Warriors vs Vees Recap

West Kelowna had only created 9 shots through 40 minutes and found themselves down 2-0 after 40 minutes on Saturday.

There was no worry obviously in the Warriors room, who has won the most games in the BCHL when trailing after 2 periods.

An early PP goal from Greydon Robinson and a beauty of a backhander in tight from Kylar Hope tied it up early in the 3rd.

The Warriors kept coming in that 3rd and took advantage of a Vees turnover to come back on a 2 on 1 and Jonathan Desbiens have West Kelowna a 3-2 lead. 

Similar to the first time these teams met this season, the Vees would tie it up at 3 with 1:40 to go, and Warriors fans may have been thinking "oh no not again"

Then came the controversy, I guess if you're a Vees player or fan it's more of a big deal than it ended up being for the Warriors.

Rylan Yaremko's point shot was deflected by Brayden Gelsinger with a stick that was not below his waist. As the referee hesitated and waved it off, I immediately figured that there was no way the goal would count.

The referees got together with the linesmen and talked about it for over two minutes, and as the coachin staff said after, you know someone thinks it's a good goal when they talk for that long.

In the end, one of the officials (the one at Center ice), or maybe even one or both of the linesmen convinced the crew that the puck was contacted below the crossbar and the goal counted with 36.2 seconds remaining.

This was the Warriors 7th win this season (of 14) when trailin after two periods, so comebacks are becoming a bit of a calling card for this bunch.

The Warriors will not play a mid-week game this week for the first time in a month, and will face the Silverbacks in a home and home next weekend, with Friday's game at Royal Lepage Place.

Enjoy your Grey Cup Sunday Warriors fans, and by the way, I've got Hamilton winning it just like '99 in Vancouver.

November 29th @ Penticton

The Warriors head out for their 3rd straight road game tonight to the SOEC in Penticton. The Warriors skated away with a 3-2 win on November 5th in this building, ending the Vees 13 game winning streak

Game Notes:

-Warriors have lost their last 2 games in regulation, while the Vees have 6 straight wins since losing to Cowichan on November 9th.

-Warriors are 1-2 vs Penticton this season, losing 4-3 and 4-0.

-Both Penticton's goaltenders have sub-2.00 GAA, while Brendan Barry is 8-0 on the season.

-There are 8 of the 25 BCHL players invited to the WJAC Selection Camp in tonight's game. (Blackburn, Blumenschein, and Desbiens for West Kelowna, Fabbro, Bast, Gendron, Hannoun, and Jost for the Vees)

-Including last night vs Trail, West Kelowna plays 6 straight games against the Interior, and 8 the last 10 before Christmas (including last week)

Listen Live tonight at www.wdcr.ca or watch at FastHockey.com, pre-game at 5:45.

November 28th @ Trail

The West Kelowna Warriors continue a busy November with their first match up with the Trail Smoke Eaters in the Kootenays on Friday night.

The Warriors, who fell 7-4 to Prince George on Tuesday up north, are tied for 2nd in the Interior Division, 2 points ahead of Merritt and now tied with the Vernon Vipers for the spot.

The effort in Prince George wasn't a poor one, as the Warriors came out flying early on in that hockey game and controlled play for long stretches of that game.

The difference in the hockey game was the fact that the Spruce Kings were able to capitalize on their opportunities mostly in period 2, as they opened up the 5-0 lead.

The Warriors made it 5-4 but could not find the equalizer and Prince George potted a pair of empty netters to win it.

The fireworks in the final minute with Nick Rutigliano and Kyle Marino fighting Cooper Leitch and Valik Chichkin on the same stoppage (although 2 minutes apart) have lead to Marino getting a 1-game suspension, which he will serve tonight. The instigator penalty to Rutigliano was rescinded by the officials following the game.

As for the matchup tonight, West Kelowna and Trail will meet for the first time this season. Cominco Arena is historic and a lot of fun to play in.

Here are the stats you need to know for tonight's game.

Trail - 11-11-0-1 T-5th in Interior Division (23 Pts) HOME - 7-5-0-0 AWAY - 4-6-0-1 Top Scorer Charlie Zuccharini (16 G, 14 A) GF - 85 GA - 82 PP - 2nd - 26.3% (25 for 95) PK - 3rd - 82.5 % (85 for 103)	West Kelowna – 11-5-0-3 2nd in Interior Division (25 Pts) HOME – 4-4-0-0 ROAD – 7-1-0-3 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (10 G, 25 A) GF – 76 GA – 69 PP – 11th - 20.6% (27 for 131) PK – 8th - 78.9 % (82 for 104) Next Game – Nov 29th @ Penticton 6:00 PM at SOEC
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 38-12-0-5 vs. Trail All-time 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 6-1 vs. Trail Other Stat - West Kelowna is 18-8-0-1 at Cominco Arena since 2006, and are 10-2-0-1 in the last 4 seasons in Trail.

Interior Dominance

A lot has been made early on in this BCHL season about how good and how close the Interior Division is. The Penticton Vees won 13 straight games earlier this year, and just 9 points separates 2nd place from 6th in the division.

The Trail Smoke Eaters, who went 10-42-2-4 last season are vastly improved as well, and sit at 10-10, and sit 6 points back of a playoff spot with 1 game in hand.

Ever since the Bauer Showcase at the beginning of the season, when the Interior went 10-1-0-1 against the other 2 divisions, I have been tracking the records of all teams against the other divisions.

Heading into the November 21st weekend slate of games, here are the highlights:

• Interior Division is 18-8-1-2 vs. Mainland Division, and 21-3-0-3 against the Island Division
• Island Division is 14-5-1-2 vs. Mainland Division
• The Mainland Division does not have a winning record against either division

For the Interior Division, this means that teams are 39-11-1-5 vs. the rest of the BCHL, gathering 75% of the possible points in those games.

It will be interesting to see how everything shakes down as the season progresses, as the Interior works through their 20 games vs. the Other Divisions, and the Mainland/Island play their 22 games vs. teams not in their division.

Remembrance Day - @ LANGLEY - Preview

The Warriors and Rivermen will meet up on a day of Remembrance at the LEC in Langley.

The Warriors, who have taken points in their last 8 games (6-0-0-2) will face a Langley squad who is 5-4-1 in their last 10. The Rivermen knocked off Surrey 6-1 on Monday night in Surrey.

Game Notes:

Langley – 9-7-1-3 3rd in Mainland Division (21 Pts) HOME – 5-2-1-1 ROAD – 4-5-0-2  Top Scorer Kevan Kilistoff – (12 G, 11 A) GF – 60 GA – 61 PP – 11th- 20.9% (18 for 86) PK – 1st – 84.8% (100 for 118)	West Kelowna – 11-5-0-3 2nd in Interior Division (25 Pts) HOME – 4-4-0-0 ROAD – 7-1-0-3 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (10 G, 25 A) 2nd  in BCHL Points, 1st in Assists GF – 76 GA – 69 PP – 7th – 23.8% (24 for 101) PK – 7th – 80% (64 for 80) Next Game –Nov 14th vs Merritt – 7:00 PM– Royal Lepage Place
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 6-5-1-2 vs. Rivermen All-time 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 1-0-0-1 vs. Langley

November 9th Preview

WEST KELOWNA VS. PRINCE GEORGE

GAME STATS

Prince George –12-6-0-2 1st in Mainland Division (26 Pts) HOME – 4-2-0-2 ROAD – 8-4-0-0  Top Scorer Justin Rai (12 G, 14 A) GF – 64 GA – 60 PP – 6th- 24.5% (23 for 94) PK – 1st – 84.6% (88 for 104)	West Kelowna – 10-5-0-3 2nd in Interior Division (23 Pts) HOME – 3-4-0-0 ROAD – 7-1-0-3 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (10 G, 25 A) 2nd  in BCHL Points, 1st in Assists GF – 71 GA – 69 PP – 9th – 24.2% (23 for 95) PK – 7th – 78.7% (59 for 75) Next Game –Nov 11th vs Langley – 4:00 PM– Langley Events Centre
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna leads 21-10-2-5 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 0-1-0-1 vs. Prince George The West Kelowna Warriors have not beaten the Spruce Kings since December 3rd, 2011, a span of 8 games.

Warriors @ MERRITT - November 7th Game Preview

The West Kelowna Warriors have won 4 straight games dating back to the Sunday of their island road trip, and have points in their last 6 games. The biggest win of that stretch came on Wednesday night, ending the Vees 13 game winning streak by beating Penticton 3-2 at the SOEC.

Great Save DESAUTELS - Andy Desautels has been strong in the Warriors net of late after not dressing during the island road trip. In the last 3 games, Dezzy as he's known around his teammates, has allowed 8 goals in the last 190:25, for a GAA of 2.52. He has a Sv % of .901 in that span as well.

Red Hot Blackburn - Liam Blackburn had his 7 game point streak snapped on Wednesday as the Vees shut him down, but he had his opportunities. Liam has only been held scoreless in 2 games this season, both by Penticton, but his 33 points still leads the BCHL.

The French Connection - Sure its not Perrault, Martin, and Robert - or the Buffalo Sabres from 1972-1979, but Jonathan Desbiens and Michael Buonincontri have been red-hot in the last 6 games. Desbiens was honored with a BCHL Player of the Week Honor after the island swing. These two, albeit on separate lines, have combined for 14 points in those 6 games, each scoring 4 times including a hat-trick. Desbiens has been the clutch player as well, with 2 GWG, and 1 GWA (Game-Winning Assist).


TONIGHT'S GAME NOTES:

Merritt – 9-8-0-0 4th in Interior Division (18 Pts) HOME – 7-1-0-0  ROAD – 2-7-0-0  Top Scorer Gavin Gould (6 G, 13 A) GF – 57 GA – 56 PP – 12th – 20% (18 for 90) PK – 12th – 76.7% (66 for 86)

West Kelowna – 10-5-0-2 2nd in Interior Division (22 Pts) HOME – 3-4-0-0 ROAD – 7-1-0-2 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (9 G, 24 A) Leads BCHL in Points and Assists GF – 67 GA – 64 PP – 3rd – 25.3% (23 for 91) PK – 7th – 79.2% (57 for 72) Next Game –Nov 9th vs Prince George – 2:30 PM – Royal Lepage Place

Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna leads 40-12-1-2 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna wins 7-0-0-1 This Season Head to Head October 4th – Merritt defeats West Kelowna 2-1 -      A late 2nd period goal shorthanded from Jake Clifford was the back-breaking goal against the Warriors with less than 1 second left on the clock. Anthony Pupplo stopped all 9 shots he faced in the 3rd period to hold on for the victory. Jonathan Desbiens had the lone goal for the Warriors, on the power-play in the 1st. October 17th - Merritt defeats West Kelowna 5-4 in Overtime -  The Warriors tied it up late in the 3rd period thanks to Michael Buonincontri's 2nd of the night, but Merritt would get a power-play in OT and would capitalize, as Shane Poulsen buried the puck past Scott Patton. Kristian Blumenschein and Hunter Zandee had the other Warrior goals