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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets To Play Back-To-Back Mid Week Games

December 12, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (right)
Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (right)
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Kelowna Rockets will continue their east division road trip as their schedule ramps up with four games in five games. They'll visit Moose Jaw on Tuesday, Brandon on Wednesday, Prince Albert on Friday and Saskatoon on Saturday before heading into the holiday break. All start times are set for 5:00 pm PT.

Coming off a win

Kelowna opened their five-game visit to the Prairies with a 5-4 victory over the Regina Pats on Saturday night. There were no travel legs as captain Gabriel Szturc opened the scoring 1:00 into the game, he would pick up third-star honours after recording a goal and an assist. Hiroki Gojsic and Tij Iginla both posted two-goal nights, with Iginla earning the second star of the game after recording the game-winner. Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen made 28 saves on 32 shots, picking up his eleventh win of the campaign.

Prairie Players

This road trip will offer a handful of the Rockets from Saskatchewan and Manitoba their first chance to play in front of their friends and family, players on the Rockets roster from those provinces include:

- Will Munro - Swan River, MB

- Michael Cicek - Winnipeg, MB

- Trae Johnson - Martensville, SK

- Caden Price - Saskatoon, SK

A look at the Warriors

Entering the week, Moose Jaw sits second in the East Division with a record of 17-12-0-2. They'll be looking to snap a three-game skid that saw the Warriors fall 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday to Brandon and then be topped 4-3 by the Division leading Saskatoon Blades on Saturday.

Moose Jaw will be without Seattle Kraken prospect Jagger Firkus, Columbus Blue Jackets 2022 12th overall pick Denton Mateychuk and Pittsburgh Penguins 2023 14th overall selection Brayden Yager, who were selected to attend Hockey Canada's World Junior Selection Camp.

A look at the Wheaties

The Wheat Kings welcome the Kamloops Blazers to Westoba Place on Saturday, extending their win streak to five games with a 6-2 victory.

Brandon will be without captain Nate Danielson, Detroit's ninth overall pick in the 2023 Draft has departed to attend Hockey Canada's World Junior Selection Camp.

It's been a while

It's Kelowna's first road trip out to Saskatchewan and Manitoba to see the East Division teams since the 2019-20 season. Due to the Hub Season and Covid restrictions, the eastern and western conference teams had not faced one another since before March 2020. The two conferences faced each other for the first time last year, with the East Division teams making the trip out to BC.

Last season Moose Jaw made the trip to Prospera Place, where they downed the Rockets 4-3 on November 26, 2022. The Rockets last trip to the Moose Jaw Events Centre was December 14, 2019, where they won 5-4 in overtime.

On October 19, 2022 the Wheat Kings blanked Kelowna 3-0 at Prospera Place. The last time they visited Westoba Place, on December 10, 2019, Kelowna defeated Brandon 2-1 in a shootout.

ROCKETS ROSTER UPDATES

- Fifteen-year-old Owen Folstrom has joined the team for the trip as an affiliate player, he made his WHL debut on Saturday against the Pats

- Ben Thornton remains out indefinitely with an upper-body injury

- Trae Johnson made his return to the lineup on Saturday after missing six games with an upper-body injury

- Ismail Abougouche and Kayden Longley are no longer listed on this week's weekly report and could make their return to the lineup on Tuesday

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

PLAYERS TO WATCH

KELOWNA

- Twenty-year-old Kayden Sadhra-Kang will have the chance to face his former team, the Brandon Wheat Kings, for the first time on Wednesday. As of Monday, the defenceman has appeared in two games for the Rockets posting an assist and a +4 plus/minus as well as two penalty minutes.

BRANDON

- Goaltender Carson Bjarnason was drafted in the second round (no. 51) by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2023 NHL Draft. As of Monday, the netminder has an 11-6-3-1 record, with a 3.17 GAA and .903 SV% and one shutout.

MOOSE JAW

- Seventeen-year-old winger Lynden Lakovic is a product of West Kelowna, BC. Entering Monday, he has 18 points (9G, 9A) through 31 games this season.

SEASON RECORDS

vs MOOSE JAW

- Dec. 12 at MJ

vs BRANDON

- Dec. 13 at BDN

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

vs WARRIORS

This is the only meeting between the two this season.

vs WHEAT KINGS

This is the only meeting between the two this season.

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.

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 centre Gabriel Szturc (right)
Kelowna Rockets centre Gabriel Szturc (right)
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2023


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