WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Rockets And Blazers To Battle Twice This Weekend, Hockey Gives Blood Game On Saturday

Published on February 9, 2024 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (left)
Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (left)
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets will look to build off of their victory over the Victoria Royals on Wednesday when they take on the Kamloops Blazers in a home-and-home series this weekend. The two will play on Friday in Kamloops before hitting the ice on Saturday in Kelowna.

After being outscored 19-6 in their last two games, the Rockets were able to hold the injury-riddled Victoria Royals off the scoresheet on Wednesday. Tij Iginla and Hiroki Gojsic found the back of the net for the Rockets, while Jari Kykkanen turned aside 21 shots to collect his second shutout of the campaign and first-star honors.

After falling 5-3 on Sunday to the Prince George Cougars, the Blazers responded with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday.

Kelowna Rockets making a positive impact in the community through plasma donation awareness

Saturday's home game will also be the Rockets Hockey Gives Blood/Canadian Blood Services game.

Hockey Gives Blood is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging members of the hockey community to help save lives and ensure that patients in Canada have the blood and blood products they need when they need them, by supporting Canadian Blood Services. The Kelowna Rockets will support Hockey Gives Blood at their upcoming game against the Kamloops Blazers on February 10. The event will encourage fans to book an appointment to give blood, plasma or join the stem cell registry to help patients in need.

To book an appointment, download the GiveBlood app, call 1 888 2 DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or book now at blood.ca/HGB. People who are unable to donate blood/plasma can give financially, volunteer and encourage others in their network to become donors.

Hockey Gives Blood is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging members of the hockey community to help save lives and ensure that Canadian patients have the blood products they need when they need them. Hockey Gives Blood has partnered with the Canadian Blood Services in an effort to engage and educate the hockey community about the importance of blood and stem cell donation. Visit hockeygivesblood.ca for more information.

TICKETS

Single-game tickets for all Rockets games are on sale at Select Your Tickets.

Tickets for Rockets games are only available at Select Your Tickets, they are the official provider of Rockets tickets. To view pricing and a seating map please click here.

Tickets can be purchased:

Online at selectyourtickets.com

By calling Select Your Tickets at 250-762-5050

Or by visiting the Select Your Tickets box office at the Prospera Place box office. The box office is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and opens at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday home game days.

ROCKETS ROSTER UPDATES

There are no injuries or roster changes on this week's WHL weekly report

ROCKET TO WATCH

Defenceman Caden Price is one point shy of 100 career points. The Seattle Kraken prospect has posted 14 goals and 85 assists through 156 games over the last three seasons.

SEASON RECORD

vs BLAZERS

Dec. 27 at KAM - 3-2 L

Dec. 29 vs KAM - 6-4 W

Jan. 26 vs KAM - 4-3 OTL

Jan 27 at KAM - 3-2 L

Feb. 9 at KAM - 7:00 pm

Feb. 10 vs KAM - 7:05 pm

Mar. 8 vs KAM 7:05 pm

Mar. 9 at KAM 6:00 pm

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

The Kelowna Rockets fell to the Kamloops Blazers in back-to-back games of a home and home series on January 26 and 27.

The Blazers came back to force overtime in the first game at Prospea Place, scoring the game-winner with 4.7 seconds remaining in overtime. The next night the Rockets fell 3-2 at the Sandman Centre.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

# TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 Portland Winterhaws 49 34 12 2 1 71

2 Prince George Cougars 50 33 15 0 2 68

3 Everett Silvertips 53 33 17 1 2 69

4 Wenatchee Wild 50 27 19 4 0 58

5 Victoria Royals 51 25 18 4 4 58

6 Kelowna Rockets 50 23 24 3 0 49

7 Vancouver Giants 49 22 24 3 0 47

8 Spokane Chiefs 47 19 24 4 0 42

9 Tri-City Americans 50 19 28 2 1 41

10 Seattle Thunderbirds 47 18 27 2 0 38

11 Kamloops Blazers 49 15 29 3 2 35

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 on 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 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 2023-24 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.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the online 50/50 and purchase tickets.

LINEUP SHEET + GAME DAY PROGRAM

Printed lineup sheets will not be available at games this season, they can be accessed online by visiting the game day program.

The Game Day Program will be available in the same spot, it comes complete with game notes, stats, team rosters and entry forms for the Rockets intermission contests.

The sheet and program will be uploaded by 3:00 p.m. on game days

Six and twelve game Mini Packs for the Kelowna Rockets season are now on sale through Select Your Tickets.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics

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Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (left)
Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (left)
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2024


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