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Tij Iginla Returned To Kelowna Rockets From Utah Hockey Club

October 2, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release


Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla
Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla
(Kelowna Rockets, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor)

The Utah Hockey Club announced today that 18-year-old forward Tij Iginla has been returned to the Kelowna Rockets for the 2024-25 season.

Iginla was selected by Utah with the sixth overall in this past June's NHL Draft in Las Vegas. He suited up in his first NHL preseason contest on Sunday when Utah travelled to Colorado to take on the Avalanche. He signed his three-year entry-level contract on July 11.

It's expected that he will be in the lineup on Wednesday night when the Rockets welcome the Prince George Cougars to Prospera Place on Wednesday, October 2. Tickets for Wednesday's game, as well as all other Rockets games, are available at Select Your Tickets. Puck drop for Friday night's contest is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

Iginla entered his second season in the Western Hockey League with Kelowna, after he was traded to the team from the Seattle Thunderbirds on June 7, 2023. The Lake Country, B.C. product suited up for 48 games (6-12-18) in his rookie season with the Thunderbirds in 2022-23, helping Seattle clinch the WHL Championship alongside current Utah forward Dylan Guenther.

The 6-foot, 195-pound forward put up 47 goals and 37 assists for 84 points and a +17 rating in 64 games in his sophomore WHL season. His 47 goals ranked sixth among all WHL skaters and his 84 points were the second-most on the Rockets only behind Andrew Cristall.

Iginla's production increased in the 2024 WHL Playoffs, where he netted nine goals and six assists for 15 points in 11 games, highlighted by a hat trick against the Wenatchee Wild in Game 1 of their first-round series. Iginla's career year earned him B.C. Division First All-Star Team honours.

On the international stage, Iginla powered Canada to a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF Under-18 World Championship in Finland, where he added another six goals and six assists in seven games- including the championship-clinching goal. He also captured a silver medal with Canada Red at the U-17 Hockey Challenge during the 2022-23 season. He posted seven points (2G, 5A) over seven games.

With Iginla, Hiroki Gojsic (Nashville), Caden Price (Seattle), Ethan Neutens (Los Angeles) and Jakub Stancl (St. Louis) returned to the Rockets, Andrew Cristall (Washington) and Max Graham (New Jersey), are the two Rockets who remain in NHL training camps.

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Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla
Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla
(Steve Dunsmoor)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from October 2, 2024


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