WHL Wenatchee Wild

Wenatchee Wild Season Concludes with 4-2 Loss at Kelowna Sunday

April 7, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Graham Sward and Kelowna Rockets' Michael Cicek on game night
Wenatchee Wild's Graham Sward and Kelowna Rockets' Michael Cicek on game night
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Kelowna Rockets)

KELOWNA, British Columbia - Looking ahead to next year is always exciting, but it involves reaching a day no team looks forward to: the end of the current season.

Wenatchee reached the end of its first Western Hockey League season Sunday afternoon, taking a 4-2 loss to the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place in a first-round playoff matinee. The Rockets closed out a six-game classic with the win, and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, set to begin next weekend against the Prince George Cougars.

Andrew Cristall opened the scoring for the Rockets at 8:54 of the first period, sending a one-timer to the net after a cross-ice pass from Kayden Sadhra-Kang. Wenatchee kept the gap to a goal until just before the halfway mark of the second period, when Michael Cicek slid a pass to the post for a tap-in from Tij Iginla for a 2-0 Rockets cushion.

With 6:18 left in the period, the gap went back to a single goal - Ty Fraser skated the puck into the Kelowna zone on the right wing before sending it across to Maddix McCagherty, and his left-wing snap beat Rockets goalie Jari Kykkanen to cut the advantage to 2-1.

Kelowna did its best to put the game away in the third, starting at the 5:34 mark - Iginla took control of a Wild turnover and tapped a pass back to Cristall, who batted home his chance for a 3-1 Rockets lead. Both teams picked up goals in the final minutes with the Wenatchee net open - Max Graham ran the puck inside the Wild blue line before scoring into the empty net with 3:56 left. With 2:08 to go, Graham Sward's shot from the top of the zone was blocked, and Evan Friesen hammered it home on the doorstep for the last goal of the series.

"I thought the guys battled hard," said Wenatchee head coach Roy Sommer. "All the way to when it was 4-1, no one threw their sticks in. Everyone battled, and I thought we deserved a better fate. I thought we outplayed them again tonight, but we had a turnover and the puck always seemed like it was on the wrong guy's stick, like Cristall or Iginla, and it was in the back of our net. It was a good series - I think the guys learned a lot from it, and they'll be better for it next year."

Cristall had two goals and an assist, while Iginla finished with a goal and two helpers. Kykkanen had 34 saves to earn the win. Kelowna finished a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, but came up empty on both of their power play chances.

For the Wild, Sward and Briley Wood each picked up assists on the final goal of Wenatchee's season, as they each saw their junior careers conclude with Sunday's game. Wood closed out the six-game series with an incredible 12 points, leading all scorers in the opening round of the WHL playoffs, while Sward ended his WHL run with 199 points over 278 regular-season and postseason outings. Karter Prosofsky also finished his WHL career Sunday, but did not post a point in his final appearance. Daniel Hauser made 29 saves to take the loss for Wenatchee.

The Wild saw their season conclude with 36 wins across a memorable regular season and postseason.

Season tickets are on sale for the 2024-25 campaign - updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team's website and on the team's social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild's Graham Sward and Kelowna Rockets' Michael Cicek on game night
Wenatchee Wild's Graham Sward and Kelowna Rockets' Michael Cicek on game night
(Kelowna Rockets)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from April 7, 2024


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