Sports stats



WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Rockets To Play Three Games In Alberta

February 24, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets' Carson Golder in action
Kelowna Rockets' Carson Golder in action
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets will head to Alberta for a quick three-game road trip against the central division this weekend. They'll kick things off in Edmonton at 6:00 pm PT on Friday, then head to Red Deer for another 6:00 pm PT game and will wrap things up against the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday with an early 3:05 pm PT game.

The Rockets split their central division trip up into two different trips this season, they previously played Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Swift Current prior to the holiday break back in December.

Kelowna will ride their three-game win streak into the weekend, having last played on Monday where they downed the Tri-City Americans 3-1.

Edmonton will be looking to snap a six-game losing streak. They were also last in action on Monday, falling 7-2 to the Kamloops Blazers.

Red Deer will host the Winnipeg ICE on Friday before the Rockets roll in on Saturday.

Calgary will only play twice this weekend, hosting Lethbridge on Saturday and the Rockets on Sunday.

The last time these two met

The Rockets have not faced Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary since the 2019-20 season.

Roster Updates

Max Graham's upper-body injury time is down to one week

Logan Peskett has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury, his injury time is down to one to two weeks

Ethan Mittelsteadt has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, he's listed as day-to-day

Affiliate player Landon Cowper did not join the team for the road trip

Click here to view the Rockets Injury Report.

Players to watch

Kelowna

Twenty-year-old forward Carson Golder won the 2022 WHL Championship with the Edmonton Oil Kings last year, he led the Oil Kings in scoring in the Championship series with six points (1G, 5A) in six games. Kelowna acquired Golder from Edmonton along with a 2023 third-round WHL Prospects pick in exchange for Rilen Kovacevic earlier this season.

Twenty-year-old forward Adam Kydd will have the chance to face his former team, the Calgary Hitmen, on Sunday. Back in January 2022, Kelowna traded for Kydd along with a conditional 2023 fifth-round pick in exchange for Steel Quiring - who Calgary traded away earlier this season.

Edmonton

Eighteen-year-old forward Rilen Kovacevic was traded to the Oil Kings earlier this season from the Rockets.

Sixteen-year-old centre Gavin Hodnett leads the Oil Kings in scoring with 33 points through 48 games. The Winnipeg product was picked 19th overall by Edmonton in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.

Red Deer

Kalan Lind is the younger brother of former Kelowna Rocket Kole Lind. Picked sixth overall by the Rebels in the 2020 WHL PRospects Draft, Lind is ranked 23rd among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting's Midterm rankings.

New York Rangers prospect Jayden Grubbe is second in Red Deer scoring with 57 points (14G, 43A) through 52 games.

Calgary

Hitmen captain Riley Fiddler-Schultz leads the team in scoring with 57 points through 52 games. Fiddler-Schultz is the nephew of former Rockets player/assistant coach Vern Fiddler and also served as a stick boy for the Rockets when he was younger.

Oliver Tulk is second in team scoring with 50 points in 56 games this season. He's ranked 201st among North American skaters on Central Scouting's Midterm Rankings.

BC Division standings

as of Thursday afternoon

TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 X - Kamloops Blazers 53 37 10 4 2 80

2 Prince George Cougars 53 26 23 4 0 56

3 Vancouver Giants 53 21 26 4 2 48

4 Kelowna Rockets 53 20 30 3 0 43

5 Victoria Royals 57 15 36 5 1 36

Central Division standings

as of Thursday afternoon

TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 Red Deer Rebels 55 37 14 1 3 78

2 Lethbridge Hurricanes 56 30 20 3 3 66

3 Calgary Hitmen 56 24 25 5 2 55

4 Medicine Hat Tigers 55 23 23 8 1 55

5 Swift Current Broncos 54 25 26 1 2 53

6 Edmonton Oil Kings 54 8 43 3 0 19

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.

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.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets' Carson Golder in action
Kelowna Rockets' Carson Golder in action
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from February 24, 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.

OurSports Central