Feb 13 Preview vs. Trail + Playoff Scenarios

Here we are just 6 games left in the 2014/2015 season and what a roller coaster it has been for the West Kelowna Warriors. They have used 8 total goaltenders without making a trade, have seen 6 of them get their 1st BCHL wins, and 3 of them pick up their 1st BCHL shutouts.

That is just the tip of the iceberg for this Warriors team. In November, they were red hot, picking up at least a single point in 11 straight games (7-0-0-4). The road was the place to be for this Warriors team, as right from the BCHL Showcase and the 2-0 record, they would continue to be hot on the road, going 9-4-0-4 up until December 12th.

That date is one that will be talked about regardless of how the last 3 weeks play out. Since December 12th, West Kelowna is 0-8-0-2 away from Royal Lepage Place, and 8-3 at home. Considering they were 5-6-0-1 before December 12th, it's a big switch. Lucky for the Warriors 5 of their last 6 games are on home ice.

The scenarios for playoffs are quite simple. With the Warriors in 5th place, they trail Salmon Arm by 3 points, and the Merritt Centennials by 1 point. In order for the Warriors to make the playoffs, here is what needs to happen:

• West Kelowna needs 4 more points than Salmon Arm. They each play 6 games, none head to head.
• West Kelowna needs 2 more points than Merritt. Cents have 8 games remaining, none head to head.
• Merritt and Salmon Arm play once more on February 27th at the Shaw Center. Who knows which team the Warriors will be cheering for at that point, but they won't be cheering for an overtime game.

Okay now we'll get to tonight's game against Trail. The Smoke Eaters have posed some problems for West Kelowna as the Warriors have gone only 3-2 against the 6th place team in the Interior. All 5 of those games happened in a 32-day span from November 28th - December 30th. Call that a crazy schedule playing the same team on average every 6.4 days, but West Kelowna and Trail will meet twice more after tonight before the end of the regular season. The 3 games will happen over 11 days, or every 3.67 days if you're keeping score at home. Odd.

Here are the stats heading into tonight.

Trail Smoke Eaters - 17-29-0-5 6th in Interior Division (39 Pts) HOME - 12-11-0-3 AWAY - 5-18-0-2 Top Scorer Jake Lucchini  (95)  F (29 G, 39 A) GF - 182 GA - 210 PP - 8th - 22.3% (43 for 193) PK - 8th - 78.1% (153 for 196)	West Kelowna – 24-21-0-7 5th in Interior Division (55 Pts) HOME – 14-9-0-1 ROAD – 10-12-0-6 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (96) F (21 G, 47 A) GF – 174 GA – 192 PP – 9th - 22.0% (54 for 245) PK – 4th - 81.0% (170 for 210)
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 41-14-0-5 vs. All-time vs Trail 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 6-1 vs. Trail 2014/2015 Head to Head - West Kelowna leads the season series by a 3-2 margin.