Tomorrow night, the Kelowna Rockets will be stepping onto game-ready ice for the first time in more than a year.
The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. on Friday (March 25) for the Rockets’ first game of the shortened 2021 season, taking on the Victoria Royals.
Their last game was also against the Royals on March 11, 2020, just before the season was unexpectedly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID has also changed the league’s operations this year, with the WHL’s five B.C. teams operating out of two hub arenas in Kelowna and Kamloops. The Rockets and Royals will be based out of Prospera Place, while the Kamloops Blazers, Prince George Cougars and Vancouver Giants will be based in the Kamloops arena. The shortened season begins Friday and teams will be in for a busy schedule, packing in 24 games over 48 days.
READ MORE: ‘Joy for the players’; Kelowna Rockets staff react to season restart
Following Friday’s game, the Rockets will take Saturday off before hitting the ice again Sunday against the Vancouver Giants in Kamloops.
At the end of the 2019-20 season, the Kamloops Blazers took the top spot in the BC Division, followed by the Royals, the Giants, the Rockets, and the Cougars.
No spectators will be permitted. Fans can watch games online at watch.CHL.ca.
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:Â phil.mclachlan@kelownacapnews.com
Â
@newspaperphilLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
