Preview: Rockets to close out 2022 with home-and-home series against Seattle

Seattle Thunderbirds at Kelowna Rockets

Date | Time	Fri., Dec. 30, 2022 | 7:05 pm
Tickets	Select Your Tickets
Video Stream	CHL TV
Radio	104.7 The Lizard
Live Stats	WHL Box Score
Live Updates	@Kelowna_Rockets Twitter

Kelowna Rockets at Seattle Thunderbirds

Date | Time	Sat., Dec. 31, 2022 | 6:05 pm
Video Stream	CHL TV
Radio	104.7 The Lizard
Live Stats	WHL Box Score
Live Updates	@Kelowna_Rockets Twitter
Next Game	Tue., Jan. 3 vs VIC – 7:05 pm

 

The Kelowna Rockets will close out the 2022 calendar year with their final two games of their season series against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday night.

Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm on Friday at Prospera and 6:05  pm on Saturday on the road in Kent.

Seattle held the top spot on the last two Kia CHL Top-10 Rankings for weeks eleven and twelve. They currently sit atop the western conference standings and are tied with the Winnipeg ICE for top spot in the league with 52 points, the T-Birds have a record of 25-4-1-1.

Thunderbirds Reid Schafer, Nolan Allan, Kevin Korchinski and Thomas Milic are also all representing Canada at the World Juniors.

The Kelowna Rockets dropped their third consecutive game, falling 6-2 to the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, BC. Tied at one after twenty minutes of play, the Blazers blew out of the gates with four goals straight in a span of 5:30 early in the second period. Carson Golder and Logan Peskett were the goal scorers for the Rockets. Jari Kykkanen made the start for the Rockets but was replaced by Talyn Boyko in the second after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Boyko turned aside 21 of the 23 shots fired at him.

Just like the Rockets, Seattle has a busy week back from the holiday break with four games in five nights. The Thunderbirds picked up a pair of wins with a 7-5 win over Spokane on Tuesday and a 6-5 win on Wednesday.

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Tickets

Single-game tickets for Saturday’s game and all other Rockets games are available at Select Your Tickets. Tickets can be purchased online through www.selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office, or by phone at 250-762-5050.

Mini Packs are now on sale for the 2022-23 season, pick from between a six or twelve-game pack. Click here to learn more about Mini Packs.

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The last time these two met

The Thunderbirds took a 2-0 lead in the season series against the Rockets with a 4-2 win back on November 23rd in Kent, WA.

Jared Davidson scored the opening two Seattle goals, with the Rockets catching up both times. Kyle Crnkovic scored the game-winner just past the midway point of the second period. Scott Ratzlaff made 22 saves on 24 shots.

Gabriel Szturc posted his ninth multipoint game of the season, recording two assists en route to earning third-star honours. Talyn Boyko stopped 20 of the 23 shots fired at him.

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Roster Updates

The Rockets will be without forwards Colton Dach, Adam Kydd and Gabriel Szturc

Both Dach (Canada) and Szturc (Czechia) are competing at the World Junior Championship.

Kydd remains sidelined with a lower-body injury.

Click here to view the Rockets Injury Report.

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Players to watch

Kelowna

• Sixteen-year-old rookie forward Logan Peskett is now tied for the team lead in rookie scoring with five points after scoring against the Blazers on Wednesday.

• Overage forward Carson Golder has nine points, including five goals, in his last six games.

• Dylan Wightman has recorded five points (2G, 3A) in his last five games.

Seattle

• Montreal Canadiens prospect Jared Davidson leads Seattle in scoring with 46 points (19G, 27A) through 27 games. The 20-year-old has recorded 16 career points (6G, 13A) against the Rockets.

• Lake Country, BC product Tij Iginla will probably have a few friends in the building on Friday. The 16-year-old was selected ninth overall in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, he’s recorded 12 points (2G, 10A) through 24 games this season.

• The T-Birds bolstered their blueline by acquiring the rights to Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop from the Edmonton Oil Kings on October 25. On November 8th the 20-year-old was returned to the WHL after starting the season with the Predators ECHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. He’s been limited to seven games this season but has recorded six points (2G, 4A) and 17 shots on goal.

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Series at a glance

2022-23 Season Series vs Kamloops

2022-23 Season Series vs SEA (0-2-0-0)

Oct. 7	vs Seattle	5-4 L
Nov. 23	@ Seattle	4-2 L
Dec. 30	vs Seattle	7:05 pm
Dec. 31	@ Seattle	7:05 pm

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Division Standings

BC Division standings as of Thursday morning

	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS
1	Kamloops Blazers	31	20	6	3	2	45
2	Vancouver Giants	35	13	16	4	2	32
3	Prince George Cougars	32	14	15	3	0	31
4	Kelowna Rockets	31	12	16	3	0	27
5	Victoria Royals	35	8	24	3	0	19

US Division standings as of Thursday morning

	TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	PTS
1	Seattle Thunderbirds	31	25	4	1	1	52
2	Portland Winterhawks	31	24	4	2	1	51
3	Everett Silvertips	32	16	15	1	0	33
4	Tri-City Americans	32	15	15	1	1	32
5	Spokane Chiefs	32	6	24	0	2	14

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.

Click here to download RocketFAN on Google Play

Click here to download RocketFAN on the App Store

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.staging.chl.ca for complete details and subscription options.

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