Cardinal Sport Preview: Rockets host Victoria before heading to Everett
After having a chance to reset following Saturday’s home opening loss to the Portland Winterhawks, the Kelowna Rockets will welcome the Victoria Royals to Prospera Place for the first time this season on Friday September 27 before heading off to Everett on Sunday, September 29 for their first road game of the new season.
The Rockets opened their 2024-25 campaign with a 5-3 loss to the Portland Winterhawks. Portland raced out to a three-goal lead early in the contest but goals from Owen Folstrom, Ethan Mittelsteadt, and Levi Benson brought the game back on even terms. Folstrom and Benson’s tallies were their first in the Western Hockey League.
Portland would pull ahead for good when Diego Buttazzoni scored 26 seconds into the third period to go up 4-3 before Tyson Yaremko added the insurance marker with his second of the game.
Victoria began their season with two home games against the Tri-City Americans, with both games ending 5-4 in overtime. Victoria took the opener thanks to a two-goal performance from rookie defenceman Keaton Verhoeff before Tri-City won the rematch. Like Kelowna, Victoria didn’t have a weekday game but will play the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday.
Everett hosted the Vancouver Giants to kickstart their new season, falling 4-3 at Angel of the Winds Arena. They will host Portland on Saturday before seeing the Rockets on Sunday.
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. To view pricing and a seating map please click here.
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.
ROCKETS ROSTER UPDATES
The Rockets received a boost to the lineup when defenceman Caden Price (Seattle) and forwards Ethan Neutens (Los Angeles), Hiroki Gojsic (Nashville) and 2023 CHL Import Draft pick Jakub Stancl (St. Louis) were returned to the club from their respective NHL training camps.
Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall (Washington) and leading goal scorer Tij Iginla (Utah) both remain with their NHL teams as does forward Max Graham (New Jersey).
ROCKETS TO WATCH
Caden Price is likely to make his season debut on Friday against Victoria. The 19-year-old defenceman is the Rockets reigning Defenceman of the Year, an award he’s won in back-to-back season. Price led all Kelowna blueliners last season with 55 points in 62 games and will be a minute-muncher in the Rockets defence group.
Owen Folstrom made his presence known on Saturday as the rookie forward recorded his first career Western Hockey League goal against the Winterhawks, while also recording five shots on goal.
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.chl.ca for complete details and subscription options.
ONLINE 50/50
The Kelowna Rockets online 50/50 is back for the 2024-25 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.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the online 50/50 and purchase tickets.
LINEUP SHEET + GAME DAY PROGRAM
Printed lineup sheets will not be available at games this season, they can be accessed online by visiting the game day program.
The Game Day Program will be available in the same spot, it comes complete with game notes, stats, team rosters and entry forms for the Rockets intermission contests.
The sheet and program will be uploaded by 3:00 p.m. on game days.
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.
