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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Rockets To Host Back-To-Back Home Games This Weekend

February 22, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


The Kelowna Rockets will be looking to build off of their Family Day win when they host the surging Vancouver Giants on Friday night and the BC Division-leading Prince George Cougars on Saturday night at Prospera Place.

Tij Iginla's last-second heroics lifted the Kelowna Rockets to victory over the Tri-City Americans on Monday evening at Prospera Place. Tied at two, Iginla took off on a breakaway to net the game-winner with 14 seconds remaining on the clock to snap the Rockets four-game losing streak.

The Giants, who made a handful of trades at the deadline, are quickly climbing the standings and are 8-1-1-0 in their last ten games. Over the weekend they split their home and home series with the Portland Winterhawks, defeating them 3-1 on home ice Friday and then falling 8-3 on the road on Saturday. They then bounced back with a 6-3 win over Spokane on Monday at home.

The Cougars are the first BC Division team to have secured a spot in the 2023 WHL Playoffs, entering Friday they're 7-1-0-1 in their last ten games and sit atop the Western Conference standings. Prince George hosted the Seattle Thunderbirds for back-to-back games over the weekend, downing them 8-1 on Friday and 5-1 on Saturday. The Kamloops Blazers will host the Cougars on Friday before they face the Rockets.

CMHA GAME FRIDAY

The Kelowna Rockets have partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Kelowna for a mental health awareness game on Friday,

The game day experience will have several features to promote the importance of mental health, including:

A CMHA-run kiosk on the concourse where fans can learn more about mental health and the organization's community-based services

Videos featuring a Rockets player talking about the importance of mental health

Public service announcements about mental health and CMHA Kelowna

A CMHA fundraising component

This season, Talk Today is celebrating a major milestone - its 10th season of supporting junior hockey. Since its launch in 2014, Talk Today has provided an important opportunity to address the mental health needs of hockey players and other athletes across Canada. From 2014. through the 2022-23 season, nearly 8,600 individuals have received mental health and suicide awareness training through the program. The vast majority of individuals trained are athletes (7,598), but coaches (381), staff (217), billets and parents (400) have also participated in training, helping to create cultures of openness within athlete support networks.

RE/MAX Presents: Nickelodeon Night for Children's Miracle Network Game Saturday

The Kelowna Rockets are excited to announce the return of RE/MAX Presents: Nickelodeon Night for Children's Miracle Network.

This season, Kelowna will wear special edition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed jerseys that will be available in an online auction that runs through February 29. Funds raised through RE/MAX Presents: Nickelodeon Night will go towards the Children's Miracle Network.

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

Tij Iginla has recorded goals in three consecutive games, including Monday's game-winner. Entering Friday he leads the Rockets in goals with 38.

SEASON RECORD

vs GIANTS

Oct. 21 vs VAN - 6-5 W

Dec. 1 @ VAN - 4-0 W

Jan. 19 vs VAN - 5-2 W

Jan. 21 @ VAN - 4-2 L

Feb. 23 vs VAN - 7:05 pm

Mar 1 @ VAN - 7:00 pm

Mar. 22 @ VAN - 7:00 pm

Mar. 23 vs VAN - 7:05 pm

vs COUGARS

Oct. 3 at PG - 3-2 L

Oct. 4 at PG - 8-1 L

Oct. 13 vs PG - 5-4 W

Nov. 18 vs PG - 5-4 L

Jan. 12 at PG - 5-2 L

Jan. 13 at PG - 3-2 SOW

Feb. 24 vs PG - 7:05 pm

Mar. 13 vs PG - 7:05 pm

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

VANCOUVER

The Kelowna Rockets were topped by the Vancouver Giants in the back half of their weekend home-and-home series on January 21. After downing the Giants 5-2 on Friday, January 19 at Prosprea Place, Vancouver responded with a 4-2 win on Sunday afternoon in Langley. Seventeen-year-old rookie Kayden Longley put the Rockets on the board first, but the Giants quickly responded under a minute later. Before the end of the period, Vancouver took the lead and never looked back. Longley recorded the second multi-point game of his career, netting the opening goal of the game and helping on Trae Johnson's third goal of the campaign.

PRINCE GEORGE

After falling to the Prince George Cougars on January 12, the Kelowna Rockets were able to split their weekend trip with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Cougars on January 13 at the CN Centre in Prince George, BC.

Tied at two through regulation, the two needed a shootout to determine the winner. In the skills competition, Gabriel Szturc was the lone goal scorer for Kelowna, while Jari Kykkanen stopped three Cougar shooters.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

as of

# TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 x Prince George Cougars 56 38 15 0 3 79

2 x Everett Silvertips 59 37 18 2 2 78

3 x Portland Winterhawk 54 37 14 2 1 77

4 Victoria Royals 57 27 22 4 4 62

5 Wenatchee Wild 55 28 23 4 0 60

6 Vancouver Giants 55 27 25 3 0 57

7 Kelowna Rockets 56 25 28 3 0 53

8 Spokane Chiefs 54 23 26 4 1 51

9 Tri-City Americans 55 21 31 2 1 45

10 Kamloops Blazers 54 18 31 3 2 41

11 Seattle Thunderbirds 54 19 33 2 0 40

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.

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



Western Hockey League Stories from February 22, 2024


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