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
KIJHL.ca, Regular season standings 2013–2014.KIJHL.ca – KIJHL Final Standings.
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)
2023–24	44	11	32	1	0 	23 	133	247	5th of 5, Eddie Mountain20th of 20 KIJHL	Did not qualify
===Playoffs===
KIJHL.ca – Playoff Records.KIJHL.ca, Past KIJHL League Champions.
Season 	1st Round 	2nd Round 	3rd Round 	Finals
2000–01	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2001–02	L, 0-4, Columbia Valley 	― 	― 	―
2002–03	L, 3-4, Columbia Valley 	― 	― 	―
2003–04	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2004–05	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2005–06	L, 3-4, Fernie 	― 	― 	―
2006–07	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2007–08	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	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 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2014-15	L, 1-4, Fernie 	— 	— 	—
2015–16	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2016–17	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2017–18	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2018–19	L, 0-4, Kimberley 	— 	— 	—
2019–20	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
2020-21	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic	Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22	L, 0-4, Kimberley 	— 	— 	—
2022-23	L, 1-4, Kimberley 	— 	— 	—
2023-24	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify 	Did not qualify
==Alumni==
* Doug Barrault
==References==
==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
Category:Ice hockey teams in British Columbia
Category:established in 1991
Category:Canadian ice hockey teams
Category:Kootenay International Junior League teams