The West Kelowna Warriors return home for another big Interior Division showdown as they welcome the Merritt Centennials for the final time in the regular season to Royal LePage Place on Saturday night.
Warriors vs. Centennials 2017/18 Schedule:
Saturday, September 16th @ Royal LePage Place (3-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, October 29th @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (5-1 Centennials) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 24th @ Royal LePage Place (7-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 1st @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (7-4 Centennials) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, February 3rd @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 23rd @ Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (7:00 PM)
The Warriors and Centennials have met up four times in their season series thus far with the season set being a home team dominated series with each team earning home ice wins. The latest was a 7-4 decision that went in favour of the Cents in early December at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Stephen Kleysen, Chase Dubois, Chase Stevenson and Max Bulawka all scored in the game for West Kelowna while Cole Demers stopped 26 of the 33 shots he faced in the game for the loss.
West Kelowna comes into Saturday night’s action with a 24-23-1-1 record and sit 5th in the Interior Division after a 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night at the Shaw Centre. RJ Murphy scored a pair of 1st period goals while Parm Dhaliwal and Chase Stevenson added singles in the losing cause. Nik Amundrud started the game, making 12 saves on 16 shots before being relieved by Cole Demers, who turned aside 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the game in his 8th loss of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jared Marino (19-31-50)
Chase Dubois (16-27-43)
Ryan Steele (12-27-39)
RJ Murphy (18-20-38)
Michael Ryan (5-31-36)
Scoring goals has not been an issue for the Warriors over the past couple of weeks and a player who is leading that charge is forward RJ Murphy, who has compiled a three-game point streak with each game being a multi-point one. Murphy has scored in three consecutive contests with 5 goals and 8 points over the three games after a stretch of play that saw him pointless in five straight games. Murphy’s 18 goals on the season, after his pair in Salmon Arm, have him sitting 2nd in team goal scoring, one behind Jared Marino for the team lead with 19.
To go along with the Warriors strong offensive play as of late, and Murphy’s point streak, there are plenty of players who have been collecting points over the last few games. Ryan Steele and Michael Lombardi come into Saturday carrying four-game point streaks while Parm Dhaliwal has points in each of his last three contests, including goals in each of those games as well. Chase Dubois and defenseman Garrett Ewert have points in three of their last four games as the Warriors have spread out their scoring over the last week and a half.
The Warriors make their return to Royal LePage Place after a quick trip to Salmon Arm on Friday and it’s place in which the Warriors have had plenty of success this season. West Kelowna ranks tied for 7tn in home victories with 15 on the season, including two wins in their last three home games, and sit 5th in goals for on home ice with 92 goals scoring at RLP this season. The Warriors special teams has also been good at home as The Tribe hold the 5th best power play percentage on home ice this season followed by the 6th ranked PK at home.
The Merritt Centennials enter Saturday night’s game with a 18-24-1-4 record and are in 7th place in Interior Division with a 3-2 loss to the Penticton Vees at home being their most recent action on Friday night. Nicholas Wicks and Colten Gerlib scored in the game for the Cents while Jacob Berger stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced in the Merritt crease for his 22nd loss of the season.
Centennials Leading Scorers:
Henry Cleghorn (19-25-44)
Zach Zorn (16-20-36)
Nicholas Wicks (10-26-36)
Mathieu Gosselin (9-20-29)
Zach Court (10-18-28)
These two teams haven’t seen each other since the early part of December with the Centennials not overly active on the Trade Deadline but they did get some help up front as forward Zach Risteau returning to the team after a stint in the United States Hockey League (USHL). The Lakeville, Minnesota native scored twice while adding 5 points in 19 games played with the Central Illinois Flying Aces before being released back to the Centennials, where the forward has scored three goals and seven points in ten games back in the BC Hockey League.
Nicholas Wicks has been around the top of the Centennials scoring leaders for most of the season and comes into Saturday’s game as one of the hottest Cents players as he has points in four of his last five games with a goal and five points in that stretch of play. The Delta, BC native has had a bit of a playmaking to his game this season as he leads the team with 26 assists to go along with his 10 goals on the season.
Jacob Berger will likely get the call-in goal for the Centennials on Saturday night and despite having dropping 8 of his last 9 games, the University of Minnesota State Mankato commit has been solid this season with a .909 SV% in 33 games played. The Minnetonka, Minnesota native is ranked 7th in the BCHL in minutes played with 1865, still under what his total was from last season. Berger is 9th in the league with that .909 S% and also owns a pair of shutouts this season.
The Warriors and Centennials drop the puck at 7:00 PM tonight from Royal LePage Place with tickets available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office one hour prior to the opening face-off. West Kelowna completes the mini two-game home stand with the lone visit from the Surrey Eagles on Tuesday, February 6th.
