Rockets vs. Broncos – Feb 1, 2025
Final Score: Swift Current 6 – Rockets 3
The Story: Cross-Checking is Not Defence
There’s no shortage of issues to point to, but this one stands out. We finally covered players in front of the net, but we forgot the most important part—taking away their stick. You can cross-check and punch all you want, but if you don’t eliminate their ability to play the puck, they will score. And they did.
The second issue? Penalties. We have to stop taking bad ones. Yes, there’s such a thing as a good penalty—ones that break up dangerous plays or protect teammates. But we’re taking silly ones, away from the play, and worst of all—going to the box alone. That has to change.
Momentum is a Fickle Beast
Momentum seems to be either completely with us or entirely against us. When we have it, we look like a dominant, high-energy team. When we don’t, we get buried.
Tonight was the perfect example. We came out strong, scored early—momentum shift in our favor. But oops, we got scored on immediately. We reset, scored again, and started pressing. Oops again—we gave up a goal in the final seconds of the period. That late-period dagger completely deflated us heading into intermission.
Was it a Goaltending Issue?
Second game in a row with this headline, second game in a row for Pilon… might need to check my bias soon.
I know some fans want to blame him, but outside of one soft goal (damn you, Rocak!), he made some huge saves that more than made up for it. This loss wasn’t on him.
Stud of the Night: Jackson Gillespie
Allegedly, Gillespie switched to a slightly longer stick. Tada! Since then? Two games with two goals.
They weren’t highlight-reel snipes, but he’s getting pucks through traffic and getting rewarded. He also picked up an assist on Gerwing’s tip-in for our third goal. Fun fact—both guys from that trade scored against their old teams tonight! (Damn you again, Rocak.)
Dud of the Night: Kanjyu Gojsic
We’re used to seeing a more physical, high-energy game from Kanjyu—big hits, quick skating, and relentless forechecking. Tonight? Not much of that.
It’s worth noting that he limped off the ice yesterday and just returned from injury. Back-to-back games might have been tough on him, and it looked like he struggled to push his usual physical edge.
Final Thoughts
With shots at 41-36, both teams fired plenty of pucks. And let’s not forget—two of Swift Current’s goals were empty-netters.
It was a fun game to watch, but once again, penalties were lopsided. Power plays were 4-1 in favor of Swift Current. We need to start drawing calls, not just taking them. Not that our power play has been anything to get excited about, but at this point, even practice would be nice.
We had our chances and didn’t bury them. Now we’re on a seven-game home losing streak. In the long run, it helps our draft pick. But as a fan? Man, it’d be nice to see some wins.
