Beating the Portland Winterhawks in five games was a confidence builder for the Kelowna Rockets as they prepare for the WHL Western Conference finals against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The seven-game series opens Friday night in Seattle and Cochrane's Dillon Dube says it's key for the Rockets to win one of the first two road games in Thunderbird country.

What helped the Rockets blast through the Winterhawks in the last series was that win on the road, the only one they've had in Portland this season. The road can be rocky for visiting teams as they found out in Kamloops in round one.

"We have to split one game right away, then come back and hopefully win a couple of games at home," says Dube.  "[Seattle] is a good team. They have home ice advantage and that's the biggest thing so we're going to try and win in that rink right now. We had that problem before in Kamloops and we figured it out so hopefully we can figure it out on this ice."

The Thunderbirds play a fast-paced game and their success has hinged on their big guns, explains Dube. In contrast, the Rockets strength is spread across four lines and that could work to their advantage.

"We have good energy out there because everyone logs close to the same minutes," says Dube."To have that as a team is good for long playoff runs and it's been good so far."

The Rockets seem to have hit their stride at the right time and not having to battle it out in successive seven-game series has helped the team sustain that energy and stay confident.

The Thunderbirds, too, come into the series fresh after downing the Everitt Silvertips in four straight. That means both teams will have a seven-day break between series and should be ready to bring their their 'A' game

After 11 playoff games, Dube is having his best scoring run in WHL playoffs. He's scored six and assisted with nine and that's more than double his count in last year's 18 playoff appearances.

"I've been luckier this year," he says. "Last year was a crazier year, but overall I'm happy to get production. But you only take it round by round; you don't look at the total playoff run now. So you hit the reset button and you start off at the zero point for the Seattle series."

Seattle finished just ahead of the Rockets in the regular season, although the Rockets beat them in three of four matchups.

The two teams met in the Western Conference final last season and the Thunderbirds swept the series four games straight.