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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Winterhawks At Rockets - January 8

January 7, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets left wing Gabriel Szturc (right) vs. the Portland Winterhawks
Kelowna Rockets left wing Gabriel Szturc (right) vs. the Portland Winterhawks
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets will be looking to expand on their six-game point streak on Saturday when they'll host the Portland Winterhawks at 7:05 p.m.

It's the final regular-season meeting of the two this season.

Kelowna was supposed to play on Friday, January 7 against the Vancouver Giants, the WHL announced on Thursday the postponement of the game as a result of Giants players being added to the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List due to exhibiting symptoms or having tested positive for COVID-19.

The game will be rescheduled at a later date.

Season ticket holders are asked to save their home game #16 tickets for that future game.

Saturday's game against Portland will be played, please use your home game #17 ticket to enter the game.

The Rockets have been off since their last matchup on Sunday in Langley against Vancouver. Kelowna's five-game win streak was snapped by the Giants, but the team battled back to pick up a point in overtime.

After back-to-back Rocket goals by Gabriel Szturc, Kelowna trailed by a goal heading into the third period. Jake Lee posted his 100th point with an assist on Colton Dach's game-tying goal that forced overtime. Lee nailed the post ten seconds into overtime, the play then shifted to the Rockets zone where Zack Ostapchuk ended things just 30 seconds into the extra frame, jamming the game-winner past Talyn Boyko.

Portland arrived in Canada on Thursday afternoon. The Winterhawks were set to play the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night in Kamloops, but that game was postponed.

Portland was last in action on January 1, where they topped the Everett Silvertips 7-6 in a shootout.

The Rockets will be without Nolan Flamand for the next 4-6 weeks, the centreman is listed as out with a lower-body injury. Flamand currently sits third in team scoring with 24 points (5G, 19A) through 29 games.

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

Portland and Kelowna last played on November 20, where the Winterhawks snapped the Rockets longest point-streak of the season with a 4-2 win at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Winterhawks zipped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening frame, it was all the Hawks needed to snap the Rockets eight-game point streak as they became the first team to beat Kelowna in regulation since the Vancouver Giants on October 29. Kelowna's power play couldn't get things going, with the Winterhawks shutting down all six Rockets attempts. The Rockets penalty killers stopped the four attempts that Portland had with the man advantage. Colton Dach and Turner McMillen were the Rockets goal scorers.

TICKETS

With capacity at 50 percent, limited single-game tickets remain.

Tickets for Saturday's game and all other Rockets games are available at selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050. Select Your Tickets is open 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and opens at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday home game days.

WHO TO WATCH

KELOWNA

After being a healthy scratch the game before, Gabriel Szturc posted a pair of goals against the Vancouver Giants on Sunday. The rookie import winger now has 18 points (6G, 12A) on the season through 28 games.

Adam Kydd is expected to make his debut with the Rockets this weekend. He was acquired along with a conditional draft pick on Wednesday from the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for Steel Quiring. The 19-year-old forward appeared in 30 games for the Hitmen this season, posting 19 points (4G, 15A) and 12 penalty minutes.

PORTLAND

Portland beefed up their net by adding overage netminder Taylor Gauthier in a trade with the Prince George Cougars. He has yet to make his debut after being acquired.

Buffalo Sabres prospect Tyson Kozak leads the Hawks in scoring with 31 points (13G, 18A) through 31 games this season.

B.C. DIVISION STANDINGS

# Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 Kamloops Blazers 31 21 9 1 0 43

2 Kelowna Rockets 29 16 9 1 3 36

3 Vancouver Giants 32 15 16 1 0 31

4 Victoria Royals 30 12 14 4 0 28

5 Prince George Cougars 32 13 17 1 1 28

as of Friday afternoon

U.S. DIVISION STANDINGS

# Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS

1 Everett Silvertips 33 23 6 2 2 50

2 Seattle Thunderbirds 31 19 9 3 0 41

3 Portland Winterhawks 31 16 11 3 1 36

4 Spokane Chiefs 30 10 17 2 1 23

5 Tri-City Americans 29 9 16 4 0 22

as of Friday afternoon

SEASON SERIES vs POR (0-1-0-2)

Nov. 5 vs Portland 5-4 SOL

Nov. 19 @ Portland 6-5 SOL

Nov. 20 @Portland 4-2 L

Jan. 8 vs Portland 7:05 PM

ONLINE 50/50

The Kelowna Rockets online 50/50 is back for the 2021-22 season!

The online 50/50 will give fans in Rockets fans located in British Columbia 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 SHEETS + GAME DAY PROGRAM

Due to Covid-19 protocols, printed lineup sheets will not be available at games for fans this season. They can be accessed online in the game day program.

The program will be uploaded by 3 p.m. on game day.

JDS PROJECTED LINEUP

The Rockets will post the JDS Mining Projected Lineup complete with line combos at least half an hour prior to puck drop for all games this season. You will be able to find the graphic on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram stories.

WATCH AND LISTEN

You can watch all Rockets games on WHL Live on CHL TV. More are details available by visiting watch.CHL.ca.

You can also listen to the game on AM1550.

The current B.C. Provincial Health restrictions allow for 50% capacity at Prospera Place. All fans attending will need to abide by the BC Provincial Health Authority, Prospera Place and the Western Hockey League's recently announced COVID-19 health and safety requirements which includes masks, double vaccination and their BC vaccine card.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets left wing Gabriel Szturc (right) vs. the Portland Winterhawks
Kelowna Rockets left wing Gabriel Szturc (right) vs. the Portland Winterhawks
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2022


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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