Dynamite night for Bowey, Rockets
Madison Bowey and the letter C seem to go well together.
Kelowna’s newly appointed captain scored two points in the Rockets’ 6-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels at Prospera Place on Wednesday evening. The 18-year-old blue-liner tallied a goal and an assist en route to being named as the game’s first star.
The Rockets picked up their fifth straight win following back-to-back road sweeps at Victoria and Prince George, respectively. Red Deer, meanwhile, recorded its third consecutive loss.
Bowey was named team captain prior to the Rockets’ two-game series in Prince George last weekend.
Since then, he has recorded seven points in three games and was recently named to the Subway Super Series roster for Team WHL. Wednesday’s contest marked his first game playing in front of a home crowd under his new leadership role.
“I know the fans really support the captain, and it was an honour to wear (the ‘C’) for the first time at home,” said Bowey. “It was a great experience.”
The Rockets scored four goals in the first 14 minutes of the game before Red Deer goaltender Patrik Bartosak was pulled in favour of 16-year old rookie Taz Burman.
Bowey scored his sixth goal of the season when he buried a rebound off a blast from New Jersey prospect Myles Bell.
“I thought (Bowey) played really good, especially early,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “I feel like he’s been more assertive (since being named as captain); he’s got a presence about him.”
Bowey and Kayle Doetzel dropped the mitts in a stale second period, with Bowey coming out on top.
The period’s lone marker came from the Rebels’ Brooks Maxwell, who took the puck down the right side and potted his own rebound off of the initial save.
Red Deer cut Kelowna’s lead to two early in the third, before team scoring leader Tyson Baillie beat a Rebels defender feeding a beautiful pass to Carter Rigby for his first goal of the season.
“I thought that was the turning point of the game for us,” said Huska. “When we gave up that second goal, we wondered which way the team was going to go, and I was pleased with how they responded. We scored fairly quickly after that.”
Bowey had another scoring opportunity when he rang a shot off of the post at the midway point in the third on a two-man advantage. Seconds later in the same shift, Zach Franko scored to secure Kelowna’s victory.
Kelowna outshot their opponent by a margin of 26 shots, and netminder Jordan Cooke - who has yet to register a loss in regulation - earned his 10th win of the season.
