Rockets will face Winterhawks in second round

The Kelowna Rockets learned who their next opponent will be when they head into the second round of the 2017 WHL Playoffs.

The Portland Winterhawks defeated the Prince George Cougars 4-2 on Monday night in Portland in game six of their first round series, eliminating the Cougars by a series score of 4-2.

This marks the end of round one in the Western Conference.

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The Rockets and Winterhawks are no strangers to playoff bouts head-to-head. The first time these two teams met, the Winterhawks took the Rockets out of the playoffs with a 4-2 series win in the second round of the 2011 playoffs. The next season the Rockets were swept by the Winterhawks in the opening round. Both of those seasons the Winterhawks went on to fall short in the WHL final (they won the title the next season but did not cross paths with the Rockets. The Rockets met the Winterhawks in the 2014 playoffs and lost that series 4-1. They met again the following year in 2015, and this time the Rockets took the series 4-2 knocking Portland out for the first time whilst on their way to an eventual WHL title. They haven’t met in the year since, but the two are still playoff rivals.

The Rockets and Winterhawks will face off starting on Friday, April 7th at 7:05pm at Prospera Place. Game two will be the following night, Saturday, April 8th at 7:05pm.