Sports stats



WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets To Open Round Two In Prince George This Weekend

April 11, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets take on the Prince George Cougars
Kelowna Rockets take on the Prince George Cougars
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets and Prince George Cougars will meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2011 when they open their round two matchup on Friday at the CN Centre in Prince George on Friday.

The Rockets swept the Cougars in the 2011 playoffs. Prince George defeated Kelowna 4-1 in their only other playoff meeting in 2000.

The Western Conference-leading Cougars have been off since April 3, when they completed a sweep of the Spokane Chiefs, while it took Kelowna six games to down the higher-seeded Wenatchee Wild.

"It was an exciting first round, we faced some adversity which I think was good for our group," said Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen in an interview post practice with kelownarockets.com earlier this week. "Especially going in against Prince Geroge, we needed to learn how to battle back and be in those kind of situations where we'e down but not out."

The Rockets will be without Luke Schelter for the first two games of the series and he sits out the remainder of his three game suspension.

The Cougars and Rockets were the two top-scoring B.C. Division teams in the 2023-24 regular season with dynamic talents like recent Washington Capitals signing Zac Funk and Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt taking on another Caps prospect in Andrew Cristall and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Gabriel Szturc.

"We know the Cougars, we've played them a lot this year," said Michael Cicek in an interview post practice with kelownarockets.com earlier this week. "I think to be successful, we really have to dial in our systems and shut them down through the neutral zone. We've got to minimize our turn overs, that's big because they're a huge transition team. If we capitalize on our chances and do everything to minimize their chances, I think we're going to have success."

It's also a tilt between two of the top draft-eligible players expected to be selected by NHL teams this June, with Tij Iginla ranked 11th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting and Terik Parascak slotted in at 14th.

Prince George owned a 6-1-0-1 record against Kelowna in the regular season, though six of the games were decided by a single goal and three required overtime or a shootout.

"To be successful, we need to stay disciplined," said Dylan Wightman in an interview post practice with kelownarockets.com earlier this week. "They've got one of the best power plays in the league and I think it just comes down to use playing our team game. If we play the way that we can play

2023-24 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

October 3, 2023- Kelowna 2, Prince George 3

October 4, 2023- Kelowna 1, Prince George 8

October 13, 2023- Prince George 4, Kelowna 5

November 18, 2023- Prince George 5- Kelowna 4

January 12, 2024- Kelowna 2, Prince George 5

January 13, 2024- Kelowna 3- Prince George 2 (SO)

February 24, 2024- Prince George 6- Kelowna5 (SO)

March 13, 2024- Prince George 6, Kelowna 5 (OT)

GAMES THREE AND FOUR NEXT WEEK IN KELOWNA

The Rockets will return home next week to host the Cougars on Tuesday, April 16 and Wednesday, April 17 at 7:05 pm at Prospera Place. Single game tickets for both games are now on sale at Select Your Tickets.

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

Injury updates are not provided in the playoffs

SERIES SCHEDULE

Game Date Visitor Home Time

1 Friday, April 12 Kelowna Prince George 7:00 p.m. PST

2 Saturday, April 13 Kelowna Prince George 6:00 p.m. PST

3 Tuesday, April 16 Prince George Kelowna 7:05 p.m. PST

4 Wednesday, April 17 Prince George Kelowna 7:05 p.m. PST

5* Friday, April 19 Kelowna Prince George 7:00 p.m. PST

6* Sunday, April 21 Prince George Kelowna 2:05 p.m. PST

7* Tuesday, April 23 Kelowna Prince George 7:00 p.m. PST

*-If necessary

GAME BREAKERS

Prince George Cougars: Washington Capitals prospect Zac Funk led the league in goals and sat second in points during the regular season and continued to roll into playoffs. Funk is tied for second in the WHL in points-per-game in the postseason with three goals and five assists in four outings after Prince George's sweep of Spokane. Funk found the scoresheet in every match in Round One, highlighted by a two-goal, two-assist effort in Game 3. The veteran from Coldstream, B.C. also netted the series-winning goal on the powerplay. Funk had eight goals and four assists for 12 points in four games against the Rockets in the regular season, including a hat trick on February 24.

Kelowna Rockets: Tij Iginla rolls into Round Two after making history for the Rockets by tying the franchise record for most goals in a playoff series with eight against the Wenatchee Wild. The top 2024 NHL Draft prospect is tied with his teammate Andrew Cristall for second in points in the playoffs with 11 and scored a hat trick in Game 1 against the Wild. The youngster has come in clutch with a postseason game-tying goal to force overtime, a game-winner, and an assist on Cristall's series-clinching tally in Game 6. Iginla also excelled against the Cougars in the regular season with a team-leading five goals and an additional four assists in six matches against the B.C. Division rivals.

GOALTENDING

Prince George Cougars: Standout rookie Joshua Ravensbergen went perfect in Round One with a 3-0-0-0 record, improving on his regular-season totals with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. However, his fellow Cougars netminder Ty Young, who played the series-clinching Game 4 against the Chiefs, got the bulk of the starts against the Rockets in the regular season. Ravensbergen went 2-0-0-1 against the Rockets and was pulled on March 13, though the Cats would eke out an overtime win. Young went 4-1-0-0 against Kelowna with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .885 save percentage.

Kelowna Rockets: Veteran Jari Kykkanen made fantastic save after save to help the Rockets ward off Wenatchee in their quarterfinal matchup, making the second-most saves of any WHL goaltender in the 2024 playoffs with 175. The Lloydminster Alta. product has a 2.86 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage through six playoff games. Kykkanen went 2-1-1-1 against the Cougars and was pulled once during the regular season, averaging 4.13 goals against and a .886 save percentage. He was named third star of the night on October 13 after stopping 35 Cougars shots in a 5-4 win and first star in a 3-2 shootout victory that saw him stop 34 attempts.

X-FACTOR

Prince George Cougars: Rookie of the Year nominee Terik Parascak currently leads all rookies in playoff scoring with four goals and two assists in four games. The top 2024 NHL Draft prospect scored a hat trick in his postseason debut (including the game-winning goal) and followed it up with an empty net goal in game two and a pair of assists to complete the series win in Game 4. The Lethbridge, Alta. product also filled the net against Kelowna in the regular season with six goals and six assists for 12 points in eight games.

Kelowna Rockets: Seattle Kraken prospect Kaden Price is one of the most generous guys in the WHL right now. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound defenceman is tied with his teammate Andrew Cristall with eight assists, and his nine goals lead all blueliners in the postseason. Seven of his points have come at even strength, although Price has combined with Cristall and Iginla for some dynamic powerplay goals. The mobile defender averaged a point-per-game against Prince George in the regular season with two goals and four assists.

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.

Fans can watch the Rockets next at Prospera Place on April 16 and 17 when Kelowna hosts the Cougars for games three and four of their best of seven series.

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.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets take on the Prince George Cougars
Kelowna Rockets take on the Prince George Cougars
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2024


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.

OurSports Central