Golden Rockets

Golden Rockets
City	Golden, British Columbia
League	Kootenay International Junior Hockey League
Conference	Kootenay
Division	Eddie Mountain
Founded	1991 (1991)–92
Home arena	Golden Arena
Colors	Red, navy, white and black
General manager	Jason Stephens 2015-16
Head coach	Jason Stephens 2015-16
Website goldenrockets.com
Franchise history
1991–05	Golden Rockets
2005–06	Golden Xtreme
2006–08	Golden Jets
2008–present	Golden Rockets

The Golden Rockets are a junior 'B' ice hockey team based in Golden, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Eddie Mountain Division of the Kootenay Conference of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). The Rockets play their home games at Golden Arena. Grant Holtz is the team's president, Jason Stephens is the general manager and coach. In the 2015-2016 season they were captained by Travis Kelley.

The Rockets joined the league in 1991 as an expansion team. In its KIJHL history, the team has won one division playoff title as a member of the Eddie Mountain Division from 1996–2013.

History

First Rockets era

The Golden Rockets joined the KIJHL in 1991 as an expansion franchise, and finished their debut season with a record of 14–23–1, third in the East Division. They struggled greatly again the following season, with a record of 12–30–0, but finished second in their division due to the three-team division, and the struggles of the Elk Valley Raiders. The following seasons, the Rockets gradually dropped further in the standings as the East Division expanded, finishing third in 1993–94, fourth in 1994–95, and fifth in 1995–96. The following season, the Rockets improved greatly, finishing second in the newly renamed Eddie Mountain Division, with a record of 22–18–1, behind only the Columbia Valley Rockies. The following season, the Rockets dropped to third, with a record of 26-24-0, behind Columbia Valley and the Revelstoke Grizzlies. In 1998–99, the Rockets would finish last in the Eddie Mountain Division, and third last in the league, ahead of only the Spokane Braves and Grand Forks Border Bruins overall. Their form dropped further in 1999–00, finishing with a record of 9–35–2, last in the Eddie Mountain Division. The following year the Rockets struggled again, missing the playoffs for a third consecutive year. In 2001–02, however, the Rockets qualified for the playoffs due to the fact that every team in the Eddie Mountain Division made the playoffs that season, and lost 4–0 to the Rockies in the first round. They struggled again the following season, finishing dead last, and lost 4–3 to Columbia Valley in the first round of the playoffs. They did not qualify for the playoffs for the next two seasons, with a combined record of 25–70–3–2 over that time. For the 2005-06 season, the Rockets changed their name to the Golden Xtreme.

Xtreme, Jets, and Rockets

The newly renamed Golden Xtreme qualified ended a two-year playoff drought in 2005–06, but fell in the first round to the Fernie Ghostriders, 4–3. The following year, the team was bought by a group headed by National Hockey League legend Bobby Hull and renamed the Golden Jets in honour of Hull's nickname. They missed the playoffs, however, and in 2007-08 the team was re-bought by a community organization and the name was reverted the original Rockets. The team would finish with a record of 13–36–3, missing the playoffs again. In 2008–09, the team would improve to third in the Eddie Mountain Division, finishing with a record of 30–16–6, but lost to Fernie again in the first round. The following season was similar, with the Rockets finishing fourth in their division, before losing to the Ghostriders again. In 2010–11, the Rockets would finish third in their division, before losing to the Creston Valley Thunder Cats in the first round. In this season, Rockets player Joshua MacDonald recorded 78 points in 47 games, a team record still standing. In 2011-12, the Rockets would again lose in the first round, to Fernie for the third time in four years. However, in 2012–13, the Rockets would reach the Conference final, defeating the Kimberley Dynamiters and Fernie Ghostriders en route, before losing to the Castlegar Rebels. However, they failed outright to make the playoffs in 2013–14, winning only 15 games. They returned to the playoffs the following year, but lost handily in the first round to Fernie again. In 2015–16, the Golden Rockets recorded their worst season on record, finishing with a record of 5–43–1–3, failing again to make the playoffs.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Records as of March 9, 2016.

Season	GP	W	L	T	OL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
1991-92	38	14	23	1	—	29	223	296	3rd, East
1992-93	42	12	30	0	—	24	191	277	2nd, East
1993-94	40	22	18	0	―	44	229	218	3rd, East
1994-95	44	15	26	―	3	33	189	234	4th, East
1995-96	42	10	32	0	―	20	178	297	5th, East
1996-97	41	22	18	1	―	45	215	183	2nd, Eddie Mountain
1997-98	50	26	24	0	―	52	247	250	3rd, Eddie Mountain
1998-99	52	17	34	1	―	35	154	228	5th, Eddie Mountain
1999-00	46	9	35	2	―	20	156	223	5th, Eddie Mountain
2000-01	54	14	37	0	3	31	172	298	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2001-02	50	10	32	5	3	28	148	248	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-4 (Rockies)
2002-03	50	13	33	3	1	30	144	231	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 3-4 (Rockies)
2003-04	50	10	38	1	1	22	162	286	4th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2004-05	50	15	32	2	1	33	157	210	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2005–06	50	24	22	3	1	52	173	189	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 3-4 (Ghostriders)
2006–07	52	13	36	—	3	29	143	257	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2007–08	52	13	36	—	3	29	128	254	4th, Eddie Mountain: East	Did not qualify
2008–09	52	30	16	—	6	66	166	163	3rd, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-4 (Ghostriders)
2009–10	50	28	22	0	0	56	152	161	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0–4 (Ghostriders)
2010-11	50	22	26	0	2	46	221	233	3rd, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-4 (Thunder Cats)
2011–12	52	21	25	1	5	48	176	186	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-4 (Ghostriders)
2012–13	52	31	14	1	6	69	204	176	2nd, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Conference Finals, 0-4 (Rebels)
2013–14	52	15	32	1	4	35	150	218	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2014–15	52	23	24	0	5	51	173	205	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-4 (Ghostriders)
2015–16	52	5	43	1	3	14	106	269	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2016–17	47	5	37	1	4	15	75	208	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2017–18	47	3	40	1	3	10	85	269	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2018–19	49	22	23	2	2	48	152	175	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-4 (Dynamiters)
2019–20	49	20	26	1	2	43	173	186	5th, Eddie Mountain	Did not qualify
2020-21	2	0	2	-	0	0	4	11	N/A	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021-22	42	13	26	-	3	109	169	29	4th, Eddie Mountain	Lost in Division Semifinals, 0-4 (Dynamiters)
2022-23	44	25	16	-	3	53	175	168	3rd, Eddie Mountain	Lost Division Semifinals, 1-4 (Dynamiters)

Playoffs

Records as of March 9, 2018.

Golden Xtreme logo

Season	1st Round	2nd Round	3rd Round	Finals
2000–01	Did not qualify
2001–02	L, 0-4, Columbia Valley	―	―	―
2002–03	L, 3-4, Columbia Valley	―	―	―
2003–04	Did not qualify
2004–05	Did not qualify
2005–06	L, 3-4, Fernie	―	―	―
2006–07	Did not qualify
2007–08	Did not qualify
2008–09	L, 1-4, Fernie	—	—	―
2009–10	L, 0-4, Fernie	―	―	―
2010-11	L, 2-4, Creston Valley	—	—	—
2011-12	L, 0-4, Fernie	—	—	—
2012-13	W, 4-0, Kimberley	W, 4-2, Fernie	L, 0-4, Castlegar	—
2013–14	Did not qualify
2014-15	L, 1-4, Fernie	—	—	—
2015–16	Did not qualify
2016–17	Did not qualify
2017–18	Did not qualify
2018–19	L, 0-4, Kimberley	—	—	—
2019–20	Did not qualify
2020-21	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22	L, 0-4, Kimberley	—	—	—
2022-23	L, 1-4, Kimberley	—	—	—

Alumni

• Doug Barrault

External links

• Official website of the Golden Rockets
• Official website of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League
• Official website of the Cyclone Taylor Cup
• Official website of the Keystone Cup