How good are this season’s crop of Kelowna Rockets? We’ll find out in roughly 24 hours.
This month, the Rockets will face the WHL’s two best teams: the league-leading Prince Albert Raiders and the second-best Everett Silvertips.
On Wednesday evening, Everett (31-8-1-1) will visit Prospera Place. The Silvertips lead the Western Conference with 64 points, 26 more than Kelowna (17-18-3-1, 38 pts.).
Prince Albert (35-4-0-1), which has piled up 71 points out of a possible 80, will visit Prospera Place on Saturday, January 19th.
Wednesday’s meeting will be the second of four this season. Kelowna lost 2-1 in Everett to the U.S. Division leaders on Nov. 24. Kelowna will visit Everett on Jan. 18, then host the Silvertips on Feb. 15 to close out the regular-season series.
“We have to play an A game against Everett and work at their level,” Rockets head coach Adam Foote said of playing the Silvertips, who are 8-1-0-1 in their past 10 games. “They’re a team that doesn’t stop working, shift in and shift out.”
The Rockets, meanwhile, are 5-3-1-1 in their past 10.
This past weekend, the Rockets were winless in two games, falling 2-1 in a shootout to Prince George on Friday, then 4-3 to Kamloops on Saturday. The Blazers scored the game-winning goal on a penalty shot with 1:20 left in the game.
After Wednesday’s game, Kelowna will trek north to Prince George (13-21-1-2) for back-to-back weekend games against the Cougars.
Following that, Kelowna will host Moose Jaw (21-9-5-1) next Wednesday, then visit Everett on Friday, Jan. 18, and host Prince Albert on Saturday, Jan. 19.