Strathroy Rockets Post Mortem

[Oglethorp]

The last time the Rockets won a playoff game before this round was Mar 19th 2013. Dan Gibson finished the season as GM and head coach that year. The win was at the WMMC before 1075 fans. How things have changed.

This years Rocket team was one of the leanest in talent on record. A poorly organized prospect camp, A GM who thinks the grass is always greener on the London side of the fence, and a general lack of communication all led to low numbers at main camp. For the Rockets to be successful, the off season needs to be much better organized than last season.

The team loses 2 players to graduation and likely one underage to the OHL next season, however they need to see more than just 3 new faces. The team gelled well under rookie coach Brendan Riggin and won a few surprise games but also lost a lot of games in OT. Retention was an issue during the season with the #1 goalie, #1 forward leaving for Jr C and a 17 year old rookie voluntarily leaving to play high school and midget before joining the Nationals as an AP. Player retention needs to be a focal point this off season. The team will go into this season potentially with 2 20 year old goalies. This is a position that the team was strong last year however looking ahead they may want to develop a younger goalie for the future. On the blueline Jeff Clarke should return and will be a key player to retain along with Noah Tooke and veteran Dalton Good. With one vacancy (Matt Laberge) leaving the Rockets should look to at 2-3 new defencemen going forward. Key returnees at forward would be Nick Griffin, Lucas Latina and local forwards Max Ewart and Wes Kelly. With Keiran Milne graduating the rockets should look to bring in 3-4 new forwards. A good early signing should be Tristan Sedlak, a Strathroy resident and AP last season with scoring touch. Attendance has been on the decline for the last few years due to the teams reputation for not supporting local players, signing a local early will generate interest.

[RocketGirl]

From the Rockets Facebook page.

The Strathroy Rockets are pleased to announce that General Manager Mike Bondy, Head Coach Brendan Riggin and Assistant Coach Jason Furlong will all be returning next season to the Rockets.

Also, the Rockets would like to introduce the Board of Directors for the 2016-17 Season:

President - Don Windsor Sr
Vice President - Kent Coleman
Treasurer - Gary (GNU) Dodds
Secretary - Stephanie Sanders
Directors - Ron Fischtner, Scott Berlemont, Mario Slegers, Tyler Damen, Kathy Kellestine and Jamey Galbraith

We will be holding a Spring Camp on May 14th at the West Middlesex Memorial Centre. Invitations will be sent out shortly to all invited players.

Go Rockets!

[Oglethorp]

I am sure this announcement comes with mixed feelings. Good to see that the directors have enough confidence in Riggin to make this announcement early. He accomplished a lot with what he was given to work with and will only get better with more experience.

It is interesting to see that the Rockets are planning a May Spring camp again but this time the same weekend as the London Nationals camp. Obviously it needs to be better operated than last years Spring camp but will any commitments be made this time. Last year during camp the GM didn't commit to anyone. The current GM also makes no bones about his preference for London cuts over local players so why not wait until after the London camp since those are the players that they intend to sign first.

[Oglethorp]

The Rockets mini camp date has been announced. It will take place on May 14th. This is also the same date that the London Nationals are holding their camp. The St Thomas and St Marys camp (being held at Thompson Arena in London this year) are being held later so they can have access to the London cuts that the Rockets so heavily rely on. One has to wonder if this camp will draw much of what the GM is really interested in since most will be at the Nationals camp. For the cash strapped Rockets this may not be a very productive exercise other than just being a revenue source like last years mini camp.