Preview: Rockets ready to wrap up preseason against Blazers
The Kelowna Rockets will close out their 2021 preseason schedule with a home-and-home series against the Kamloops Blazers this weekend.
Kelowna will open the weekend on the road at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops at 7:00 p.m. PT on Friday. They’ll then wrap up the preseason at Prospera Place on Saturday night, puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. PT.
The Rockets roster currently sits at 26 players, including three (3) goaltenders, eight (8) defencemen and 15 forwards. You can view the Rockets current roster here.
Tyson Feist (ARI) and Trevor Wong (FLA) have both returned from NHL prospect camps, the duo is expected to play this weekend. Noah Dorey, who was attending Boston’s camp, is expected to return to Kelowna in the coming days.
Minnesota Wild prospect Pavel Novak will be sticking around their camp a little bit longer, the Czech forward has advanced to their main camp.
The Rockets are 2-0 on the preseason after downing the Victoria Royals 7-3 and 4-1 last weekend.
Kamloops is 2-0-0-1, most recently they defeated the Vancouver Giants 6-5 in overtime on Wednesday night.
Rockets to keep an eye on:
- Trevor Wong, the Rockets leading scorer from the 2020-21 season has returned from the Florida Panthers rookie camp.
- Cole Schwebius, Cole Tisdale and Nicholas Cristiano continue to battle it out for the Rockets crease. The trio all saw playing action last weekend against the Royals. Schwebius appeared in net through two periods on Friday, stopping 17 of the 19 shots he faced. Tisdale was in net for two periods on Saturday, turning aside 17 of the 18 shots fired on him. Cristiano was the only one to play in both games last weekend, he allowed one goal on 20 shots through 40 minutes of action.
- Overage defenceman Tyson Feist is back from the Arizona Coyotes camp.
- Newly acquired Max Graham showed the fans why he was worth giving up Alex Swetlikoff and a draft pick for him, the big-bodied winger posted a goal and two assists in his first two games with the Rockets.
- Czech forward Gabriel Szturc made his debut with the Rockets last weekend. He looked comfortable on the North American ice, putting up a pair of goals and a +4 plus-minus rating.
Digital rosters:
There will be no printed lineup sheets available at Kelowna Rockets games this season due to Covid-19. A digital version will be uploaded to the Kelowna Rockets website by no later than 3:00 p.m. on home game days. The starting lineup and lines will be available on Kelowna’s Twitter account no later than 30 minutes before game time.
Click here for the media kit page
Watch and listen:
Kelowna Rockets preseason games are not streamed on WHL Live or broadcast on AM1150. If you see a link on Facebook promoting the game being streamed, it is a scam do not click it.
Tickets:
Tickets for all three preseason games are on sale at selectyourtickets.com, at the Prospera Place box office or by phone at 250-762-5050. Two dollars from each preseason ticket sold will be donated to Cops For Kids.
Protocols:
All fans attending games at Prospera Place will need to abide by the BC Provincial Health Authority, Prospera Place and the Western Hockey League‘s recently announced COVID-19 health and safety requirements which includes masks, double vaccination and their BC vaccine card.
The Rockets are set to open their regular season schedule on October 15, 2021, against the Kamloops Blazers. Season tickets are now available to the general public for the upcoming 2021-22 Rockets season. Click here for details and pricing.
