February 28, 2026 – Hockey Fights Cancer

🎗️ Specialty jersey weekend – jerseys auctioned during & after the game!

 

🎩 Beanies given away at the door!

 

👧  KIDS IN FREE – 100 free kids’ tickets available thanks to Washington Healthplanfinder!

IN A NUTSHELL:

Wenatchee wraps up the month by wrapping up its season series with the end of a home-and-home against the upcoming Memorial Cup hosts.

 

THE SCENE-SETTER:

The Wild knocked in the first goal in their Friday night affair against the Kelowna Rockets, but the later goals they needed never came in a 5-1 defeat at Prospera Place. Wenatchee notched its lone goal at 7:01 of the first period, just 19 seconds into its first power play, as Luka Shcherbyna fired a shot from the right point that popped up for Caelan Joudrey to bat in at the goal line. Kelowna retook the lead before the break, on a rebound marker from Carson Wetsch at 16:31 and Mazden Leslie’s goal from the slot 2:40 later. Nate Corbet’s goal off a Hayden Paupanekis drop pass doubled the lead at 4:27 of the second, and doubled the lead again in the third with a pair of early goals – Wetsch tapped in his own rebound off the glass at 3:32 of the final stanza, and Connor Pankratz scored 35 seconds later to close out the night. Wetsch led the offense with a pair of goals, while Pankratz, Leslie and Corbet each ended up with a goal and an assist. Harrison Boettiger stopped 25 of 26 shots, earning his 21^st win of the season, while Cal Conway took the loss in a 32-save effort. Both teams finished the night 1-for-4 on the power play.

 

KNOW YOUR FOE:

Kelowna has morphed into the Western Conference’s hottest team at the end of February, with wins in six straight – the Rockets opened this week with a 4-1 Wednesday win against the Seattle Thunderbirds, getting first-period goals from Mazden Leslie and Carson Wetsch before seeing Antonio Martorana put the Thunderbirds on the board with 1:01 left. Seattle put up 11 of the 15 shots in the second period, but failed to even up the score – Tij Iginla gave the Rockets some extra breathing room on a goal with 7:15 to play, and Owen Folstrom put the game away with an empty-net goal with 1:43 to go. Wetsch, Iginla and Leslie each had a goal and an assist, while Harrison Boettiger picked up 25 saves on 26 shots, and the penalty-killing units were perfect on seven chances. With 36 shots per night, the Rockets bring in the second-fastest-paced offense in the Western Hockey League – only Everett posts more shots on goal per night. Kelowna also features the league’s most dangerous penalty kill, with a dozen shorthanded goals, and seven NHL draft picks – Boettiger is also the seventh-ranked North American goaltender in the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings.

 

PLAYOFF PICTURE:

Wenatchee remains nine points back of a Western Conference playoff spot with 10 games to play. Most games in hand have now been settled, with Seattle only having played one fewer game than the Wild. Though the Western Conference race has begun to separate itself somewhat, the fifth through 10^th positions are still decided by a mere eight points.

 

THE SCORING RACE:

As February ends, Josh Toll remains six points ahead of Luka Shcherbyna as the top Wild scorer, and Mason Kraft is nine points back after a six-game point streak ended last Saturday. Toll and Prince Albert defenseman Daxon Rudolph are the only WHL blueliners to lead their teams in scoring.

 

CAELAN’S CONSISTENCY:

With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Caelan Joudrey is the last remaining Wild player going for an “Iron Man” designation – he played in eight straight games to wrap up last season, putting him at 66 consecutive games in the Wenatchee lineup. He notched 45 straight games last season as well, and has appeared in 124 of 126 games in his first two full junior seasons. Since January 1, Joudrey has not gone more than three games without registering at least one point, and has landed on the scoresheet in 11 of the last 15 games.

 

AID-ING THE OFFENSE:

Aiden Grossklaus’s assist last Saturday placed him back on the score sheet for the third time in four games – it was his first stretch with points of three in four since a three-game point streak in early November. He also has the club’s best singular night of the season, with a goal and four assists in Wenatchee’s 9-4 win January 16 against Portland.