The Kelowna Rockets will be playing in the semi-final of the 2015 Memorial Cup this week.
Image Credit: Aaron Bell/CHL Images
May 28, 2015 - 8:32 AM
KELOWNA - The Kelowna Rockets finished round robin play in Quebec with one win and two losses but were still able to secure a berth in the Canadian Hockey League Memorial Cup semi-final round thanks to owning a better average of goals-for and goals-against.
The Rockets beat Rimouski Oceanic earlier this week but fell to both Oshawa, which went 3-0 in the round robin, and the Quebec Remparts. This left the Rockets tied with Rimouski and Quebec at the end of round robin play. This was the first time in Memorial Cup history three teams tied for the final playoff position.
Because the Rockets had a higher percentage of goals for (11) over goals against (9), they secured their spot and are now waiting on Rimouski and Quebec to play their tie-breaker game to decide who will play Kelowna in the semi-finals on Friday. The winner of that game will take on Oshawa in the final on Sunday.
Nick Merkley of the Rockets has five points and eight penalty minutes in the three games, making him the top scorer for the Rockets and the second-highest scorer in the tournament, though four other Rockets have four points in three games.
The Rockets have the most penalty minutes in the tournament with 63, well above the Remparts, who have 48, or Oceanic with 40 minutes. Oshawa had only 25 penalty minutes in round robin play.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2015