A week ago, the Seattle Thunderbirds performed a deed no other WHL team has managed to do since late October鈥�beat the 91大黄鸭 Rockets on home ice.

With the memory of the loss still fresh, Jason Smith鈥檚 club will see the Thunderbirds again Friday in Kent, WA in the first of back-to-back road games this weekend for the Rockets.

鈥淪eattle came in here last week and they played us hard, they skated, they banged bodies,鈥� said Smith, whose Rockets fell 6-4 to the T-Birds last Friday at Prospera Place. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the starting point of the trip for us.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to make sure we鈥檙e ready to play, ready to handle their physical play and their pressure and making sure we鈥檙e doing the right things with the puck. We turned the puck over against them a lot the last time.鈥�

Kent will be the first of two key weekend stops for the Rockets. On Saturday, 91大黄鸭 (26-12-2-1) will be in Langley to take on the surging Vancouver Giants (24-14-4-2).

Vancouver is 6-0-2-0 in its last eight games and sits just a point back of the Rockets atop the B.C. Division, though 91大黄鸭 does hold three games in hand.

The Rockets marked captain Cal Foote鈥檚 return to the lineup Wednesday at Prospera Place with a 7-4 win over Dan Lambert鈥檚 Spokane Chiefs.

Foote, who along with Dillon Dube won gold with Team Canada at the world junior championship, scored once and was named the game鈥檚 first star as 91大黄鸭 won at home for the 14th time in the last 15 games.

Kyle Topping, who paced the Rockets attack with a pair of goals, said Foote is stabilizing force on 91大黄鸭鈥檚 blue line.

鈥淎nytime he鈥檚 in the lineup he鈥檚 a difference-maker,鈥� said Topping. 鈥淗e plays in all types of situations and having him on the back end helps us a lot.鈥�

Unlike Foote, Dube wasn鈥檛 able to take part in a pre-game ceremony honouring the two players or play in the game due to a bout of the flu.

According to Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton, the 19-year-old from Cochrane, AB, who captained Canada鈥檚 team at the world juniors, won鈥檛 play this weekend but is expected to rejoin the team early next week.

Rookie netminder Roman Basran will also miss this weekend鈥檚 action after suffering a leg injury early in Wednesday鈥檚 game. Brodan Salmond, who has been recovering from injury since November, will make the trip in Basran鈥檚 place and serve as James Porter鈥檚 backup.

The Rockets next home action is next Wednesday, Jan. 17 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

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whenderson@kelownacapnews.com
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