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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Cougars And Blades At Rockets

February 9, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets centre Ethan Neutens
Kelowna Rockets centre Ethan Neutens
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

After hitting the road for a pair of games in Prince George earlier this week, the Kelowna Rockets will return home to host the Cougars on Friday night and the Saskatoon Blades will make a rare visit to Kelowna on Saturday - puck drop is set for 7:05 pm both nights.

The Cougars high powered offence was on display against the Rockets, defeating them 5-1 on Tuesday and 7-2 on Wednesday.

In the opening game, the Rockets grabbed a 1-0 lead at the end of the first period. Prince George then stormed back with five unanswered goals. On Wednesday, the Rockets found themselves in penalty trouble early on, giving the Cougars a five-on-three man advantage that they were able to capitalize on twice.

Talyn Boyko and Jari Kykkanen split the playing time; Boyko stopped 29 of the 24 shots he faced in game one, while Kykkanen turned aside 36 of the 43 shots.

The Blades will kick off their BC Division road trip against the Kamloops Blazers on Friday before making their first trip to Propsera Place since December 2o18. Saskatoon's roster features a former Rocket, Trevor Wong, who was dealt to the Blades prior to the start of the 2021-22 regular season.

Tickets

Single-game tickets for Saturday's game and all other Rockets games are available at Select Your Tickets. Tickets can be purchased online through www.selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office, or by phone at 250-762-5050.

Mini Packs are now on sale for the 2022-23 season, pick from between a six or twelve-game pack. Click here to learn more about Mini Packs.

Roster Updates

Ty Hurley and Andrew Cristall both remain listed as out week-to-week with lower body injuries on this week's injury report. Defencemen John Babcock and Marek Rocak are both listed as day-to-day on the report. Max Graham remains out for two to three weeks with an upper-body injury.

Affiliate players Scott Cousins (Prince George Spruce Kings/BCHL) and Kayden Longley (Northern Alberta Xtreme U18 Prep/ CSSHL) remain up with the Rockets due to injury.

Cousins started the season with the Rockets, appearing in three games before being assigned to the Prince George Spruce Kings of the BCHL in October. The 2004-born forward posted seven points (2G, 5A) in 24 games for Prince George this season.

Longley was a Rockets draft pick in the 2021 WHL Draft. He's appeared in 25 games for the Northern Alberta Xtreme U18 Prep of the CSSHL, posting 28 points (11G, 17A) and 16 penalty minutes.

The Injury Report is updated on Tuesdays, click here to view the Rockets Injury Report

Players to watch

Kelowna

Rockets captain Gabriel Szturc recorded a power play goal in Wednesday's loss to keep his point streak alive, hitting five games. It's the fifth time that the Czechia product has recorded a five-game point streak - which is also his longest streak of points.

Defenceman Ethan Mittelsteadt notched his second goal in his last four games on Wednesday. The seventeen-year-old has four points in thirteen games since being dealt to the Rockets in January, previously he had recorded two points in 24 games for Seattle this season.

Prince George

Overage forward Chase Wheatcroft is tied for the team lead in points with 69 (32G, 37A). He's currently riding an eleven-game point streak that's seen him record 21 points (9G, 12A) over that span. He registered a combined six points (2G, 4A) against the Rockets on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ondrej Becher was selected 16th overall by the Cougars in the 2022 CHL Import Draft. The Czechia product is currently on a career-high five-game point streak, on Tuesday he matched his career high three points in a game with two goals and an assist.

Saskatoon

Nineteen-year-old forward Trevor Wong was drafted 18th overall by the Rockets in 2018, he spent two seasons with Kelowna before being traded to Saskatoon for Colton Dach in September 2022. As of Friday morning, he leads the Blades in scoring with 60 points (17G, 43A) in 49 games this season.

Saskatoon boasts one of the best goaltending tandems in the league in Austin Elliott and Ethan Chadwick.

Series at a glance

2022-23 Season Series vs PG (2-4-0-0)

Sept. 30 @ Prince George 6-3 L

Oct. 1 @ Prince George 5-1 W

Nov. 9 vs Prince George 8-6 W

Jan. 10 vs Prince George 3-0 L

Feb. 7 @ Prince George 5-1 L

Feb. 8 @ Prince George 7-2 L

Feb 10 vs Prince George 7:05 pm

Mar. 8 vs Prince George 7:05 pm

Mar. 15 @ Prince George 7:00 pm

Season Series vs SAS

Feb. 11 vs Saskatoon 7:05 pm

BC Division standings

as of Thursday morning

TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 x - Kamloops Blazers 47 31 10 4 2 68

2 Prince George Cougars 48 23 21 4 0 50

3 Vancouver Giants 49 19 24 4 2 44

4 Kelowna Rockets 48 17 28 3 0 37

5 Victoria Royals 51 14 32 4 1 33

East Division standings

as of Tuesday morning

TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 Winnipeg ICE 46 38 7 1 0 77

2 Saskatoon Blades 49 33 12 3 1 70

3 Moose Jaw Warriors 52 33 16 0 3 69

4 Regina Pats 49 24 22 2 1 51

5 Brandon Wheat Kings 48 19 22 7 0 45

6 Prince Albert Raiders 49 19 27 3 0 41

Watch and listen

Radio broadcast

Rockets games will be broadcast on 104.7 FM the Lizard this season with Regan Bartel calling all of the action.

Don't forget to download the RocketFAN app and visit rocketfan.ca for more exclusive Rockets content from Pattison. Fans can stream the radio broadcast of all Rockets games on the app.

Online video stream

All Rockets games will be available on WHL Live. WHL Live is available to fans anywhere in the world, providing high-quality streaming of WHL games on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV platforms, via mobile with iOS and Android, and on the web using Safari or Google Chrome web browsers. Visit watch.chl.ca for complete details and subscription options.

Online 50/50

The Kelowna Rockets online 50/50 is back for the 2022-23 season!

The online 50/50 will give fans in Rockets fans located in British Columbia and those who are attending the game the chance to win during every Rockets home game this season. The 50/50 will also raise important dollars for the Kelowna Minor Hockey Association.

Tickets will be available for purchase on all game days starting at 9 a.m. PT and end at the start of the third period on the same day.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets centre Ethan Neutens
Kelowna Rockets centre Ethan Neutens
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2023


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