Cardinal Sport Preview: Rockets take on Cougars in final game before Christmas break
Following the team’s Teddy Bear Toss game on December 14 against Wenatchee, the Kelowna Rockets will host the Prince George Cougars in the final game before the Christmas break on December 17th at Prospera Place.
The Rockets will come back from the break on December 28th when they host the Kamloops Blazers. Kelowna will then travel for a pair of road games to wrap up the month on December 29th in Vancouver and December 31st in Wenatchee.
COUGARS
The Cougars come into the matchup having split their weekend matchups with Portland and Spokane. The Winterhawks defeated Prince George on Friday in a 4-1 win at Veterans Memorial Coliseum before bouncing back and beating the Spokane Chiefs 3-1.
ROCKETS ROSTER AND INJURY UPDATE
The Rockets will have some changes to their line up as Caden Price was named to Canada’s National Junior Team and will be participating at the 2025 World Juniors while Jakub Stancl and Marek Rocak are with Czechia at their training camp ahead of the tournament which begins on December 26th. In a corresponding move, Kelowna recalled 2007-born defenceman Lachlan Staniforth as well as 2008-born forward Eli Barrett.
The Rockets will also be out with star forward Tij Iginla for the remainder of the season as it was announced on December 4th that he underwent successful hip surgery which would sideline him for the rest of the campaign. In 21 games this season Iginla had 14 goals and 32 points.
ROCKETS TO WATCH
- Affiliate player Eli Barrett suited up in his first two WHL games over the weekend, registering an assist in his first game on Friday against Tri-City.
- Connor Pankratz tallied his first career WHL goal on December 8th against Victoria. The 18-year-old forward has two points on the season.
COUGARS TO WATCH
- Koehn Ziemmer has been nearly unstoppable since his return to the Cougars, posting 22 goals in 24 games to go along with 34 points in those games which is good for fourth on the team.
- Hunter Laing will have a number of family and friends in attendance for this game as the Kelowna native is playing in his hometown for the second time this season. He has 20 points in 29 games so far this season.
THE LAST TIME THESE TWO MET
The two teams last met in a thriller on November 16th in Prince George. Caden Price opened the scoring 1:45 into the game while Tij Iginla, Jakub Stancl also scored to strike Kelowna out to a 3-1 lead. Prince George scored three straight goals to take the lead but the Rockets answered with two goals late in the third as Michael Cicek tied the game and Andrew Cristall scored the winner less than 30 seconds later for a 5-4 win.
SEASON RECORD
- Oct. 1 vs PG • 5-2 L
- Nov. 15 at PG • 4-3 L
- Nov. 16 at PG • 5-4 W
- Dec. 17 vs PG • @ 7:05 PM
- Jan. 10 vs PG • @ 7:05 PM
- Feb. 7 vs PG • @ 7:05 PM
- Feb. 25 at PG • @ 7:00 PM
- Feb. 26 at PG • @ 7:00 PM
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.
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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.
The Kelowna Rockets are now offering half season tickets for the remainder of the season. Tickets will get you great seats for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign and guarantees your chance to renew for next season which will include the first option to purchase Memorial Cup packages. Those interested in tickets can contact Gavin Hamilton at 250-979-0851 or [email protected].
