Seattle Thunderbirds vs. Kelowna Rockets - January 27th, 2012.

I must apologize for how long it's been since I last blogged on here. If you are indeed reading this (not likely), and find yourself craving useless Kelowna Rockets and Vancouver Canucks facts/stats/etc, just swing over to my Twitter account (@StolzHockey) and I'm sure you'll be more than satisfied.

Now onto the topic at hand: The Thunderbirds are in town tonight! Both teams have experienced pretty exciting news in the last couple days: Kelowna's Colton Sissons has just been named Team Captain of Team Orr at the Top Prospects Game (hosted in Kelowna) on January 31st and February 1st. Colton becomes the first Kelowna Rocket ever to Captain a Top Prospects team. Seattle's goaltender Calvin Pickard just established a new Western Hockey League record for career saves on January 22nd against the Vancouver Giants.

Breakdown: Kelowna (21-23-5) is 6-4-0 in their last 10 games, and has won two straight. Seattle (17-26-2) is 1-8-1 in their last 10 games, and has lost four straight. The Thunderbirds have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

Top Scorers: Kelowna's Shane McColgan has 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists) in 48 games. Seattle's Burke Gallimore has 27 points (17 goals, 10 assists) in 45 games.

Kelowna Players to Watch: #19 Brett Bulmer (Drafted in the 2nd Round, 39th overall, by the Minnesota Wild in 2010), #18 Shane McColgan (Drafted in the 5th Round, 134th overall, by the New York Rangers in 2011), Colton Sissons (Ranked 14th among North Americans in Central Scouting's Mid-Term Report), and Damon Severson (Ranked 46th among North Americans in Central Scouting's Mid-Term Report).

Seattle Players to Watch:  Calvin Pickard (Drafted in the 2nd Round, 49th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in 2010), Colin Jacobs (Drafted in the 4th Round, 107th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in 2011), and Branden Troock (Ranked 90th among North Americans in Central Scouting's Mid-Term Report).

Other interesting notes: Zach Franko (Kelowna) is 7 for 7 in shoot-outs, leading the WHL. Brett Bulmer (Kelowna) has 36 points in 31 games so far this season. Shane McColgan (Kelowna) has 17 points in his last 20 games. Colton Sissons leads Kelowna in goals with 25.