Game played on 11/13/2024.
General Game Notes: The hometown Rockets struggled mightily for two periods as they lost the majority of puck races and battles and fell behind 3-1 after two periods. Two early third period penalties proved costly for the Thunderbirds as the Rockets powerplay twice cashed in tieing the game seven minutes into the period. The home team kept up the momentum as Jakub Stancl scored twice more to seal the 5-3 victory.
Tij Iginla (C, L, 6’0″, 186, Kelowna Rockets, 08/01/2006)
Grade: A-
Comments: Iginla is a great competitor with a high end multi faceted game. He is an excellent skater with high end puck skills and a pro release. He is a handful on the attack as he gains speed through the neutral and backed defensemen off the entire game and would either dish the puck with either a flat or sauce pass. If it was a one on one he will attack the defensmen’s triangle or just take him wide and cut hard to the middle, both being very effective with his speed and strong crossover ability. His strong skating base and manouverability were constantly on display along the boards. When coupled with superior puck protecting skills and at the same time looking to where teammates are, he would either chip the puck to them then get open for the return pass or attack the seams and be very difficult for the defenders to handle. An area for continued work is identifying on the backcheck and entering the defensive zone and stopping and not circling.
Vanek Popil (D, R, 6’1″, 178, Seattle Thunderbirds, 05/14/2008)
Grade: B
Comments: Popil is a young player (08) that has a very good all round skill set. He is a very good skater that is mobile, has nice hands, is very calm and composed allowing him to make plays on a consistent basis. He demonstrated this on several occasions as he goes back quickly for pucks, shoulder checks, draws the forechecker then executes the reverse to his partner or, would wheel and fire a hard flat pass to his waiting winger. His partner also reversed to him several time which would indicate he is communicating with him. He also shows very good net-front skills as he always has two hands allowing him to get under opponents sticks and box out.
Colton Gerrior (C, R, 6’2″, 200, Seattle Thunderbirds, 10/07/2008)
Grade: B
Comments: Gerrior is a promising young player (08) that is not eligible until 2027. He has a nice combination of a big frame, a very good skater and he works hard. He uses his size and speed effectively getting in quickly on the defense and finishing on the body. He also makes use of a very good stick on puck in the process. On the defensive zone down low coverage he demonstrated excellent support of his defense, then poise with the puck chipping it by an opponent behind his net, accelerating and creating space then moving it up quickly to his teammate on the wall. The result of his great work in the defensive zone was a quick attack, scoring opportunity on the Kelowna goal. That being said, there are times in the defensive zone where he needs to make reads on his job on switch offs. His poise is also shown in the offensive zone as he is confident holding the puck to make a play and not just throwing it away.
Tai Riley (D, L, 5’8″, 188, Seattle Thunderbirds, 09/23/2007)
Grade: B
Comments: Riley is a small but stocky defensemen that brings a steady presence and a lot of positives to his team. Not only does he have the skills to play in the league but he has bite to his game and plays bigger than his 5’8′ stature. He skates very well and is mobile allowing him gap up in the neutral zone quite effectively. He finished his checks hard all the time and it did not matter how big they were. He works hard to box out and would often times begin the box out early so that players could not get to net. He also did not hesitate to push back with his netfront battles as needed. His uses his combination of good puck skills and skating to walk the line and move pucks tape to tape effectively. This effort is rewarded with 19 plus minutes on ice per game and he wins 57% of his battles. He’s counted on both power play two and penalty kill unit two.
Kaleb Hartmann (D, L, 6’0″, 185, Seattle Thunderbirds, 06/06/2007)
Grade: B+
Comments: Hartman is a very reliable steady player on the backend that simply makes plays. He is not flashy or overly big at 6′ but has very good skating and puck handling skills allowing him to help keep his team moving forward. These puck skills and on ice vision were on full display as he made a very skilled backhand ‘bump pass’ between his legs to the centre supporting low. This may sound somewhat risky but his teammate was very open and easily the best option as the boards were jammed up. That being said, he much prefers to make the simple plays with hard, firm flat passes to his available teammates. Several times after moving the puck he would jump into the attack as the third or fourth player. He was quite effective in the defensive zone with hard hit and pins and making difficult for Kelowna forwards to get to the netfront. He logs over 21 minutes of ice time per game and is counted on penalty kill unit one.
Nathan Pilling (C, L, 6’3″, 210, Seattle Thunderbirds, 06/22/2004)
Grade: B+
Comments: Pilling was a factor in this game showing off his speed and size effectively. His fine play was also reflected by his coach rewarding him on this night logging 22:49 minutes in ice time. He also possesses good hands and can handle and make plays in tight. This was on display on his goal that was actually started in the defensive zone by him where he recognizes available space in the middle of the ice, puck protects and comes off the wall and makes a nice backhand pass to a cutting teammate. At that point he is the third man in the attack where he offers perfect puck support to his teammates turn back and one times a slapshot cleanly beating the netminder.
Braeden Cootes (C, R, 5’11”, 185, Seattle Thunderbirds, 02/09/2007)
Grade: A-
Comments: Cootes is a very dynamic player that never takes a shift off as shown with his consistent second and third efforts to win puck battles. If he wasn’t backing defense off the line with his tremendous speed he was using it to get in on the forecheck. He understands that he’s not the biggest player on the ice and would always try to gain a half step and cut the hands and body of his opponent allowing him to win many puck races and battles. When he would gain possession in the offensive zone he would either dart into a hole, make it difficult for defensmen by challenging them with his quickness and puck protecting skills or using his quick release. In the defensive zone, he was very aware and clearly communicating with his defense on assignments but, would lose body position on his check at times when they would dish the puck and go to the net. In the end he is a player that has every opportunity to be a very good professional.
Matej Pekar (C, L, 5’10”, 158, Seattle Thunderbirds, 09/08/2007)
Grade: B-
Comments: Pekar is not a very big player but possesses an upper level offensive skill set. That is he handles the puck quite well, can find open space and has a very good release as he displayed nicely on the Seattle powerplay where he one timed the puck cleanly beating the Kelowna netminder. The issue with him on this night though was that he was not noticeable for most of the game as he played on the perimeter and was not involved in any heavy lifting, especially early on. He seemed to only come to life when Seattle went on the powerplay. The reality is he’s never going to be a physical presence with his small stature but, he did show that when he would dig in and compete he was capable of winning puck battles with his quick stick.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images