Kelowna Sand & Gravel Recap: Rockets fall in pre-season opener
The Kelowna Rockets opened their 2024 preseason schedule with a 9-3 loss to the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.
Fifteen-year-olds Owen Hayden, Nathan Cole and William Matte all saw their first game action with the Rockets. Levi Benson, Kalder Varga, Kanjyu Gojsic and Owen Folstrom also played for Kelowna. Veterans Landon Cowper, Max Graham, Luke Schelter, Tij Iginla, Ethan Nuetens, Andrew Cristall, Hiroki Gojsic, Caden Price, Carter Kowalyk, Marek Rocak and Jari Kykkanen were scratched for the pre-season opener.
GAME SUMMARY
Kamloops scored the games first four goals in the first period which featured four different goal scorers. Layton Feist got the scoring started under three minutes into the game and was followed by Oren Shtrom, Kai Matthews and Jordan Keller.
Levi Benson got Kelowna on the board 1:30 into the second period, with Jackson Gillespie getting the lone assist. Kamloops answered later in the period off a goal by Tommy Lafreniere to make it 5-1 but the Blazers four-goal lead was short lived as 16-year-old Jacob Henderson scored less than 30 seconds after the Lafreniere marker to make it 5-2.
Kamloops got on the board early in the third as Conner Radke got his first of the exhibition season. Oren Shtrom and and Tommy Lafreniere both scored their seconds of the night to make it 8-2. Nathan Behm made it 9-2 midway through the third period.
20-year-old Michael Cicek got his first goal of the pre-season to make it 9-3.
To view the box score from tonight’s game click here.
ADDITIONAL STATS
- Kelowna was 0/3 on the powerplay, while Kamloops was 4/6
- Kamloops outshot Kelowna 50-25
- Jackson Gillespie had two assists on the evening
UP NEXT
The Rockets will host the Blazers tomorrow night (Sept. 7) at Prospera Place. Please note that puck drop is set for 6:05 pm.
Pre-season tickets for both Rockets home games are available now. Two dollars from each preseason ticket sold will be donated to Cops For Kids.
Tickets for all 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 1:00 p.m. on Saturday home game days.
Kelowna Sand & Gravel are the sponsoring partner for this year’s Kelowna Rockets training camp. Kelowna Sand & Gravel is the original source for Kettle Valley Granite in Kelowna, BC. They have a range of landscape materials, including natural stone products with a wide variety in size, colour, and shapes, as well as preparation materials like sand and drainage rock. They sell natural stone and hardscape materials to both landscapers and homeowners and look forward to serving all your landscaping needs.
