Kelowna Rockets qualify for 2024 WHL Playoffs

The Kelowna Rockets are heading to the WHL Playoffs for a third straight year.

The Rockets (30-28-3-1) qualified with a 9-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers on Friday night.

Kelowna now has points in seven straight games (6-0-0-1) to sit third in the B.C. Division.

The Rockets are powered by a trio of the most feared scorers and playmakers in the league.

With a seven-point night, Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall (37G, 65A) became the first Rockets player to eclipse 100 points in a single season since Colin Long hit the milestone back in 2008-09.

The veteran also put up the second-longest point streak the WHL has seen this campaign, netting 45 points in 23 games from November 3, 2023, to January 19, 2024.

Meanwhile, Captain Gabriel Szturc is enjoying a career-best season for goals (29) and hit 70 points for a second time in his major junior career.

The Czech import is also playing with some extra jump after signing a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.

Team goals leader Tij Iginla has surpassed 40 tallies in his first season in Kelowna, dazzling fans in the Okanagan and beyond with crowds scrambling to watch the son of Hockey Hall-of-Famer and Blazers legend Jarome Iginla before June’s NHL draft.

The Rockets have won the WHL Championship four times, most recently in 2015.

They’ll try to make it five when the puck drops on the 2024 WHL playoffs this spring.