With their 6-5 win over the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday night the Kelowna Rockets clinched a playoff position for the 11th consecutive and 26th out of a possible 27 seasons.
The Rockets currently sit in first place in the B.C. Division with a 38-18-4-2 record and 82 points. The Victoria Royals sit second in the division with 75 points but Kelowna is currently the only B.C. team to have clinched so far.
Kelowna is one of three teams to have clinched from the Western Conference as both the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks have also clinched currently sitting at 87 and 78 points respectively. The Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos have both clinched from the Eastern Conference with 95 and 91 points.
This will be the 11th consecutive and 22nd out of a possible 23 total times the Rockets will play in the post season since moving to Kelowna from Tacoma. The Rockets also made the post season in all four of their seasons in Tacoma making their playoff total 26 out of a possible 27 seasons including this season.
They have missed the post season only once, that was in the 2006-07 season and have accumulated a have a franchise playoff record of 154-126 in that time, with five trips to the Memorial Cup.
Playoff matchups for this year have yet to be determined as the WHL reaches it’s final stretch. Kelowna has 10 games remaining.
The Rockets now head out on the road for a three game road-trip. The first stop is in Prince George to take on the Cougars Tuesday and Wednesday night, before finishing the trip off in Everett on Friday.
Kelowna returns home again following their three game trip on Saturday, March 3 when they host Dan Lambert and the Spokane Chiefs at at Prospera Place.
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