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WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets To Play Twice At Home This Weekend

November 2, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets face the Victoria Royals
Kelowna Rockets face the Victoria Royals
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

After having the week off, the Kelowna Rockets will be looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses over the weekend. They'll host the Victoria Royals on Friday, the Red Deer Rebels and former Rocket Elias Carmichael will then make their lone visit of the season on Saturday.

The Rockets had their four-game win streak snapped last Friday in an 8-5 loss to the Spokane Chiefs. Jake Pilon started the game for the Rockets, he made five saves on eight shots before being replaced 16:17 into the game. Jari Kykkanen turned aside 18 of the 21 shots he faced in relief. Andrew Cristall recorded two goals en route to earning second-star honors of the night.

The next night the Rockets made their first trip to Wenatchee, where the Wild were able to extinguish any offensive effort from the WHL's third-highest-scoring team, including killing off seven Rocket power plays. With the 4-0 win, Wenatchee extended their win streak to five games.

WELL RESTED ROYALS

Just like the Rockets, the Royals did not have a midweek game this week. Last weekend they faced the Vancouver Giants in a home-and-home series, where they picked up a 3-2 win on Friday in Langley, but fell 3-2 to Vancouver the next night on home ice.

Victoria will be without 2022 third-overall pick Cole Reschny, who is away at the 2023 World Under-17 Challenge representing Canada Red.

BC ROAD TRIPPING REBELS

The Rebels also did not have a midweek game. Over the weekend they defeated the CHL's number one ranked Portland Winterhawks 2-1 on home ice before falling 7-4 to the Calgary Hitmen the next night.

The Rebels will kick off their BC Division road trip on Friday night in Kamloops before heading to Kelowna on Saturday.

THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET

VICTORIA

The Kelowna Rockets evened up the season series with a 6-3 victory over the Victoria Royals last Wednesday on October 26 at Prospera Place.

The Rockets jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period, but the Royals tied things up before the end of the opening twenty. The two traded goals in the second before the Rockets retook the lead heading into the third period, where they added two more unanswered goals.

Max Graham was named the game's first star after recording two goals, including the eventual game-winner. Andrew Cristall pushed his point streak to eight games as he earned the second star of the game with a goal and two assists. Jari Kykkanen made 27 saves on 30 shots to pick up his sixth win of the season.

RED DEER

This is the first and only meeting between Red Deer and Kelowna this season.

Last season the Rockets made the trip to Red Deer, where they fell 5-1 to the Rebels on February 25, 2023 at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Red Deer's last visit to Kelowna was on February 2, 2020, where they topped the Rockets 3-2.

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.

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

Marcus Pacheco's lower-body injury time has been bumped up on this week's injury report to one-to-two weeks, he has been out with a lower-body injury

Ethan Neutens missed the Rockets last game with an upper-body injury, he is listed out day-to-day

PLAYERS TO WATCH

KELOWNA

Andrew Cristall is three points away from 200 career WHL points, the 18-year-old has appeared in 142 games for Kelowna over the last four seasons.

Ty Hurley recorded a goal and an assist in the Rockets loss on Saturday to the Spokane Chiefs.

VICTORIA

Ben Riche has recorded seven points in ten games since being acquired by the Royals from the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 18-year-old forward posted a hat trick against the Rockets on October 9.

Nineteen-year-old forward Tanner Scott leads the Royals in scoring with 18 points (5G, 13A) through fourteen games.

RED DEER

Kalan Lind was drafted 46th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old forward is the younger brother of former Kelowna Rocket Kole Lind.

Twenty-year-old defenceman Elias Carmichael will make his first trip back to Prospera Place as a member of the Rebels. Carmichael was selected by the Rockets in the second round of the 2018 WHL Prospects Draft and spent four seasons with Kelowna, he was traded to Red Deer in May.

SEASON RECORDS

vs ROYALS

Oct. 9 vs VIC - 9-7 loss

Oct. 25 vs VIC - 6-3 win

Nov. 3 vs VIC - 7:05 pm

Nov. 13 @ VIC - 3:05 pm

Nov. 14 @ VIC - 7:05 pm

Feb 7 vs VIC - 7:05 pm

Feb. 16 @ VIC 7:05 pm

Feb. 17 @ VIC 6:05 pm

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.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics




Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets face the Victoria Royals
Kelowna Rockets face the Victoria Royals
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from November 2, 2023


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