WHL Kelowna Rockets

Rockets Weekend Preview

Published on November 22, 2018 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets LW Nolan Foote vs. the Victoria Royals
Kelowna Rockets LW Nolan Foote vs. the Victoria Royals
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Marissa Baecker)

The Kelowna Rockets are looking to pick up a couple more wins when they play this weekend. They'll host their divisional rival, the Victoria Royals Friday night before heading down to the United States to play the Everett Silvertips Saturday night at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Kelowna is looking to build onto their two-game win streak; they last played Wednesday night when they defeated the Regina Pats 3-2. Lane Zablocki says the team needs to keep doing what they've been doing recently.

"We need to take it game by game," said Zablocki. "We have to go into the game with the same mindset that we've had lately and stick to our structure. We need to trust in our systems, that will create lots of offence for us. The key thing is that we need to put our nose to the grindstone."

Zablocki was acquired in a trade from the Royals earlier this season, he says that he's looking forward to facing his former team.

"It will be a fun game. I know when I was in Victoria coming to Kelowna was never a good time, it was always a battle. I'm going to make it as tough for them as possible, I'm going to play to my strengths and our structure. Hopefully, the outcome will be positive," said Zablocki.

Tomorrow nights game is the fourth time the that the Rockets will play the Royals this season. They previously met on October 5th in Kelowna where Victoria skated away with a 4-3 victory. The Rockets travelled to the British Columbia's Capital for back to back games on October 19th and 20th where the Rockets exploded with offence winning the first game 8-2 and the second 5-1. The two clubs will play each other four more times this season; December 7th and January 25th in Kelowna and back to back games in Victoria on February 18th and 19th.

Kelowna heads into Wednesday nights contest with a record of 10-13-1-0 and 21 points, they're tied for Prince George for third in the B.C. Division. The Rockets are three points ahead of the fifth-place Kamloops Blazers and three points back of the second place Victoria Royals. They trail the division-leading Vancouver Giants by 11 points, the Giants own a record of 15-6-2-0.

After Friday nights game is done, the Rockets will pack up and head south to face the Everett Silvertips for the first time this season. Everett will be well rested, they have Friday night off. The Silvertips took last seasons season series 3-0-0-1. After this weekend the two teams will only see each other three more times this season. They'll play in Kelowna again on January 9th, in Everett on January 18th and back at Prospera on February 15th.

Everett sits first in the U.S. Division with 35 points, they have a record of 17-7-1-0.

Tickets for Friday nights game are available on selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050.

Check out the Kelowna Rockets Statistics

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Images from this story

Kelowna Rockets LW Nolan Foote vs. the Victoria Royals
Kelowna Rockets LW Nolan Foote vs. the Victoria Royals
(Marissa Baecker)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from November 22, 2018


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