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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets crush Vancouver in Regular Season Finale

March 18, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Dillon Dube of the Kelowna Rockets scores against the Vancouver Giants
Dillon Dube of the Kelowna Rockets scores against the Vancouver Giants
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Marissa Baecker)

The Kelowna Rockets closed out the 2017-2018 regular season with an 8-1 win over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night at Prospera Place.

With just over five minutes to play in the first frame Libor Zabransky(2) opened the scoring with a nice snap shot that beat Giants goaltender Trent Miner low on the blocker side. Kelowna led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

6:16 into the middle frame Leif Mattson(24) made it 2-0 Rockets. Then at 10:50 Dillon Dube(37) hit a milestone, ripping home his 100th career Western Hockey League goal, making it 3-0 Kelowna. Six minutes later Vancouver got on the board as Milos Roman notched his 10th, but the Rockets would reply right back, scoring two goals 22 seconds apart in the final two minutes of the period to give the Rockets a commanding 5-1 lead heading into the third period. The late goals came from Gordie Ballhorn(7) and Kyle Topping(22).

Just over six minutes into the final frame of the regular season Dube(38) added his second of the evening to extend the Rockets lead to 6-1. Mattson(25) added his second of the night shorthanded at 13:05 for Kelowna's 17th shorthanded goal of the season. Kole Lind(39) added a power play marker at 17:10 and the Rockets downed the Giants 8-1.

The Rockets enjoyed multi-point evenings from Dillon Dube(2G, 2A), Leif Mattson(2G, 2A), Kole Lind(1G, 1A), Kyle Topping(1G, 1A), Gordie Ballhorn(1G, 1A), Marek Skvrne(2A), and Liam Kindree(2A).

James Porter closes out the regular season with a record of 22-9-4-1 after stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced. Kelowna outshot the Giants 44-22.

Kelowna finishes the regular season with a record of 43-22-5-2. The Rockets finish the 2017-2018 regular season as B.C. Division champs finishing with a total of 93 points, nine ahead of the second place Victoria Royals, and 11 ahead of the third place Vancouver Giants.

It was a special night as it was CIBC Fan Night. One lucky fan went home with $500 thanks to winning the Percy Penguin toss. CIBC also matched that amount and donated it to the Kelowna SPCA. It was also Jersey Off the Back night! Fans entered all year long, and the lucky winners went home with the special edition St. Patrick's Day themed jerseys sponsored by Bekins Moving & Storage worn this evening by Kelowna.

Join the Rockets tomorrow afternoon at the 2018 Kelowna Rockets Awards Ceremony. From 2:00-3:30 fans will have a chance to spend some time with the Rockets players during the catered reception, then from 3:30-4:30 catch all the Rockets award winners of the 2017-2018 regular season. Tickets are $25.00/Adult, Kids 12 and under are $15.00. To purchase tickets contact Anne-Marie Hamilton at 250-979-0853 or via email at annyh@kelownarockets.com

The Rockets enter the 2018 WHL Playoffs for game one on Thursday, March 22nd and game two on Saturday, March 24th at Prospera Place when they host the Tri-City Americans in round one!

The full first round schedule is as follows:

Game 1 Tri-City @ Kelowna Thursday, March 22 7:05

Game 2 Tri-City @ Kelowna Saturday, March 24 7:05

Game 3 Kelowna @ Tri-City Wednesday, March 28 7:05

Game 4 Kelowna @ Tri-City Thursday, March 29 7:05

Game 5 * Tri-City @ Kelowna Saturday, March 31 7:05

Game 6 * Kelowna @ Tri-City Sunday, April 1 5:05

Game 7 * Tri-City @ Kelowna Tuesday, April 3 7:05

Tickets are available now for games one and two now!

Tickets are available for Rockets home games through selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Dillon Dube of the Kelowna Rockets scores against the Vancouver Giants
Dillon Dube of the Kelowna Rockets scores against the Vancouver Giants
(Marissa Baecker)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2018


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