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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets To Host Oil Kings On Friday, Hit The Road On Saturday

January 4, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets take on the Wenatchee Wild
Kelowna Rockets take on the Wenatchee Wild
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets will be looking to continue their winning ways as they kick off the 2024 portion of the season schedule this weekend. Kelowna, who has won five straight on home ice, will kick off the weekend by hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings at Prospera Place at 7:05 pm. The Rockets will then hit the road on Saturday, visiting the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday at 6:00 pm.

A rare visit from the Oil Kings

The Oil Kings last visited Kelowna on November 26, 2019, where they downed the Rockets 1-0 in a shootout. Last season the two faced off for the first time since that game, with the Rockets repaying the Oil Kings with a 4-0 shutout at Rogers Place on February 24, 2023.

Edmonton opened their post-holiday schedule on the road to play their BC Division road trip, with a stop in Everett in between.

Dec. 27 at Prince George - 6-4 win

Dec. 29 at Vancouver - 5-3 win

Dec. 30 at Victoria - 4-3 ot loss

Jan. 1 at Everett - 6-5 win

Jan. 3 at Kamloops - 3-1 win

Jan 5 at Kelowna

Well rested Wild

The Wild hosted the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday night, where they fell 6-2 to the BC Division leaders. They'll have Friday night off before the Rockets arrive on Saturday.

As of Tuesday, the Wild lead the US Division with 49 points and a 23-12-3-0 record. With Canada eliminated at the World Junior Championship on Tuesday, Buffalo Sabres prospect Matthew Savoie and Arizona Coyotes prospect Conor Geekie could be back in the lineup on Saturday.

Calhoon to make his Rocket debut

Eighteen-year-old forward Brett Calhoon is expected to make his debut with the Rockets after being acquired along with a 2024 third-round pick, and a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for 2005-born forward Marcus Pacheco on Sunday.

A rookie in the Western Hockey League this season, the 2020 ninth-round pick has recorded seven points (2G, 5A) through 29 games, with one of those goals coming in his final game as Tiger on January 30.

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.

In addition, six and twelve-game Mini Packs for the Kelowna Rockets season are now on sale through Select Your Tickets. To learn how to save on walk-up tickets and use the flexibility of a Mini Pack click here.

ROCKETS ROSTER UPDATES

Ben Thornton remains out indefinitely with an upper-body injury

John Babcock left Saturday's game with a lower-body injury, he's listed day-to-day on this week's report

ROCKET TO WATCH

Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall will enter the game riding a career-high sixteen-game point streak that has seen him record 32 points (11G, 21A) over that span. Previously, his career-best point streak was 12 games set between Oct. 29, 2022 - Nov. 29, 2022, where he posted 30 points (11G, 19A).

OIL KING TO WATCH

Sixteen-year-old defenceman Blake Fiddler is the son of former Kelowna Rocket player and assistant coach Vern Fiddler. Blake was selected first overall by the Oil Kings in the 2022 US Priority Draft from the Dallas Elite Stars, where he was teammates with Rockets defenceman Jackson Gillespie.

WILD TO WATCH

Kenta Isogai is the Wild's leading scorer with 51 points (17G, 34A) through 36 games.

SEASON RECORD

vs OIL KINGS

Jan. 5 vs EDM - 7:05

vs WILD

Sept. 30 vs WEN - 5-3 win

Oct. 28 at WEN - 4-0 loss

Nov. 29 vs WEN - 5-4 ot win

Jan. 6 at WEN - 6:00 pm

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

vs EDMONTON

This is the lone meeting between the two this season.

vs WENATCHEE

Defenceman Marek Rocak lifted the Rockets past the Wenatchee Wild in overtime on November 30 at Prospera Place.

In their final visit of the regular season to Kelowna, the Wild were able to come back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the second period. The two then traded goals in the third period, which resulted in extra time to determine a winner.

Ethan Neutens recorded his first career multi-goal game to earn first-star honours. Jari Kykkanen made 30 saves on 34 shots to pick up his ninth win of the campaign.

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 2023-24 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 take on the Wenatchee Wild
Kelowna Rockets take on the Wenatchee Wild
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2024


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