The opening week of games began on Friday October, 4 when the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres kicked off the new campaign in Prague, Czechia. The remaining teams began their season October 8-10.
Of the ten Rockets suiting up in the NHL this season, six of them helped Kelowna win league championships in two separate years while also helping the club to two Memorial Cup finals.
There are two former Rockets suiting up for the Calgary Flames, as Flames captain Mikael Backlund is entering his 17th season with the club and is on track to play his 1,000th game with the club in the coming weeks. Backlund spent the 2009 season with Kelowna, appearing in 29 regular season games where he put up 30 points as well as 18 playoff games, where he potted 13 goals and 23 points.
Joining Backlund on the Flames is defenceman Tyson Barriefresh off signing a contract with the club after he was invited to training camp on a Professional Tryout. The 33-year-old played four seasons with the Rockets, appearing in 256 games, scoring 228 points and wearing a letter his final two seasons – including being named captain in 2010-11. Both Backlund and Barrie helped the Rockets to a league championship and Memorial Cup appearance in 2009.
The Rockets and Flames connections don’t stop there as former Rockets head coaches Ryan Huska and Dan Lambert are both entering their second season on the Calgary coaching staff.
After previously spending his entire NHL career with the New Jersey Devils, defenceman Damon Severson will now enter his second season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The four-year Rocket suited up in 260 games, along with 39 playoff games while registering 167 points and 270 penalty minutes. The hard-nosed rearguard was an assistant captain in Kelowna during the 2013-14 season.
After coming one goal short of tying Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is looking to get Edmonton back into the final round. The former Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner just signed a new eight-year extension with the Oilers in September and is coming off a season in which he 41 goals and had 106 points. During his time in Kelowna, Draisaitl played in 32 games, putting up 53 points as well as 28 playoff points in 19 games, helping the Rockets win the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn spent two seasons in Kelowna, posting 147 points in those two campaigns, while also adding 33 points in 19 playoff games in 2009, en route to a league title. Entering his 12th season as Stars captain and 16th overall, Benn has played in 1,112 games with Dallas and amassed 907 points. He’s also played in 102 playoff games where he’s scored 27 goals and 77 points.
There’s another pair of former Rockets in Nashville with two-time Stanley Cup winner Luke Schenn and forward Colton Sissons on the roster. Schenn spent four seasons with the Rockets from 2005 to 2008 where he played in 208 total games including both regular season and playoffs. His best with Kelowna came in his final year of junior, suiting up in 57 regular season games scoring seven goals and finishing with 28 points and 100 penalty minutes. He also chipped in with four points in seven playoff games. The Saskatoon, Sask. native is heading into his eighteenth professional hockey season, where he is four regular season games short of reaching the 1,000-game plateau.
Sissons spent three seasons in Kelowna putting up 149 points before making the jump to the pro ranks. He has played 618 career games with Nashville which includes 200 points.
Six-foot-eight Tyler Myers is going into his 17th season in the NHL, with his most recent tenure coming with the Vancouver Canucks. The former first round pick was in Kelowna for three seasons and was a pillar on the Rockets backend, playing in 191 games as well as 37 playoff games. He posted 76 career points to go along with 280 penalty minutes, punishing the oppositions top players on a nightly occurrence. He is now four games short of the 1,000 game plateau in the NHL and will reach that milestone shortly after the season’s begun.
The youngest of this year’s group of Rockets alumni to make the opening night roster, Kaeden Korczak split last season between Vegas and the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, playing in 26 games for the big club in his longest appearance with the big club in his young career. The 23-year-old defenceman played in three seasons with Kelowna, playing in 199 games which saw his amass 98 points from the backend.
Defenceman Josh Morrissey was nearly a point-per-game in his short time in Kelowna, putting up 17 points in 20 regular season games with 14 points in 13 playoff games as well. The former first-round pick is now a yearly Norris candidate with the Winnipeg Jets, putting up 76 and 69 points his past two seasons, adding to his career totals of 313 in 583 games.
The current edition of the Rockets will host the Portland Winterhawks in the ‘Paint The Rink Pink’ game in support of Canadian Cancer night on Friday, October 11.
