince Albert Raiders. It was a clear indication the T-Birds were not happy with their blue line.
  
• The T-Birds have four players on NHL Central Scouting's list of the top players eligible for this upcoming draft. What is amazing is three of them are ahead of Rockets forward Shane McColgan.
• The Rockets should get some quality scoring chances tonight against the T-Birds. Seattle goaltender Calvin Pickard see's a lot of pucks. Pickard has made the most saves of any goaltender in the WHL. While Pickard has played five more games than Rockets number one goaltender Adam Brown, Pickard has made 576 more saves.
• T-Birds forward Burke Gallimore is tied for the league lead in power play goals with 16. Gallimore has been great in January with six goals and 14 points.
  
• Does 17 year-old Rockets forward Jesse Astles fight T-Birds tough guy Jake Doty tonight? Doty has 19 fighting majors this season. It could be a busy weekend for Astles, who faces Spokane's Darren Kramer tomorrow night. Kramer is the WHL penalty minutes leader.
• We are on the air at 7:05 tonight from the ShoWare Center. Colour analyst Gord McGarva is on the trip and will speak with Rockets athletic therapist Jeff Thorburn in the first intermission.