Kelowna Rockets rolling as playoffs near, have won 7 of past 10

Just five games remain on the Kelowna Rockets’ regular-season schedule.

And if things continue to go swimmingly well, as they have recently, the Rockets could open the playoffs at home.

Currently, Kelowna is in a tight playoff race as the second season nears. With 66 points, the Rockets (31-28-3-1) are currently in fifth place, two points behind the fourth-place Wenatchee Wild (32-26-4-0) at 68 points.

Kelowna, which has won seven of its past 10 games and was, is also just one point up on the sixth-place Victoria Royals (28-27-5-4, 65 points).

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If the Rockets do overtake the Wild, who are 5-5 in their past 10 games, they’ll host the fourth-versus-fifth playoff series later this month.

“Our team has kind of found its way,” said Rockets president and GM Bruce Hamilton, whose team was in seventh place just two weeks ago.

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“It just isn’t (team-leading scorer) Andrew Cristall now, which is good. We have some balance now and our older guys are playing. We were waiting for our 18- and 19-year-olds to do something and now they’re going.”

However, both Kelowna and Wenatchee have tough games ahead, including the Rockets hosting red-hot and Western Conference-leading Prince George Cougars (43-15-1-3, 90 points) on Wednesday night.

The tilt should be the Cougars’ last trip into the Okanagan this season, barring a possible playoff meeting.

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On Tuesday, the Cougars were ranked as the top team in the nation, the second time the franchise earned the tag this season.

“We have some heavy lifting this week, with games against Prince George and two against Everett,” said Hamilton.

Leading the Cougars in scoring is Coldstream product Zac Funk.

The 20-year-old, who’s in his final season of junior eligibility, is second in the WHL’s scoring race with 109 points, two behind leader Jagger Firkus of the Moose Jaw Warriors (111 points).

“He’s turned himself into a great player,” Hamilton said of Funk, who is the league’s runaway leader in goals with 63, 13 more than Firkus, who is second with 50.

“He plays the game hard, at both ends of the rink and he still scores that many goals. He’s going to have an opportunity to play professionally, for sure. He’s really been a special player for them.”

Following Wednesday’s game, the Rockets will play third-place Everett (41-18-2-3) twice this weekend, followed by a season-ending home-and-home set against seventh-place Vancouver (29-29-4-0) on March 22023.

“We have some heavy lifting this week with Prince George and two against Everett,” said Hamilton, “which are two of the top three teams in the west.”

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The Rockets are in tough against the Cougars. Prince George is 5-1-0-1 in seven games this season against Kelowna. Notably, their last two outings went to shootouts, with Kelowna winning 3-2 on Jan. 13 and Prince George winning 6-5 on Feb. 24.

Game time on Wednesday at Prospera Place is 7 p.m.