Tip drill!!

• Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets close out the month of February with a home and home series with the Everett Silvertips. The game tonight is the third of four meetings between these two teams, which close out the seasonal series tomorrow night in Everett. The Rockets are 1-1-0-0 against the Tips, with a 5-1 win back on September 28^th and a 3-2 loss on January 17^th. The home team has won both games, with the Rockets out-scoring the Tips 7-4. The Rockets are coming off a highly successful four game road trip where the team went 3-0-0-1, out-scoring their opponent 16-14. All four wins were decided by a single goal. Following tonight’s game, the Rockets visit the Tips tomorrow night before opening the month of March with a three game home stand against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, a team that trails them by only 6 points
• Mally the Man! Kris Mallette was named the interim head coach of the Kelowna Rockets last Wednesday. Mallette replaces Adam Foote, who was relieved of his duties. Mallette joined the organization as an assistant coach for the start of the 2014 season under then head coach Dan Lambert. Mallette is a former player, suiting up for the Rockets from 1996 until 1998 before eventually being traded to the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 41 year-old is the first Rockets alumni to assume the head coaching duties and is joined by former Rockets forward Vernon Fiddler as an assistant.
• Who’s Hot: Pavel Novak has points in 8 of his last 9 games (4+12=16)…Matthew Wedman has points in 7 of his last 8 games (7+7=14)…..Dillon Hamaliuk is riding a five game point streak (5+5=10)…Kyle Topping has 2+3=5 in his last three games….Roman Basran has started in 7 of the last 8 games.
• Broadcasters Notebook: A win tonight will match the Rockets win total (28) from all of last season…The Rockets have 15 road wins, one better than the 14 they captured one season ago….The Rockets have played the most road games in the WHL (31)….The Rockets have 12 home ice wins. The team had 14 all of last season….Kris Mallette is 9-0-1-1 as a head coach in the WHL.…With 10 games left in the regular season, 7 are on home ice with only 3 on the road. Those road stops include singles in Everett, Kamloops and Vancouver… The Rockets are 9-8-0-0 against teams in the US Division….The Rockets are now 19-5-1-0 when scoring the games first goal…The Rockets have played in 32-1 goal games this season…The Rockets are 12-14-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets were 5-5-0-0 in December and 4-9-0-0 in January.

New coach...new result?

Kris Mallette

·      Tonight’s Preview: The Kelowna Rockets open a four game road trip against the Victoria Royals. This is the 7^th of 9 meetings between these two teams this season. After playing tomorrow night in the rematch, the seasonal series wraps up March 11^th in Kelowna. The Rockets are 2-3-0-1 in the opening 6 games, including a 1-0-0-1 record in Victoria after a 4-3 shootout loss on October 29^th followed by a 1-0 shutout win October 30^th. Four of the six have been decided by a single goal. Overall, the Royals have out-scored the Rockets 14-12. Kaedan Korczak leads the Rockets with 2+3=5 in the 6 games. Roman Basran has appeared in 5 of the 6 games. Following these two games on the Island, the Rockets are in Prince George for back-to-back games this Tuesday and Wednesday. The Rockets next home game is Friday February 28^th against Everett.

·         Mally the Man! Kris Mallette was named the interim head coach of the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday. Mallette replaces Adam Foote, who was relieved of his duties. Mallette joined the organization as an assistant coach for the start of the 2014 season under then head coach Dan Lambert. Mallette is a former player, suiting up for the Rockets from 1996 until 1998 before eventually being traded to the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 41 year-old is the first Rockets alumni to assume the head coaching duties.

·         Who’s Hot: Pavel Novak has 3+8=11 in his last 7 games…Matthew Wedman has 7+11=18 in his last 14 games…Kyle Topping has 4+4=8 in his last 7 games…Kaedan Korczak has 2+5=7 in his last 7 games.

·         Broadcasters Notebook: Kris Mallette is 6-0-1-0 as a head coach in the WHL. His most recent win was a 7-3 victory in Tri City in January….The Rockets are 8-4-1-1 in their last 14 visits to Victoria…. The Rockets have surrendered the opening goal in seven of the last eight games ….With 14 games left in the regular season, 7 are on home ice with only 7 on the road. Those road stops include two in Victoria, two in Prince George and singles in Everett, Kamloops and Vancouver… The Rockets are 9-8-0-0 against teams in the US Division….The Rockets are now 19-5-1-0 when scoring the games first goal…The Rockets have played in 28-1 goal games this season…The Rockets are 10-14-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets were 5-5-0-0 in December and 4-9-0-0 in January.

Rockets get captain back

Captain Nolan Foote returns to the lineup Saturday

·        Tonight’s Preview: Two former NHL players meet tonight when Adam Foote’s Kelowna Rockets face Brent Sutter’s Red Deer Rebels. Both head coaches played over one thousand games at the NHL level, with Foote playing 1,154 games and Sutter suiting up for 1,111 contests. Both won two Stanley Cup titles. This is the lone meeting of the season between these two teams. Last season, the Rockets went into Red Deer on November 16/2018 and lost 7-0. Red Deer made two appearances at Prospera Place in the 2017-2018 season, with the Rockets winning 5-2 before suffering a 4-1 setback. The Rockets are playing game four of a five game home stand. Wednesday night, the team snapped a five game losing streak with an 8-3 win over the Tri City Americans. Pavel Novak had 1+4=5 while Matthew Wedman scored three times. The Calgary Hitmen pay a visits Monday for a 2 pm affair.

·        Who’s Hot: Pavel Novak has 2+8=10 in his last five games…Matthew Wedman has 6+9=15 in his last 12 games…Kyle Topping has 4+4=8 in his last 5 games.

·        Broadcasters Notebook: The Rockets have surrendered the opening goal in six straight games….The Rockets are 1-1-0-1 in three games against teams in the Central Division. That one win came against the Swift Current Broncos (3-2 OTW October 16, 2019). The one regulation loss came to the Medicine Hat Tigers (8-5 L November 8, 2019)….Matthew Wedman hits a milestone tonight. The 20 year-old plays in his 300^th career game….Tyson Feist plays in his 100^th career game tonight after breaking into the league with the Spokane Chiefs before eventually being dealt to the Regina Pats….With 16 games left in the regular season, 9 are on home ice with only 7 on the road. Those road stops include two in Victoria, two in Prince George and singles in Everett, Kamloops and Vancouver…After returning for one game after playing for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, Nolan Foote has missed 12 straight games with an injury. The Rockets are 9 and 16 in 25 games without him this season.…..The Rockets are 9-8-0-0 against teams in the US Division….The Rockets are now 19-5-0-0 when scoring the games first goal…The Rockets have played in 24-1 goal games this season, the most in the WHL…The Rockets are 10-14-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets were 5-5-0-0 in December and 4-9-0-0 in January….Name the defenceman that played for the Rockets this season and the Rebels last season? The answer - Carsen Sass of the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Rockets vs. Americans

·       Tonight’s Preview: The Rockets play game three of a five game home stand tonight against the visiting Tri City Americans. This is the fourth and final meeting between the two teams. The Rockets are 3-0-0-0, having out-scored the Americans 15-5. Pavel Novak has 3+3=6 in the three games while Nolan Foote, Dillon Hamaliuk and Matthew Wedman each have 5 points. Roman Basran is 2-0-0-0 in the seasonal series, posting a goals against average of 1.00. The Rockets enter tonight’s game having lost five straight after back-to-back losses last weekend to the Portland Winterhawks. The Rockets welcome Red Deer Saturday. The Calgary Hitmen pay a visits Monday for a 2 pm affair. Overall, the Rockets have lost 11 of their last 13 games. The team has 3 wins in its last 12 games at Prospera Place.

·         Broadcasters Notebook: Welcome back Jaedan Joseph. The 20 year-old played 16 games with the Rockets earlier this season after being acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors. Joseph collected 1+5=6 in those 16 games before being dealt to the Americans January 9^th for a 6^th round WHL bantam pick…With 17 games left in the regular season, 10 are on home ice with only 7 on the road. Those road stops include two in Victoria, two in Prince George and singles in Everett, Kamloops and Vancouver…After returning for one game after playing for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, Nolan Foote has missed 11 straight games with an injury. The Rockets are 8 and 16 in 24 games without him this season.…..The Rockets are 8-8-0-0 against teams in the US Division….The Rockets are now 19-5-0-0 when scoring the games first goal…The Rockets have played in 24-1 goal games this season, the most in the WHL…The Rockets are 10-14-1-1 against teams in the BC Division…The Rockets are 6 and 1 in overtime with game winning goals coming from Matthew Wedman, Dillon Hamaliuk, Nolan Foote, Kaedan Korczak (twice) and Liam Kindree…..Jake Lee is one point shy of the 24 he recorded last season with Seattle…Alex Swetlikoff is the only player on the roster that has a chance to dress in all 68 games this season…Kaedan Korczak has a shot on goal in all but one games this season…..The Rockets were 5-5-0-0 in December and 4-9-0-0 in January…During a five game losing streak, the Rockets have been out-scored 24-9….Matthew Wedman will play in his 300^th regular season game Saturday against Red Deer….Kyle Topping’s two goal game Saturday was his 7^th multiple goal game of his career