The Kelowna Rockets are excited to welcome former NHL defenseman and Rockets alum Josh Gorges to the coaching staff as an Assistant Coach for the 2025-26 season. Gorges will join Head Coach Derrick Martin, Associate Coach Don Hay, and Assistant Coach Brandon McMillan behind the bench, bringing pro experience, leadershi...

Brandon McMillan is back! The ex-Rocket has been hired as an assistant coach for the 2025-26 season. You might remember McMillan from his playing days with the Rockets from 2006 to 2010. He was a key part of the 2009 WHL Championship team and a big reason why the Rockets were so strong back then. "Brandon brings p...

You always hear Canadian hockey players talk about the honour of wearing the maple leaf. And fair enough. It is a big deal. But don't kid yourself. It is just as much of a thrill for an American kid to throw on the stars and stripes. Kalder Varga gets to do just that. The Kelowna Rockets forward is in Slovakia to play ...

At the 2004 Memorial Cup in Kelowna, Rockets forward Randall Gelech could do no wrong. He scored one of the biggest goals in franchise history, set up another. He banged on the glass like a man possessed and then somehow didn't get credited with an assist on the championship-winning goal. Or did he? Down 1-0 to Gatinea...

Being a 17-year-old rookie during a Memorial Cup season on home ice is enough pressure to make anyone tighten up. But for Justin Keller, music was the outlet that helped him breathe. "Mike Card and I would fool around a bit on the guitar," Keller said. "I had an acoustic guitar, and so did he. We would b...

Simon Ferguson got a reality check when he joined the Kelowna Rockets in the winter of 2003. Spoiler alert: it wasn't a gentle one. The 19-year-old forward, recently traded from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, walked into the gym and was immediately thrown into a different world. One where the standard was higher, the pace ...

There was a time when getting into sports journalism was not about going viral, or chasing clout with hot takes. It was about telling stories. Not just the scores and stats, but the human side of the athletes we cover. What drives them? What shaped them? What failures and doubts have they carried, and what moments stil...

Sometimes, all it takes is one phone call. That call came earlier this week, from NHL defenceman and Kelowna Rockets alumnus Luke Schenn to 20-year-old blueliner Mazden Leslie, a player caught between two very different hockey paths. Leslie had recently been acquired by the Kelowna Rockets in a trade with the Vancouver...

Mazden Leslie probably found himself at a bit of a crossroads this offseason. After four years and 280 regular season games with the Vancouver Giants that showed steady growth on the back end, the 20-year-old had a decision to make. NCAA hockey was on the table. So was turning pro. But in the end, Leslie chose one more...

When Derrick Martin was named head coach of the Kelowna Rockets, a natural question popped up: How does he stack up, age-wise? He's not the youngest in team history - that title belongs to Ryan Huska - but Martin brings his own strengths to the job. Huska was just 32 when he took over in 2007. There were doubts. He was...

Alright, hockey fans, it is official. Gavin McKenna is heading to Penn State. Nope, he did not get cut, and no, he is not running off to join some wild frat party. He is chasing opportunity and a cool $700,000 thanks to a new NCAA rule that lets college athletes earn money from their name, image, and likeness. Who woul...

Rockets press release: The Kelowna Rockets are pleased to announce that Joel Ngandu has signed a WHL Scholarship & Development Agreement with the hockey club. Ngandu, a 5'11", 161-pound left-shot forward from Edmonton, Alberta, was selected 34th overall in the second round of the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft by th...

It sticks out like a sore thumb. More like a red, juicy zit on a teenager's face right before grad photos. It's massive. It's impossible to ignore. The new scoreboard at Prospera Place is nothing short of Titanic, but this one isn't sinking. It's a beast. All it needs now is to light up like a Christmas tree on espres...

Picking a European player in the CHL Import Draft used to be part scouting, part guesswork, and part spinning around blindfolded, firing a gun, and hoping you didn't hit your foot. Now? It's all about connections. Teams work the phones and lean on contacts to find out which agents have players willing to cross the pond...

Sometimes, timing is everything. For Derrick Martin, it might just be perfect. Last season, Martin joined the Kelowna Rockets as an assistant, his first crack at coaching in the WHL. The idea was he'd dip a toe in, maybe ease into the league, learn the ropes. Instead? He cannonballed straight into the head coaching job...

When the Kelowna Rockets hosted the Memorial Cup in 2004, they made a bold move by hiring Marc Habscheid away from the Kamloops Blazers to lead the charge toward junior hockey's biggest prize. It worked. The Rockets won it all on home ice and carved out a legacy that still resonates across the WHL. Now, with the Memori...

A new era is on the horizon for the Kelowna Rockets. The team is getting set to hold a press conference to introduce its updated coaching staff ahead of the 2025-26 WHL season. No names have been confirmed yet, but all signs point to some major changes, possibly including a brand-new head coach and fresh faces on the s...

The Kelowna Rockets have announced their full 2025-26 regular season schedule, marking the official start of the countdown to the 2026 Memorial Cup, which Kelowna will host next spring at Prospera Place. The Rockets will open the season at home on Friday, September 19, welcoming the Spokane Chiefs for the first game of...