After a hotly contested series of games against Toronto and Belleville to start the week, the Laval Rocket packed up and headed out west for their first meeting of the year with the Stockton Heat. The Rocket were coming off back-to-back wins over their Ontario-based rivals, and faced arguably their toughest opponent of the season. Stockton sat atop the Canadian Division with an 8-3-0 record, and was led by a strong combination of young players like Adam Ruzicka and Matthew Phillips, as well as supporting veterans.
The Rocket were without Yannick Veilleux in their top six following his suspension for an obscene gesture directed toward the Toronto Marlies’ bench on Sunday.