The Strathroy Rockets dropped a pair of tight games last weekend in GOJHL Western Conference play. The two losses extend the Rockets losing stretch to three games, their longest of the year. Friday, the Rockets came up on the short end of a 3-1 score in St. Marys against the very hot Lincolns, and on home ice Saturday they ran out of time in a tough 3-2 setback to the Leamington Flyers.

The Rockets (11-7-2) are losing ground with the once tightly knit top five clubs in the Western conference standings. They presently sit in fifth place, tied with the LaSalle Vipers; four points behind fourth place Leamington. The Sarnia Legionnaires are first, ten points ahead of the Rockets. Hot on the Rockets' heels are the Chatham Maroons, just one point behind.

Strathroy 1 at St. Marys 3

Due to injuries, suspensions and educational commitments, the Rockets iced just 16 skaters and two goaltenders in St. Marys. With four regulars already sidelined with long-term injuries, the Rockets were also without defenseman Jared Anger who missed both weekend games with a two-game suspension from a checking from behind call assessed in Chatham the previous Sunday. Also missing the game was centre David Morden who was writing a mid-term university exam.

The end result saw the Rockets dress just 11 forwards and five defensemen. Andrew Secco was moved back to assist the defensive corps from his usual forward position. The move was necessary due to the trading of defenseman Carter Gray to St. Thomas earlier in the week, along with the injuries to veteran defenseman Brady Vandenberk and Kent McPherson and the suspension to Anger.

Dan Ryan opened the scoring for the Lincolns at 4:25 of the first period pouncing on a rebound from a Jamie Commerford wraparound. Kraig Wright tied the game for the Rockets at 8:18 looking off a pass to Kyle Greenside and wiring a quick shot over Raymond's trapper.

Colin Martin scored a pair of second period goals at 3:12 and 10:20 to give the Lincolns a 3-1 lead after two periods. Based on the stats to date this season, that lead virtually assured a Lincolns win. They have never surrendered the lead after two periods (12-0), while the Rockets have never come from behind when trailing after two periods this season (0-6).

Final shots favoured the Lincolns 30-24. The Rockets out-chanced the Lincolns 15-14. Most of the Rockets' chances came in the first period when they held a 10-4 advantage. The Lincolns would then out-chance the Rockets 10-5 for the remainder of the game. Both netminders, Jesse Raymond (W, 8-3-0) for the Lincolns and Ben Thomas (L, 9-5-1) for the Rockets, were solid in goal. The Rockets took 56.2% of the face-offs (41-32).

The Rockets' inability to capitalize on the power play was a huge factor in the loss. The Rockets were 0 for 11 with the man advantage. The Lincolns failed to score on their six power play chances.

It was a frustrating game for the Rockets and a defensive gem for the Lincolns. The game had no flow to it. The Lincolns defense were quite effective holding the St. Marys' blue-line while their teammates clogged up the neutral zone cutting off the Rockets' passing lanes.

The Lincolns now lead the season series 2-0, winning the first encounter by a dominating 6-2 score at the WMMC on October 7. St. Marys has not won a season series against Strathroy in the previous five seasons. The win was the eight straight for the Lincolns. With their 3-0 win over Sarnia 3-0 on Sunday, the Lincolns extended their winning streak to nine games, the longest by any Western Conference team to date this season.

Leamington 3 at Strathroy 2

Saturday night at the West Middlesex Memorial Centre the Rockets lost a hard-fought, penalty-filled affair by the score of 3-2 to the Leamington Flyers.

Adam Dunmore potted a cross crease pass from Matt Papineau at 15:59 of the third period break a 2-2 tie and lift the Flyers to the win.

Rockets coach Mike Bondy juggled the Rockets' forward lines moving Joey Beauchamp onto the second line with Dan Chadwick and Andrew McCombe. The trio was a very successful unit for the Rockets last season. Brett Lashbrook was moved onto the top unit with Wright and Greenside. The Easter brothers were reunited along with centre Morden. Mitch McNeill, Justin Fraser and Trevor Perrie held down the Rockets' spirited energy line.

The two teams were tied 1-1 after one period and 2-2 after two periods with the Flyers twice overcoming Rockets leads. The Rockets scoring came from a pair of unlikely sources as rookie defensemen Kevin Curridor and Shawn Crowley each scored their first career GOJHL goals.

Curridor opened the scoring at 15:15 of the first period off of a face-off win by Fraser in the Flyers zone. Perrie slipped the puck back to the point and Curridor's easy shot deflected off of a Flyers defender and past a well-screened Marc Tremblay (W, 1-0-1) in the Flyers goal. Leamington would tie the game 97 seconds later on a power play goal by Ryan Speers with Rockets defenseman Dan Grant serving an interference penalty.

Crowley put the Rockets up 2-1 at 5:37 of the middle frame when his seeing-eye point shot found its way through traffic into the back of the Flyers goal. Tyson Isaac would send the teams into the second intermission tied at 2-2 with another power play goal with the Rockets two men short and the Flyers one. The success on the power play was another relief for Flyers head coach Mark Davis whose club had been 3 for 30 with the man advantage prior to the game.

Tremblay earned his first career GOJHL win. The Flyers have been without veteran Mike Morissette, who is nursing a sore knee and a lacerated hand. Morissette has the third best goals against average in the league.

The Rockets continued to receive stellar goaltending from Thomas. The record-setting netminder has put the Rockets in a position to win every game. In the last seven games, Thomas has a 2.60 GAA and a 92.0% save percentage.

Thomas, unfortunately, has not received much in the way of goal support. The Rocket scoring has dried up. Compounding the problem is the seemingly endless string of serious injuries that continue to plague the Rockets. Vandenberk has missed the last five games with a severed tendon in his thumb. His defensive partner McPherson has missed the last seven games with a shoulder injury. Captain Kyle Moore has been absent the last eight games with a knee injury while rugged winger Shaun Furlong has been out of the lineup for the last 16 games with a severely separated shoulder. Not only are these players' talents missed on the ice, their leadership is dearly missed on the ice and in the dressing room. Moore, Vandenberk and Furlong are three of the Rockets' biggest inspirational leaders.

The match against Leamington emphasized the Rockets' lack of offensive thrust. Not only did the Rockets top unit of Greenside, Wright and Lashbrook fail to earn a scoring point; they failed to register a shot on goal. In all, six players failed to get a shot on goal. With the exception of Morden - who has five goals in the last eight games - the scoring has gone south.

McNeill, Perrie and Cahill are still looking for their first goals. Grant, a four-year veteran, has not scored in 16 games while Secco has not tallied in his last ten. Up front, McCombe (5 games), Fraser (10) and Chadwick (12) are all currently in goal-scoring droughts. Greenside and Beauchamp have scored just once in six games. Beauchamp has scored just one even strength goal all season. Walter Easter has scored once in 11 games while Wright has tallied in two games of his last seven. Team scoring leader Patrick Easter has struggled, scoring in just 3 of his last 12 games. Lashbrook has scored in 3 of his last 13 games. Hopefully, the Rockets scoring touch will soon return along with some of the Rockets' walking wounded.

The win moved the fourth place Flyers four points ahead of the fifth place Rockets and was a welcome relief for the Flyers, who ended a five-game losing streak. The losing skid came on the heels of an eight-game winning stretch by the Flyers. The win also evened the season series at 1-1. The Rockets took the first game 8-3 on September 23 in Leamington.

The Rockets continued their home woes at WMMC. Since moving back to their home rink on October 7 from the Gemini Sportsplex, the Rockets have just one regulation time win and a shootout win in six outings. The loss also marked the fourth time in six occasions that the Rockets have failed to win the second game in back-to-back contests.

The game was easily the most physical contest that the Rockets have participated in this season. The two teams combined for 152 penalty minutes with the Rockets taking 92, a season high, and the Flyers 60. Taking the body and finishing your checks was clearly the message sent by both coaching staffs. The Rockets charted 24 hits, their most in a single game this season. The Rockets were outshot for the second night in a row, this time by a 35-25 margin. The Flyers were most effective in the third period when they outshot the Rockets 14-4. The Flyers also won the battle in the faceoff circle winning 40 and losing 37 draws. It was only the second time in twenty outings this season that the Rockets have been out-dueled in face-offs.

The Rockets' next scheduled game on Friday, November 14 at Lambton Shores has been postponed and will now be played on Sunday, December 21 at 8:30 pm in Forest. That means the Rockets next game will be at home on Saturday when they host the Sarnia Legionnaires. The Strathroy Legion, in honour of our veterans and Remembrance Day, will sponsor the game. All veterans will be admitted free of charge.

The first ever myFM/Strathroy Rockets Captains Coats for Kids Campaign was a huge success. A very special thanks to all our great Rocket fans who brought over 200 coats and food items to the game in support of this very worthwhile charity.

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