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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Preview: Winterhawks At Rockets

January 16, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets defenceman Landon Cowper
Kelowna Rockets defenceman Landon Cowper
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets will look to make it eight straight wins on home ice when they host the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday night.

Wednesday's game is a Fan First Menu game that will feature $2 hot dogs and $5 Lucky Lager beers.

Kelowna was most recently in action on the road over the weekend, splitting their back-to-back games in Prince George. They fell 5-2 on Friday but were able to pick up a 3-2 shoot-out win on Saturday.

The Winterhawks played the Kamloops Blazers on Monday, handing them a 7-1 loss at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. They have picked up points in seven straight games and 12 of their last 13 games played.

Portland made a major splash at the trade deadline, acquiring Detroit Red Wings prospect and Team Canada World Junior member Nate Danielson from the Winterhawks. The ninth overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft has yet to make his debut with the Winterhawks.

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

Tij Iginla is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury

Carter Kowalyk is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury

The Rockets injury report is updated weekly and can be viewed here.

ROCKETS TO WATCH

Entering Wednesday, Gabriel Szturc sits at 173 career points. He's currently tied with Vaclav Varada, who set the Tacoma/Kelowna franchise record of 173 points scored by a European player back in 1996, seven years before Szturc was born.

Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall will enter the game riding a career-high twenty-one-game point streak that has seen him record 42 points (15G, 27A) over that span. He has been on the scoresheet for every game since November 11. Previously, his career-best point streak was 12 games set between Oct. 29, 2022 - Nov. 29, 2022, where he posted 30 points (11G, 19A).

SEASON RECORDS

vs WINTERHAWKS

Sept. 23 vs POR - 6-5 OTL

Jan. 17 vs POR - 7:05

Jan. 31 at POR - 7:00

Feb. 2 at POR - 7:00

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

The Kelowna Rockets opened their 2023-24 regular season schedule with a 6-5 overtime loss to the Portland Winterhawks on Sept. 23 at Prospera Place.

It was a high-scoring affair, that saw 2006-born goaltenders Jake Pilon and Luke Brunen both make their first WHL ever regular season starts.

Kelowna opened the scoring, but Portland quickly charged back to take the lead by the end of the first period Portland led 4-2. The Rockets responded with three unanswered goals to hold 5-4 lead just past the midway point of the third period, but the Winterhawks made another push to force the game into overtime, where Marcus Nguyen scored the game-winner.

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 2022-23 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




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets defenceman Landon Cowper
Kelowna Rockets defenceman Landon Cowper
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2024


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