Rockets Cruise Past Tri-City 7-2 on Family Day
WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets Cruise Past Tri-City 7-2 on Family Day

Published on February 16, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla
Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla
(Kelowna Rockets)

The Rockets delivered a dominant Family Day performance at Prospera Place, erupting for four first-period goals and never looking back in a 7-2 win over the Americans. Kelowna outshot Tri-City 49-25 and controlled the pace from start to finish, improving their momentum with another convincing victory on home ice. Tij Iginla had three points and Vojtech Cihar scored twice in the win.

BOXSCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | POST GAME: MARTIN

GAME SUMMARY

The Kelowna Rockets came out ready to play and jumped out to an early lead when Hayden Paupanekis slipped a perfect pass into the slot for Ryan Oothoudt (2), who made no mistake to give Kelowna a 1-0 lead at 5:05 of the first period. Parker Alcos picked up the second assist.

The Rockets' powerplay went to work later in the frame. At 14:19, Vojtech Cihar (5) finished off a crisp passing play with Tij Iginla and Shane Smith to double the lead.

Just over two minutes later, at 16:50, Keith McInnis delivered a beautiful feed to Hiroki Gojsic (19), who redirected it past the Americans' netminder. Alcos earned his second assist of the night on the play. Before the period ended, Iginla (30) capped off a dominant opening 20 minutes, finishing between the legs at 17:45. Ty Halaburda and Mazden Leslie recorded the assists as Kelowna took a commanding 4-0 lead into the intermission.

At 6:45 of the second period, Halaburda (25) picked off a Tri-City blueliner's pass and broke in alone, finishing on the breakaway to make it 5-0. The Tri-City Americans responded at 12:00 when Jakub Vanecek scored to cut the deficit to 5-1.

Kelowna answered late in the period. At 17:47, Cihar (6) buried a rebound off a Gojsic shot to restore the five-goal cushion, with Smith earning the assist. The Americans struck just 18 seconds later at 18:05, as Carter Kingerski (3) scored to make it 6-2 heading into the third.

In the final frame, Carson Wetsch delivered a beautiful saucer pass on a 2-on-1 to Iginla (31), who finished cleanly at 10:25 to extend the lead to 7-2. Nate Corbet picked up the secondary assist.

It was a dominant win for Kelowna, outshooting Tri-City 49-25 on the night.

In net, Josh Banini earned his second straight victory, stopping 23 of 25 shots. Special teams were sharp as well, with the powerplay going 1-for-3 and the penalty kill shutting down both Tri-City opportunities.

ADDITIONAL STATS

Shots on Goal: Kelowna 49 | Tri-City 25

Power Play: Kelowna 1/3 | Tri-City 1/2

Faceoffs: Kelowna 40 | Tri-City 32

UP NEXT

The Rockets will play a home-and-home two-game set against longtime rivals the Kamloops Blazers. The first game will be Friday, February 20th, at 7:00pm PST at the Sandman Center in Kamloops. That game is available for free on Victory+ and 104.7 The Lizard. The Rockets will then head back to the Prospera Place Saturday to play the Blazers at 6:05pm PST. Tickets for that game are available at selectyourtickets.com.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics

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Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets centre Ty Halaburda
Kelowna Rockets centre Ty Halaburda
 Kelowna Rockets goaltender Josh Banini
Kelowna Rockets goaltender Josh Banini
 Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla
Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla



Western Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2026


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