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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Rockets to Open Regular Season on Saturday

September 22, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets' Lachlan Staniforth and Portland Winterhawks' Josh Zakreski in action
Kelowna Rockets' Lachlan Staniforth and Portland Winterhawks' Josh Zakreski in action
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets)

The Kelowna Rockets will kick off their 2022-24 regular season on Saturday night when they host the Portland Winterhawks at Prospera Place at 7:05 pm. It's the fourth time that the Rockets have opened their season against the Winterhawks since relocating to Kelowna in 1995.

"I think we've seen some excitement from our young players during the preseason," said Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton about his team's training camp and pre-season. "I thought Kykkanen was very good for us. Hiroki Gojsic and Tij Iginla have some real upside that's going to be exciting once we have more of our veteran players back in the lineup with them.

"I'm excited about our team, it will be nice to get our guys back who are away, in particular Andrew Cristall. It's disappointing in the sense that they're not here for the home opener, but I would think next week we will have everyone back."

In addition to it being the home opener, prior to puck drop the Rockets will be honoring the Kelowna RCMP, the Fire Chiefs from West Kelowna, Wilson's Landing, North Westside, Lake Country and the Kelowna Fire Department for all of their hard work during the recent wildfires in a special on-ice ceremony before the home opener this Saturday.

Saturday's contest is the lone game of the weekend for the Rockets, they'll then be off until Saturday, September 30th when they'll host the Western Hockey League's newest team, the Wenatchee Wild.

Meanwhile, the Winterhawks will open their season on the road Friday night against the Wild.

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

Earlier this week the Rockets set their roster for opening night, which features fourteen forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders. To view the roster please click here.

Twelve of the Rockets players currently on the roster were selected in the WHL Prospects Draft by Kelowna

Max Graham, Tij Iginla, Ty Hurley, Michael Cicek, Trae Johnson, Hiroki Gojsic, Landon Cowper, Ethan Mittelsteadt and Jake Pilon were all acquired via trade

Marek Rocak is the lone European player on the roster currently, he was selected 43rd overall in the first round of the 2022 CHL Import Draft

Jackson Gillespie is the only 16-year-old on the roster, he was picked 17th overall in the 2022 U.S. Priority Draft

Dylan Wightman was listed by Kelowna

Andrew Cristall (WSH), Jari Kykkanen (CAL) and Jackson DeSouza (DET) will be unavailable to the Rockets this weekend as they're attending NHL camps.

With Kykkanen still away, the Rockets have recalled 2007-born Nathan Kam as an affiliate - he will wear Jari's number 30 for the game. It's expected that 2006-born Jake Pilon will be in net for Kelowna this weekend, it will be his first appearance in a WHL regular-season game.

The Rockets will be without defenceman Caden Price who is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury and forward Marcus Pacheco who is out two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury. The Rockets injury report is updated weekly and can be viewed here.

WHERE IS CAPTAIN GABBY?

As a 20-year-old import player, Gabriel Szturc has a few options of where he can play this season. He could play professionally in Europe or sign in the American Hockey League, he could also be assigned to Kelowna to spend his overage season with the Rockets.

Szturc was invited as an undrafted free agent to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their rookie tournament, he has since been invited to their main camp.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets' Lachlan Staniforth and Portland Winterhawks' Josh Zakreski in action
Kelowna Rockets' Lachlan Staniforth and Portland Winterhawks' Josh Zakreski in action
(Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from September 22, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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