Game Preview - Feb 15th vs Nanaimo.

The West Kelowna Warriors continue their push towards a playoff spot in the Interior Division this afternoon with a match-up against the Island leading Nanaimo Clippers.

The Clippers will be coming into Royal Lepage Place with some revenge on their mind, both for the 2 wins the Warriors have over the Clippers this season, and their current 0-2 road trip through the Okanagan Valley.

The Warriors got some help on the out of town scoreboard last night as the Alberni Valley Bulldogs knocked off the Merritt Centennials. The Cents burned one of their games in hand on West Kelowna, as the Warriors still sit 2 points back of both Salmon Arm and Merritt with 5 games to play.

Look for an exciting hockey game this afternoon as the Clippers bring their top record from the Island into town. Nanaimo scores first almost 60% of the time and wins 78% of those games. To say the first goal is crucial is an understatement.

In goal for Nanaimo, fans will either see the #2 ranked GAA goalie in the BCHL in Guillame Decelles who has also played the most games and has the most wins this season.

The other option for the Clippers would be Jonathan Arseneau making his BCHL debut. The 18 year old from Delson, Quebec came to the Clippers from the Quebec Junior AAA Hockey League. In any case, the Warriors will need to generate traffic and get to loose pucks in order to be successful.

Here is the Stats breakdown:

Nanaimo - 36-15-0-3 1st in Island Division (75 Pts) HOME - 20-5-0-2 AWAY - 16-10-0-1 Top Scorer Brendan Taylor (95) F (22 G, 32 A) GF - 221 GA - 153 PP - 5th - 23.1% (58 for 251) PK - 10th - 77.4% (199 for 257)	West Kelowna – 24-21-0-8 5th in Interior Division (56 Pts) HOME – 14-9-0-2 ROAD – 10-12-0-6 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (96) F (21 G, 48 A) GF – 181 GA – 200 PP – 9th - 21.8% (54 for 248) PK – 4th - 81.0% (175 for 216)
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 10-7-1-0 All-time vs. Nanaimo 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 1-1-1 vs. Nanaimo 2014/2015 Head to Head - West Kelowna leads the season series 2-0 (7-6 win at BCHL Showcase, 4-3 win October 24th in Nanaimo)

February 13th Recap vs Trail

West Kelowna isn't the wild west. Downtown Kelowna has the OK Corral Cabaret Nightclub.

Those are random facts, but tonight was a Wild West Shootout at the OK Corral. Okay, it was at Royal Lepage Place but still you get my drift as the Warriors dropped an 8-7 decision to Trail in a game that had almost everything.

West Kelowna welcomed in the Westbank First Nations and after a great ceremonial prayer to kick off the night, Jason Cotton had the jump in his legs that netted the first one just 18 seconds in. I had said on-air right as the puck dropped that with the noise makers in the stands already going crazy, it would be like a playoff game, and it was right from that goal on when it comes to crowd interaction and noise.

The Warriors hit a crossbar and a post in that opening frame as well, but were rewarded with a Tyler Kunz goal late in the period to make it 2-0 while out shooting Trail 14-7. Great start right? Sure was.

How to defend a 2-goal lead may be my first book title. It will not start with tonight's game, nor will you include what happened tonight in any of the chapters. Trail would score at 4:00, 6:34, 7:17, and 9:32 to take a 4-2 lead. Four goals, in 5:32 seconds on just 7 shots. Craig Martin scored a nice one on a breakaway, and a couple shots to the blocker side of Scott Patton showed a bit of rust on his part (he hasn't played since December 19th.)

The Warriors did finally seem to recover, and killed off 2 penalties in a row. One of the nicest goals of the night came late in that 2nd when Rylan Yaremko walked in on the right side and went under the crossbar to make it 4-3 with 1:27 left in the period. Yaremko saw a rare forward shift and was able to get his team back in the game. Whether that was a message to the forward group to wake up, or just a fill-in spot, it worked out.

The 3rd....was crazy. That's all I can use to describe the 3rd period of this one. Trail scores just 12 seconds in before anyone really knew the puck had dropped. The Warriors fought valiantly to tie the game and were rewarded on a weird goal from Brett Mennear. A minute before that, Kylar Hope snapped home the 5-4 goal. Mennear sent a pass out front from the corner, and with Brett Clark pre-occupied trying to hit Josh Bly and move him, the puck hits Clark and goes in, tying it up.

Trail finally got their power-play working and Ryan Swanson beat the screens and the goalie to make it 6-5. Andrew Johnson executed a nice 3 on 2 with 4:53 remaining as he finished a nice pass from Tanner Campbell. 6-6. Then 55 seconds after Warriors fans could feel the comeback being completed, Harlan Orr gets one from behind the net that bounced around and finally hit Patton and went in. 7-6 Trail.

Rylan Ferster calls his timeout with 1:17 to go, Brent Gough draws up the play, and as Kristian Blumenschein has a shot blocked it goes right to Cotton. Hammer-time. Goal. 7-7.

7 goals scored in that 3rd period on 27 shots. Cue OT.

The Warriors wouldn't get a shot in OT as 39 seconds in Dallas Calvin on the right side would beat Patton to win it 8-7. The line of Calvin, Craig Martin, and Jake Lucchini combines for 5 goals and 8 assists. The Warriors will need to figure out how to stop that or the minimal playoff hopes will be down to zero.

Speaking of playoffs, with Salmon Arm losing and Merritt winning tonight the Warriors sit 2 points back of both teams. This means that West Kelowna needs to get 3 more points than either Salmon Arm or Merritt to make the final 4 in the Interior. Salmon Arm has 5 games, Merritt has 7. None of the 3 teams are even close to guaranteed to make the playoffs yet, but Sunday's game against Nanaimo could be close to a must-win.

The Silverbacks and the Centennials have a magic number: 4. Four wins will get them a playoff spot even if the Wrriors go 5-0. It's a simple thing really, Warriors need to win, and they need both those teams to lose. Merritt plays Alberni Valley Saturday, and Cowichan Valley Sunday. Salmon Arm is off until next Friday. The scoreboard watching will continue.

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.

February 7th Recap @ Chilliwack

The Warriors final trip over the Coquihalla ended in an overtime defeat as Jake Larson scored the game winner at 3:32 of the 4 on 4 session.

The game remained scoreless into the final minute of the first period before Chilliwack got on the board with 35.8 seconds remaining after snapping one over the shoulder of Stephen Heslop.

Chilliwack opened up a 2-0 lead on a rebound goal before the Warriors got a power-play marker from Rylan Yaremko. Jason Cotton fired the puck from the top of the circle and by the replays it looked to hit Yaremko's stick and went past Aiden Pelino.

The Warriors tied up the game in the 3rd on a goal from Captain Andrew Johnson who put a wrist shot past Pelino after a sweet feed from Josh Bly.

The Warriors would have a couple quality chances to take the lead in the last ten minutes. Liam Blackburn was stopped in tight and then poked it through the crease but nobody could get it over the line. Jonathan Desbiens had a shot bounce 6 inches in front of the goal line as well.

In overtime, Chilliwack would have a glorious opportunity to end it, as Jake Hand got a rebound and deked around Stephen Heslop but it would be Heslop with the save of the season as he flashed the glove hand and snagged the Hand shot.

Off the ensuing face off though, the Warriors tried to clear the zone and start a rush but as the puck was turned over in the neutral zone, Larson got the puck on the right wing and placed the perfect shot over Heslops shoulder to end it.

With the results of tonights scoreboards and action around the Interior, the Warriors hold a 1-point edge over Salmon Arm, who play the Surrey Eagles on Sunday afternoon. By Wednesday, the two games in hand will have been played, and the Warriors will see how the standings look then.

I'll have a playoff scenario breakdown here on the blog Thursday.

Feb 7th- GAME PREVIEW - WK @ Chilliack

The West Kelowna Warriors head over the Coquihalla for the final time this season for a Saturday night game against the Chiefs.

West Kelowna is coming off a loss to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, while the Chiefs dropped an OT decision to the Penticton Vees on Friday.

Injury and Illness still the story for the Warriors, as it is unknown heading into tonight's game whether Andy Desautels or Brayden Gelsinger will return to the line-up. Jordan Masters is not expected to play.

The Prospera Center is a tricky arena for the Warriors. The beautiful facility that houses the Chiefs is the home of the BCHL Showcase each season, where the Warriors have a 4-2 record over the last 3 seasons.

Games against the Chiefs in this building however, have not been kind to the Warriors as they have an 0-3-2-0 record since Chilliwack returned to the BCHL in 2011-2012.

Add in the fact that the Chiefs are 17-4-0-1 at home this season in front of an average crowd of 2564 (1st in the BCHL) and it's an even bigger test for the Warriors tonight.

Stats Pack:

Chilliwack Chiefs - 28-16-1-3 1st in Mainland Division (60 Pts) HOME - 17-4-0-1 AWAY - 11-12-1-2 Top Scorer Craig Puffer  (95)  F (24 G, 22 A) GF - 167 GA - 156 PP - 14th - 18.6% (41 for 220) PK - 7th - 78.8% (160 for 203)	West Kelowna – 24-21-0-6 4th in Interior Division (54 Pts) HOME – 14-9-0-1 ROAD – 10-12-0-5 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (96) F (21 G, 47 A) GF – 172 GA – 189 PP – 10th - 22.2% (54 for 243) PK – 4th - 80.7% (167 for 207)
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 2-6-2-1 vs. All-time vs Chilliwack 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 0-1-1-0 vs. Chilliwack

February 6th- Game Recap

The Warriors needed the win tonight in the worst way. I detailed the implications of a regulation loss in the preview for tonight's match-up, and will not fully analyze what it means until next Thursday when there is a better understanding.

Both the Warriors and the Silverbacks will have played 52 games after Wednesday night's action, and the Interior division should have a better understanding of what the final 6 games will hold, or what teams will have to do in those 6 games.

Tonight's game featured some great opportunities early on for the Warriors as Kylar Hope had a break-away attempt stopped by Angus Redmond. Hope walked in and went to wire a slap-shot but Redmond got the arm on it.

Later in the frame the Warriors hit a pair of crossbars as well, but it remained scoreless.

I thought that the Warriors took a couple of bad penalties in the middle frame after Salmon Arm made it 2-0. They looked to me to be non-focused and frustrated penalties after giving up the goals, with a too many men call and a roughing call well after the whistle.

As for the goals, the 1st one comes on a 6 on 5 and a delayed penalty and after Stephen Heslop makes the stop, its tucked over the line. Heslop wasn't deemed to have had any possession to get the play blown dead, which could have ended the opportunity.

The 2nd goal was one that I'm sure the Warriors would like to have back. They struggled to get the puck out of their own zone, and then when they did, they couldn't get it deep enough for a change, so the same unit got stuck. Run around in your own zone a little longer, and Ross Heidt has all day to score.

The 3rd period saw the Warriors play more desperately, and if it wasn't for a beautiful tip by Taro Hirose, I thought they had a good chance of tying this one up. Hirose deflected a Chase Priskie shot from the point at about the top of the circle, and had it bounce down off the ice and over the pad of Stephen Heslop. Very tough save for the West Kelowna goaltender.

The Warriors got a power-play marker in the 3rd to make it 3-1 when Nick Rutigliano tee'd one up from the point. You can't see who it hit in front, but by the reaction of the Warriors it is most definitely Rutigliano's 1st goal in the BCHL. The boxscore online doesn't say so, but everyone else believes it, as Jonathan Desbiens (who got credited with it) was the first to grab the puck for the kid known as "Tigs"

There was a little bit of rough stuff late after a Silverbacks empty netter but nothing crazy or of concern. Warriors will be back on the bus tomorrow to Chilliwack to take on the Chiefs. Look for a game preview by Noon.

February 6th GAME PREVIEW - Warriors @ Silverbacks

The West Kelowna Warriors and Salmon Arm Silverbacks will meet for the 7th time this season, with the Warriors leading the season series by a 4-2 margin.

Last weekend the Warriors split with Merritt then got a big Tuesday win against the Vernon Vipers for a mini two game streak.

The Silverbacks got lights out goaltending from Angus Redmond in back-to-back shutouts of the Vipers. Salmon Arm has only allowed 1 goal in their last 3 games (Penticton beat them 1-0 on January 28th.)

There is no need to say anything to the players or coaches in this game about its playoff implications, as everyone is well aware of the scenario in both locker rooms. For those of you who may not be aware of it, let's take a look.

The Warriors sit 4 points ahead of the Silverbacks with 8 games left on West Kelowna's schedule. The Silverbacks have 2 games in hand on the Warriors, and will play those games in hand on Sunday against Surrey, and Wednesday when they head to Trail. Ultimately, all things will be considered equal after Wednesday night.

There are 5 different scenarios as to how it could all end up after tonight's game, so I'll try to keep it as simple as possible.

• West Kelowna could be anywhere from 2-6 points up on the Silverbacks after the action tonight.
• Currently, West Kelowna has the season series edge, however the BCHL tie-breaker (should the teams be tied in points AND in wins after the season) is "points accumulated in games between tied teams" and then "goal differential in games between tied teams"
• Should the Warriors win tonight, or go to OT, forget about the tie-breakers because West Kelowna would have more season series points so they'd have the edge. If there is a loss in regulation, this is how I have it figured out:
• West Kelowna would have accumulated 8 points in 7 games vs. SA (4 wins)
• Salmon Arm would have accumulated 8 points in 7 games vs. WK (3 wins + 2 OTL)
• Therefore each team would have the same number of points, thus pushing it to goal differential in games between these two teams.
• West Kelowna: 19 Goals For, 19 Goals Against (0 differential before tonight)
• Salmon Arm: 19 Goals For, 19 Goals Against (0 differential before tonight)
• Salmon Arm needs to win tonight in regulation and then they would have the tie-breakers.
• It's a complicated scenario based on a lot of "maybe's" but we'll have more on this after tonight's result.
• Remember Warriors fans, if there is a tie in points, it goes by WINS first, and right now West Kelowna has 3 more than the Silverbacks. The muddy picture will be murky after tonight, and somewhat transparent Thursday morning. Stay tuned.

Tonight's Stats:

Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 21-19-3-5 5th in Interior Division (50 Pts) HOME - 12-8-2-2 AWAY - 9-11-1-3 Top Scorer Andrew Farny  (95) D (14 G, 32 A) GF - 152 GA - 148 PP - 11th - 21.2% (36 for 170) PK - 9th - 77.7% (146 for 188)	West Kelowna – 24-20-0-6 T-3rd in Interior Division (54 Pts) HOME – 14-9-0-1 ROAD – 10-11-0-5 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (96) F (21 G, 47 A) GF – 171 GA – 185 PP – 9th - 22.2% (53 for 239) PK – 4th - 80.4% (164 for 204)
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 30-19-1-8 All-time vs. Salmon Arm 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 6-1 vs. Salmon Arm 2014/2015 Head to Head - West Kelowna is 4-2 against Salmon Arm