Photo credit: RocketFAN
By Regan Bartel
Raiders/Blades are on the menu

Rockets head north to end road trip

Dec 15, 2023 | 11:14 AM

The Kelowna Rockets will wrap up their east division road trip with games against Prince Albert on Friday and Saskatoon on Saturday before heading into the holiday break. All start times are set for 5:00 pm PT.

It will be the Rockets’ third and fourth games in the last four and five nights as the team played earlier this week on Tuesday in Moose Jaw and Wednesday in Brandon.

Kelowna downed the Warriors 2-1 on Tuesday before falling 6-3 to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday. In Wednesday’s loss the Rockets allowed a pair of Wheat Kings power-play goals and two short-handed goals.

The Raiders were in action on Tuesday, where they handed the Kamloops Blazers a 3-1 loss.

On February 4, 2023, the Rockets blanked the Raiders 4-0 at Prospera Place. The last time they visited the Art Hauser Centre, on December 6, 2019, Kelowna defeated Prince Albert 2-1.

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Last season Saskatoon made the trip to Prospera Place, where they downed the Rockets 4-2 on February 11, 2023. The Rockets last trip to the SaskTel Centre was December 7, 2019, where they won 4-3 in a shootout.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Blades sit atop the WHL league standings with 47 points and a  record of 23-8-1-0. They’re fifth on this week’s edition of the Top-10 CHL rankings.

The Blades will have Friday off before the Rockets roll in on Saturday. Saskatoon was last in action on Wednesday, downing the Kamloops Blazers 5-1.

Fraser Minten, who was acquired from Kamloops earlier this season, and Tanner Molendyk are away representing Team Canada at the 2024 World Juniors.

Entering the weekend, Rockets leading scorer Andrew Cristall  is riding an eleven-game point streak that has seen him record 20 points (8G, 12A) over that span. His career-best point streak is 12 games set between Oct. 29, 2022 – Nov. 29, 2022, where he posted 30 points (11G, 19A).

Both opponents this weekend have Kelowna connections.

Kelowna product Ryder Ritchie was named the WHL’s Rookie of The Year last season. The son of former Vancouver Canuck Byron Ritchie sits second in team scoring with 30 points. He was one of 28 players given an ‘A’ ranking on the NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch list for the upcoming NHL Draft.

Former Rocket Trevor Wong is in his final season in the WHL as a 20-year-old with the Blades. The captain of Saskatoon leads his team in scoring with 52 points (7G, 45A) through 32 games – his 45 assists lead the WHL.

Both games can heard on 104.7 The Lizard, with the pre-game show at 4:35 pm and the play-by-play at 5:05 pm.

 

by Regan Bartel

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