September 15th vs Trail PREVIEW

The West Kelowna Warriors return home to Royal Lepage Place tonight with a 1-1 record after a split with the Merritt Centennials on opening weekend.

Each team held serve in their own Home Opener, as the Warriors got 3 power-play goals Friday night to come back and win 6-4; then Merritt scored with 2:23 remaining Saturday night to squeak out a 5-4 victory.

The Warriors got a pair of goals from Rylan Yaremko and Brett Mennear on the opening weekend, while 6 other players scored once, including the first BCHL markers for Paul Lovsin, Jake Harrison, and Jake Tesarowski.

The Warriors would out-shoot the Centennials in both games, and out-chance them by a 46-22 margin.

The Trail Smoke Eaters split their opening series with the Vernon Vipers as well, except they won on the road in Vernon on Friday, before dropping Saturday night`s decision.

Leading the way for the Smokies was Kurt Black with a goal and three assists, while Rhett Willcox had a pair of goals Friday.

It's Rylan Yaremko's birthday, and the bruising now 19 year old from Alberta will be looking to set the tone as always.

Stats Pack

Trail – 1-1 HOME – 1-0  ROAD – 0-1  Top Scorers Kurt Black (1 G, 3 A) Rhett Willcox (2 G, 1 A) 2 other players have 2 points each GF – 7 GA – 8 PP – 17th – 0-11 (0%) PK – 11th – 12-14 (85.7%)	West Kelowna – 1-1 HOME – 1-0 ROAD – 0-1 Top Scorers Brett Mennear (2 Goals) Rylan Yaremko (2 Goals) 7 other players have 2 points each GF – 10 GA – 9 PP – 1st - 4 for 9 (44.4%) PK – 15th – 5-7 (71.4%) Next Game – Saturday September 20th vs Penticton 7 PM Royal Lepage Place
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna leads 43-14-0-6 West Kelowna is 23-4-0-5 at RLP against Trail 2014/2015 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 5-2-0-1 vs. Trail West Kelowna went 3-0-0-1 at home against Trail last season.

Warriors 4 - Merritt 5 - September 12th

The West Kelowna Warriors dropped the 2nd game of a home and home with the Merritt Centennials allowing a late goal in the 3rd period that proved to be the winner from Nick Jermain.

Liam Blackburn got the Warriors on the board first, before Tyler Ward responded for the Centennials. Once again, it was a turnover by the Warriors that lead to the Ward goal, as he was able to beat Daniel Mannella from the slot.

Merritt would go up 2-1 early in the 2nd on the power-play, as Gavin Gould buried his 1st of the night, before the Warriors rattled off 3 straight goals.

Kristian Blumenschein scored twice, including a power-play marker and one off a face-off. Anthony Pupplo was screened on the 2nd goal, as he didn't move as the puck went past him. Brett Mennear put the Warriors up 4-2 when he went in on a 2 on 1 with Kyle Marino and snapped one home.

Jake Tesarowski would take down Colin Grannary on a breakaway, giving the Merritt forward a penalty shot at 13:02. Grannary would go to his backhand after slowly coming in on the right hand side, and slipped it through the legs of Mannella. The Centennials tied it up with a goal on a breakaway from Gould, after the Warriors d-men dove to break up the pass, slowing the puck down just enough so it ended right on Gould's stick, as he beat Mannella on the blocker side.

The game remained tied until there was 2:23 left in the 3rd period, when Jermain spun and fired after a turnover and a late reaction from Mannella allowed the game winner to go by. It was a bit of a punch in the gut for the Warriors, as they seemed destined for at least OT, if not the win. West Kelowna had control of the play for the most part, out-shooting Merritt by a 35-22 margin.

Game Thoughts:
The West Kelowna Warriors had a good 1st period tonight, with really just the one blemish on the turnover and Tyler Ward goal, but they seemed as if they were in control. When you only allow 5 shots in the period, that probably explains the way the period went.

Talking to Shae Naka before the game, the Warriors allowed just 10 scoring chances the night before, and they had 26 themselves. It's expected that once they go through the game film, the Centennials will probably have less than 10 chances in last night's hockey game as well. It was just a situation where the breakdowns turned into goals, and you need a big save or two in those situations.

West Kelowna was disciplined last night, taking only 2 minors that lead to power-plays. Merritt did get a power-play goal, so the Warriors PK was only 50%, but when you limit the number of chances for the opposition with the man advantage, things are always better.

The Warriors power-play went just 1 for 5 on the night, and at times were just too cute in the offensive zone. The one goal that was scored happened because Kristian Blumenschein shot the puck. The other power-plays, including a 5 on 3, did not see too many shots fired towards Pupplo.

What's Next:
The Warriors will practice on Monday ahead of a mid-week game against the Trail Smoke Eaters on Tuesday night. Trail got a victory against Vernon on the road Friday night, before dropping their home opener to the Vipers on Saturday. The Smoke Eaters have always had the ability to score goals, but their downfall in recent years has been goaltending. With the addition of Bailey Macburnie that could have been shored up, and the Warriors will need to test him big time on Tuesday.

September 12th @ Merritt PREVIEW

The West Kelowna Warriors will make the 90 minute trip to Merritt tonight for the second half of a home and home with the Centennials.

Last nights game featured an early 3-0 lead for the Cents in the first, before the Warriors got a goal with 5 seconds left in the frame. At the buzzer, Ryan Forbes would go after Kyle Marino, earning 7 minutes in penalties for his troubles, and putting the Warriors on the long power-play.

The Warriors scored 3 times with the advantage, and once more just after to open a 5-3 lead out-shooting the Centennials 24-4 in the frame.

The teams traded goals in the 3rd, as the Warriors saw 6 different players score, and 3 get their first BCHL goals including Rookies Jake Harrison and Jake Tesarowski, as well as Paul Lovsin, who played in the AJHL the last two seasons.

Tonight's Keys

• Discipline - The Warriors took the first 3 penalties of last night's game, but I felt that they were disciplined when they needed to be. For the most part, the West Kelowna players had no interest in both Gavin Gould or Nick Florentino, as they were constantly mixing it up after the whistle. If the Warriors can stay out of those scenarios, they should be alright again.
• Special Teams - The Warriors went 3 for 6 on the power-play in last night's game, although the boxscore reads 3 for 4. The 3 goals on a 5-minute major make it so that power-play along was 3 for 4, and the Warriors didn't score on the other two. Just a glitch in the scoring system.
• Goaltending - Daniel Mannella was strong at times for the Warriors last night, and you can't really blame him on any of the goals last night. Two off of turnovers back to back, a nice power-play goal, and one where the D-Zone coverage fell apart a bit and didn't pick up the trailer who buried the rebound.

Stat Pack

Merritt – 0-1 HOME – 0-0  ROAD – 0-1  Top Scorers -      Henry Cleghorn (1G, 1A) -      Cole Arcuri (2A) -      6 others with 1 point GF – 4 GA – 6 PP – 1 for 5 (20%) PK – 3 for 6 (50%)	West Kelowna – 1-0 HOME – 1-0 ROAD – 0-0 Top Scorers -   Jake Harrison - Paul Lovsin - Kyle Marino - Jake Tesarowski (all 1G, 1A) -  Reed Gunville (2A) GF – 6 GA – 4 PP – 3 for 6 (50%) PK – 4 for 5 (80%) Next Game – Tuesday, Sept 15th Vs. Trail – 7 PM Royal Lepage Place
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna leads 42-13-1-4 West Kelowna is 19-7-0-3 in Merritt 2014/2015 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 2-2-0-3 vs. Merritt West Kelowna went 0-1-0-2 in Merritt in 2014/2015

Warriors 6 - Merritt 4 - September 11th

The West Kelowna Warriors took their Home Opener in a 6-4 win that saw them come back from 3 goals down in the 1st period.

It was an even start to the hockey game as the first 6 minutes or so saw the Warriors have a couple of key opportunities in front of Anthony Pupplo, but both Brett Mennear and Kylar Hope could not find the net.

The Centennials had a great chance with Nick Fidanza in all alone, but Daniel Mannella was equal to the task.

Shortly after, the Centennials got their first goal on a nice shot from the slot by Tyler Ward. Off the next faceoff, Cole Arcuri walked in over the line and sent a backdoor pass to Zach Zorn for the 2nd Merritt goal in just 7 seconds. The Cents added another on the power-play when Nick Jermain tapped in another backdoor pass on what was a very pretty 3-way passing play.

The Warriors regrouped a bit after the 3rd goal, and Paul Lovsin got West Kelowna on the board with a goal at 19:55. Lovsin's 1st BCHL goal was his 25th Junior A goal, after spending 2 seasons (and winning 2 championships) with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints.

The biggest turning point of the game came at the 1st period buzzer, as Ryan Forbes of the Cents jumped Kyle Marino of the Warriors. Marino, who had his sore right hand taped up, could not oblige in the fight, and tried to avoid it. Forbes rained punches down and ended up with 7 minutes in penalties which put the Warriors on the power-play to begin the 2nd.

West Kelowna scored 3 times on the man-advantage, with goals from Marino, Brett Mennear, and the 1st BCHL goal from 16-year-old Jake Harrison. Just 49 seconds after the Warriors made it 4-3, Jake Tesarowski got into the 1st goal act with a nice finish on an odd-man rush.

From that point, the Centennials looked frustrated, as the Warriors continued to control the play, leading them to a 24-4 shots on goal margin. It would finish 41-20 in favour of West Kelowna.

The teams traded goals in the 3rd as Henry Cleghorn made it 5-4, but Rylan Yaremko sealed it at 16:16.

3 Stars
1st -Kyle Marino (West Kelowna, 1 G, 1 A)
2nd - Cole Arcuri (Merritt, 2 A)
3rd - Jake Harrison (West Kelowna, 1 G, 1 A)

Goalies
W - Daniel Mannella - 4 Goals Against, 16 saves
L - Anthony Pupplo - 6 Goals Against, 35 saves

Game Thoughts:
Nerves didn't really seem to be a factor early on, until the midway mark of the 1st when a turnover lead to the opening goal, and a bad faceoff pinch lead to the 2nd right after. The Warriors leadership group stepped up with their physical play and energy, while the penalty kill would kill off 2 of 3 in the opening frame.

The Lovsin goal (right after a couple Kyle Marino hits) really got the LOUD (1152 Warriors fans) back in the game with 5 seconds to go in the 1st. With the Forbes 7 minutes at the buzzer, the crowd you could tell was anticipating a big start to the 2nd.

The Warriors did not disappoint, I think partly due to the fact they didn't know they had 7 minutes to work with. The referees sent both teams to the dressing room after the incident at the buzzer, and nobody knew the extent of the penalties until then.

3 big power-play goals on that 7 minute advantage gave the Warriors a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Good work by the units who scored in 3 different ways. Big positives to see the 1st BCHL goals from Jake Harrison and Jake Tesarowski. Liam Blackburn had some good thoughts on those two as well, which you can see HERE.

The one Merritt player that stood out tonight was Gavin Gould. The Warriors would see #16 every single time the whistle blew, as he had run ins with numerous players throughout the night. Much like Rhett Willcox last year (now in Trail), Gould has the ability to get under the oppositions skin, but I don't think that the Warriors got sucked in tonight. The discipline in those situations will be key moving forward.

What's Next:
The Warriors and the Cents battle once more on Saturday night in Merritt. This should be another test for the Warriors, as they will go through the Centennials Home Opener ceremony, before many players play for the first time on the smaller surface of Nicola Valley Arena.

Rylan Ferster doesn't believe that the bad blood and high emotions will carry over to Saturday, but with young hockey players early in the season, you just never know. Looking around the league tonight there were some incidents that included instigating, a possible eye-gouging, and a couple check from behinds. Hopefully these incidents calm down as the season progresses.

Catch the action on WIN at www.mixlr.com/bchlwarriors starting with the pre-game show at 7:10. Also, check back around 3:30 pm for the Pre-Game stats pack right here on Battle Cries.

Home Opener Preview vs. Merritt

The West Kelowna Warriors will open their 10th season in the Okanagan, and their 9th in West Kelowna as they tangle with the Merritt Centennials on Friday night at Royal Lepage Place.

The Warriors, are coming off a season which saw them finish 4^th in the Interior Division on the last day of the campaign, before bowing out to the eventual Fred Page Cup and Western Canada Cup champion Penticton Vees.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

This year’s edition of the Warriors features 9 returning players, plus 4 others acquired in off-season trades.

Among those additions are 20-year-old goaltender Daniel Mannella, coming off a season in the OJHL where he finished with a 2.08 GAA and a .927 Sv %.

West Kelowna also added 2-time AJHL Champion Paul Lovsin, BCHL veteran Garrett Forster, and defenseman Tyler Anderson in deals.

The Warriors recruited the remaining of their roster, including Jake Harrison from West Kelowna (AP last year), Connor Sodergren and Quin Foreman from Massachusetts, and Kyle Uy from the Greater Vancouver Canadians of the BCMML. West Kelowna also added a pair of Saskatchewan natives in Reed Gunville and Jake Tesarowski. Forbes Ploszaj is the other goaltender, from the Colorado Rampage U18 program.

TEAM TOUGH

Toughness and grit are two key elements to this years squad, with the ability to score goals sprinkled all throughout the lineup. Rylan Ferster will expect nothing less than being the hardest working team in the BCHL, or at the very least....tied for 1st. The Warriors were not afraid to drop the gloves in the pre-season, but don't expect that to carry over to games that count. If the players need to stick up for their teammates though, they definitely will have no problem doing that.

THE INTERIOR

For those unfamiliar, the Warriors and Centennials both play in what many regard to be the toughest division in Junior Hockey. Last season, that claim was pretty much proven, as the Salmon Arm Silverbacks missed the playoffs by a single point. Their 65 points would have put them in 2nd in the Mainland Division, or 3rd on the Island.

Each team in this division is tough to play against on every single night. The teams that can remain within striking distance by January 10th, make the final 6 weeks very intense. Another reason to think it's the hardest division? The 6 Interior teams combined went 81-34-3-12 against the other two divisions last season.

WHAT TO EXPECT
Every teams goal is the same: Win the RBC Cup. Only 1 team is able to accomplish their goal in a season and it's a grind to get their. This Warriors team is going to be tough to play against, and they'll need to be in this division. If West Kelowna can get balanced scoring, plus have Jonathan Desbiens and Liam Blackburn build on impressive seasons last year, they're going to be dangerous offensively. If Daniel Mannella puts up numbers like he did in the OJHL, the Warriors will be in a great position to win hockey games night in and night out.

Health is maybe the biggest factor, and perhaps the Warriors are in for some good karma this year, as AP's ruled the roster last season, including 12 games started by an AP goaltender. While it was bizarre, the Warriors got good performances from those netminders, and Stephen Heslop stood on his head in the playoffs as well.

Whatever ends up happening this season, strap yourselves in and get ready for one crazy ride. Junior A Hockey is one of the most entertaining levels of hockey on the planet, and when Royal Lepage Place gets rocking, it's an amazing atmosphere. 

SEE YOU AT THE RINK!

Sept 4th - Pre-season @ Salmon Arm

The West Kelowna Warriors found that shooting the puck in the right places is the key to scoring goals. Sounds blatantly obvious, but that's what the Warriors did well on Friday night in Salmon Arm on their way to a 10-3 win over the Silverbacks.

West Kelowna had Liam Blackburn make his pre-season debut, while Jared Marino and Tanner Campbell were the scratches.

The 1st period of the hockey game was innocent enough, as the Warriors opened the scoring early in the period on a beautiful rush goal from Kristian Blumenschein. It was a perfect pass on a 3 on 2 from Brett Mennear that allowed Blumenschein the opportunity, and he snapped a beautiful shot past Zach Dyment.

The Silverbacks tied the game up just after that on the power-play, which was the key to the Salmon Arm attack on the night, as all of their goals came with the extra skater.

West Kelowna jumped back out ahead 2-1 when Garrett Forster snapped one over the shoulder and upstairs on Dyment. Shots were basically even, 11-10 for the 'Backs as Forbes Ploszaj played well in the opening frame.

Ploszaj was good the remainder of the night, but that 2nd period was probably the best. Salmon Arm out-shot the Warriors 22-10 on the scoreboard in the middle 20, although those numbers were maybe inflated a little bit on scrambles. The key story line of that period however, was the fact that West Kelowna got a pair of goals from Kylar Hope, a power-play goals from Jonathan Desbiens and Rylan Yaremko. 4 goals on 10 shots in the period, as Dyment's night game to an end allowing 6 goals on 20 shots.

West Kelowna poured it on in the 3rd, as Paul Lovsin had a hat-trick, almost a natural one but Desbiens scored in the middle of that to break it up against Daniel Toews in the Salmon Arm net. The Silverbacks added one late to make it 10-3.

Special Teams was another key tonight, with the Silverbacks 3 for 7, and the Warriors 3 for 8 on the night. The staff was joking following the game that they may need to work on the PP now, as it's fallen to a paltry 48% in the pre-season. 12 goals on the man advantage for this club in 5 games, and 13 at even strength are the numbers.

Points wise on the night you look at the goal summary and see a lot of Junior A veterans numbers listed. 2 for Desbiens and Hope, 3 for Lovsin and there's 7 of the 10 on the night. Goals by Blumenschein, Yaremko, and Forster add to that, making it 10 for 10 by veteran players.

Rough Stuff:
The Game featured 3 fights tonight, including 2 rookies for the Warriors standing up and chucking them. Reed Gunville fought Josh Laframboise in the 2nd period at center ice, it seems to settle an old Saskatchewan Midget League score, as the Beardy Blackhawks (Gunville) and Battlefords Stars (Laframboise) traded a couple solid punches.

The 2nd fight was a carry over from a 1st period incident involving Kyle Uy. After a hit on the side wall, both Uy and the Silverbacks Brett Stewart got tied up with gloves being dropped, and Yaremko jumping in as well. All would receive roughing/unsportsmanlike penalties, but you could tell Uy wasn't done.
In the 2nd after the Gunville fight, Uy challenged Stewart at the blueline and dropped his mitts, as did Stewart and after a couple punches the fight ended with the linesman jumping in. Although it didn't end, as both tried to get some punches around the linesman, with Stewart slamming Uy's lost helmet to the ice after a couple extra shots. Stewart would pick up an aggressor on the fight, and Uy would be dinged with the instigator.

The final fight of the game/period was Kyle Marino's 2nd of the pre-season. After Marcus Mitchell took a run at Kylar Hope, Marino stuck up for his teammate by getting his gloves off and landing 3 or 4 solid shots to the face of Mitchell. Both would be tossed, and after the intermission (fight came at 20:00), the refs agreed that there was a Charging call to be made on Mitchell as well. That's where Lovsin's 1st goal came from, the early PP in the 3rd.

Warriors Thoughts:

• I thought West Kelowna was the better of the two hockey teams tonight and the score somewhat backs that up, but its the little things as well. The Warriors were physical throughout the hockey game, while the Silverbacks dished it back, they did look tentative at times. 
• Forbes Ploszaj was solid. He made a couple great saves in tight on good hands guys like Taro Hirose in the 3rd, and a couple other big pad stops in the middle frame. 40 save night for him, and ultimately I don't think you can blame him for any of the goals. Salmon Arm scored a tic-tac-toe goal, a "bounce it off my stick in front" goal, and a goal off the shin pad of Lovsin. So no, not Forbes fault, he was good.
• Special Teams again was good, although the penalty kill allows 3. I felt tonight that the power-play just had their way with the Silverbacks at times, although Rylan Ferster rolled 3 lines through PP minutes and a couple of the chances struggled.
• This team can hit, fight (don't get too used to it), and score goals. The one thing that was said tonight that I agreed with even though I haven't spent too much time around them yet, is this team is meshing already. I had the opportunity to work for the Kelowna Falcons this summer, and that was the biggest key to their best season yet, was the way everybody had each others backs. You're in a battle fighting for ice time and for some kids, a job on this team this year, and yet they're fully supportive of each other. It will be interesting to watch this chemistry unfold, and if it stays in a positive trend, this team is going to be fun to follow.

The Warriors and the Silverbacks play their final exhibition game Saturday night at Royal Lepage Place. Tickets are just $5 at the door. You can also watch live at FastHockey just visit www.bchl.fasthockey.com and sign up, or you can tune into the audio-only broadcast on WIN, at www,mixlr.com/bchlwarriors.  Final tune-up before things start for real September 11th at home to Merritt. 

Pre-Season Warriors @ Vees

West Kelowna and Penticton renewed their rivalry in pre-season play Wednesday in Penticton, where the Vees came away with a 4-3 win.

Two things that start with S come to mind when recapping this one, as both Special Teams and Spirited Play were factors. Overall, the Vees would get a pair of power-play goals in 11 opportunities, while the Warriors went 2-4. 

Some big hits early on had the attention of both teams, as the physical play was apparent from the opening shift on, and the after whistle scrums were a regular occurance.

The one that stands out for everyone happened late in the 1st period, after the Warriors went hard to the goal. Paul Lovsin would pick himself up and back away, only to find Vees goaltender Brendan Barry getting his gloves off and coming at him. After a short fight, both the goaltender Barry for the Vees and the Warriors Lovsin would be ejected.

There would be no other Game Misconduct penalties the rest of the night, but there were numerous 10's handed out late. The Warriors found themselves short handed 7 straight times after the Vees got a Too Many Men penalty in the 2nd. 

Looking at the Offensive side of things for West Kelowna, Kylar Hope and Quin Foreman had the PP markers, while Reed Gunville got the Warriors within 1 late in the 3rd.

The line combinations kept changing  in the final 40 minutes, but Hope found himself in the middle of the action more often than not. I was also impressed by Foreman and Kyle Marino for different reasons, as Foreman had a couple good opportunities and Marino was physical all night long.

Another number that jumped out at me was the 6 of Rylan Yaremko. As a returning guy you expect big things, and he played with an edge all night long. He would get 2+10 late after Jonathan Desbiens was taken heavily into the end boards. 

Final Thoughts:

The Warriors played a physical game that was sometimes just over the line. I saw good character moments for this group tonight as numerous players stood up for one another, and came to their teammates aid when needed.

Thoughts on the Vees:

Penticton always recruits well and seems to have another good squad. Tyson Jost is always going to have a target on his back this season after his Ivan Hnlinka selection and Gold, but handled his captain duties and had a PP marker tonight. The Warriors only saw 1 period of Brendan Barry and got a goal from behind the net on him, but getting to see Anthony Brodeur has to be a good teaching tool as well. Brodeur does not give up many rebounds, which means the Warriors need more traffic, much like they did when they faced Hunter Miska last year.

Next Up:

Warriors are in Salmon Arm Friday at 7 pm. Game will be broadcast on W.I.N starting at 6:50 with the pre-game. Visit www.mixlr.com/bchlwarriors to tune in.

The first FastHockey broadcast of the season is Saturday, September 5th when the Warriors host the Silverbacks. Sign up for the video/audio feed at www.bchl.fasthockey.com