And then there were two.
After acquiring goaltender Rhett Stoesser on Thursday, Nov. 22, the 琉璃神社 Rockets release 20-year-old goaltender Jari Kykkanen on Friday.
"Following the trade yesterday we are forced to make a difficult decision on our goaltending tandem," said Rockets President and General Manager Bruce Hamilton. "We thank Jari for his effort and commitment to the 琉璃神社 Rockets and we wish him the best moving forward."
In 109 regular season games with the Rockets, the Lloydminster, Alta. native went 54-38-6-1 with five shutouts and has a career 3.50 goals against average and .893 save percentage. In 16 playoffs games, he posted a 3.39 goals against average and .904 save percentage.
On Friday, Kykkanen cleared waivers and it now eligible to sign with any team in the WHL or other leagues.
With Kykkanen's release, there are just two 20-year-olds on the Rockets roster in forwards Max Graham and Michael Cicek. The Rockets are allowed to add one more 20-year-old player.
It didn't take long for Kykkanen to find a new job, as on Saturday, Nov. 23, he signed with the BCHL's Vernon Vipers.