PREVIEW: Playoff hockey returns to Kelowna

The Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds first-round series will shift back to Prospera Place on Tuesday and Wednesday night for games three and four in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

Both games will also be Fan First Menu nights with $2 hot dogs and $5-$6 options from Blue Ribbon.

The Rockets trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven series after two tightly contested games that were both decided in the third period. The eighth-seeded Rockets held their own for the first 40 minutes against the top-ranked T-Birds in both games. Kelowna led 2-1 heading into the third period of game one before Seattle took over in the third to take the opening game 3-2. During the second game, the two were tied at one before Seattle once again took over in the third period to skate away with a 4-1 victory.

Game one recap

The best-of-seven First Round series began on Friday, March 31 in Kent, Wash. with the top-seeded Thunderbirds squeaking past the Rockets 3-2 in a tightly contested game one.

The Rockets were able to hold off the Thunderbirds in the opening frame, grabbing a 1-0 lead just past the midway point on a bomb from Jackson DeSouza. Kelowna’s power play pushed them out to a two-goal lead in the second period on another long-distance shot from Caden Price, but Arizona Coyote prospect Dylan Guenther was able to score late in the second and add another early in the third to tie things up. With captain Gabriel Szturc in the penalty box, Nashville Predator prospect Reid Schaefer at the side of the net turned and put a shot past Kykkanen to give the T-Birds their first lead of the game.

The Rockets elected to go with Jari Kykkanen in net, he turned aside 36 of the 39 shots he faced.

Game two recap

Seattle pushed their way past Kelowna in the third period for the second night in a row on Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center.

Tickets

Single-game tickets for all 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.

Loaded up T-Birds

The Thunderbirds are looking to defend their Western Conference Championship from last season, they fell in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL Championship last spring.

Their roster boasts ten NHL prospects and six Canadian World Juniors stars on the roster, they made several key trades that saw five first-round picks moved in exchange for Dylan Guenther, Colton Dach, Nolan Allan and Luke Prokop.

Seattle finished the regular season atop the Western Conference standings with a franchise record 54 wins.

Colton Dach will make his first trip to Kelowna since the Rockets dealt him to Seattle on January 7th in exchange for Ty Hurley, Ethan Mittelsteadt, a 2024 first-round pick and two more conditional draft picks.

Drafted Thunderbirds:

• Jordan Gustafson – Vegas Golden Knights
• Brad Lambert – Winnipeg Jets
• Reid Schaefer – Nashville Predators  (WJC Canada)
• Jared Davidson – Montreal Canadiens 
• Colton Dach – Chicago Blackhawks (WJC Canada)
• Lucas Ciona – Calgary Flames
• Dylan Guenther – Arizona Coyotes (WJC Canada)
• Nolan Allan – Chicago Blackhawks (WJC Canada)
• Luke Prokop – Nashville Predators
• Kevin Korchinski – Chicago Blackhawks (WJC Canada)

Thunderbirds Ranked on Central Scouting:

• Gracyn Sawchyn – #42 among North American skaters
• Nico Myatovic – #47 among North American skaters
• Sawyer Mynio – #111 among North American skaters
• Scott Ratzlaff – #6 among North American goaltenders
• Thomas Milic – #25 among North American goaltenders (WJC Canada)

Roster Updates

Injury updates are not public during the playoffs.

Rockets to watch

• Andrew Cristall has been held pointless in the opening two games of the series, a rarity for the Rockets MVP who led the Rockets in goals (39), assists (56) and points (95) while finishing sixth among the leading point-getters in the WHL.

• Adam Kydd – The Rockets overage forward has posted an assist in each of the games so far.

• Gabriel Szturc packs a one-two punch alongside Cristall, but just like Cristall has been held pointless in the first two games. The Rockets captain finished the regular season second in points with 79 (24G, 55A) over 56 games.

• Jari Kykkanen has stood on his head in the first two games despite facing a barrage of shots. The 18-year-old has stopped 80 0f the 86 shots that have been fired his way in the opening two games, with a .930 save percentage and 3,02 goals-against average games.

Series at a glance

2022-23 Season Series vs SEA 

Playoff schedule vs SEA

* – if necessary

Watch and listen

Radio broadcast

Rockets games will be broadcast on 104.7 FM the Lizard 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.

Online video stream

All Rockets games will be available on WHL Live. WHL Live is available to fans worldwide, providing high-quality streaming of WHL games on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV platforms, via mobile with iOS and Android, and on the web using Safari or Google Chrome web browsers.

If you have a CHL TV subscription to watch games online, please note that your regular season pass will not work for the postseason. There are no discount codes in the playoffs.

You’ll have to go into the subscribe now tab on watch.chl.ca. There you will have multiple options for the CHL as a whole or the OHL/WHL/QJMHL individually. Please make sure you read closely as only three of them are options to watch Rockets games:

• 2022-2023 WHL Playoff Pass (59.99 + taxes), gives you access to all WHL games through all four rounds.
• 2022-2023 WHL Daily Playoff Pass (9.99 + taxes), only gives you access to WHL games on the day you purchase it for.
• 2022-2023 WHL Round 1 Playoff Pass (19.99 + taxes), gives you access to all WHL games in round one.

Online 50/50

The Kelowna Rockets online 50/50 is back for the 2022-23 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, 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