PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The West Kelowna Warriors aim to end a three-game losing skid as they continue on their Island road trip against the Nanaimo Clippers on Saturday night at Frank Crane Arena.
Warriors vs. Clippers 2017/18 Schedule:
Sunday, October 15th @ Royal LePage Place (4-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 6th @ Frank Crane Arena (6:00 PM)
The Warriors and Clippers wrap up their two-game season series with tonight’s game with the Warriors picking up the win the last time these two teams met in mid-October. Matthew Campese, Jake Harrison, Stephen Kleysen and Parm Dhaliwal all scored in the game while Cole Demers was excellent in the game with 35 saves on 36 shots for the victory.
West Kelowna enters Saturday night’s contest after suffering a 7-3 loss to begin their Island Division road trip on Friday night against the Victoria Grizzlies at The Q Centre. Jared Marino, Stephen Kleysen and Chase Dubois scored the goals for the Warriors while Nik Amundrud turned aside 28 of the 35 shots he faced for his 13th loss of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jared Marino (17-25-42)
Chase Dubois (15-18-33)
Michael Ryan (4-25-29)
RJ Murphy (10-15-25)
Jake Harrison (7-17-24)
Keeping the puck out of the net will be a top priority for the Warriors as they head into a tough building to play in and a take on a division leader in the Clippers. West Kelowna has surrendered 26 goals in their last 4 games and have dropped to 14th in the BCHL in goals against at 142. Nanaimo has been one of the better scoring teams in the league with 130 goals for in their 40 games this season, good for 6th in the BCHL.
Jared Marino added to his consecutive points streak as he now has points in 9 straight contests after adding a goal and an assist on Friday night in Victoria. The Warriors captain is up to 17 goals and 42 points on the season in 38 games played, good for a share of the 8th spot in BCHL scoring, and has multi-point games in each of his last four contests while Chase Dubois has points in 3 of his last 4 games including a four-assist night on December 29th against the Trail Smoke Eaters.
Cole Demers gets the start in goal for the Warriors tonight as he looks for his first win since December 15th against the Penticton Vees, which was the last Warriors victory. The 18-year-old has gotten into 18 games of action this season with a 3.36 GAA and a .901 SV% including a shutout. The Kelowna, BC native has fared well against the Island Division, going 3-0-1-0 with a 2.40 GAA and a .919 SV% in four games this season including making 36 saves on 37 shots the last time these two teams met in a Warriors victory.
The Nanaimo Clippers come into Saturday night with a 22-13-2-3 record with 49 points and sit atop the Island Division thanks to an 8-3 victory over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday night at Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo. Brandon Marinelli scored twice in the game while Cal Babych, Brad Belisle, Tristian Crozier, Maxwell Crozier, Joshua Bourne and Preston Brodziak added singles in the win while Taz Burman turned aside 15 of the 18 shots he faced in the game for his 13th win of the season.
Clippers Leading Scorers:
Jake Harris (18-22-40)
Tristan Crozier (13-26-39)
Parker Colley (11-16-27)
Jamie Collins (11-15-26)
Cal Babych (7-19-26)
The Clippers have gone through a big overhaul on the organizational side of operations as Mike Vandekamp was let go by the team as head coach and replaced by Darren Naylor, who was on with the club as Director of Hockey Operations. The coaching change has had no effect on the team whatsoever as the Clippers sit 1st in the Island Division and have four straight games, outscoring their opponents 19-9 in that span under new head coach Darren Naylor.
With captain Jamie Collins on the injured reserve and leading scorer Jake Harris missing action on Friday night, sophomore forward Tristan Crozier has stepped up in a big way offensively for Nanaimo. The North Vancouver, BC native has collected points in each of his last six games with 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points in that span and has scored in each of his last three contests. Newcomer Josh Bourne has also found some scoring touch since being signed by the Clippers last week as he has points in three of his first four games in his BCHL career.
The Clippers got a big helping hand in between the pipes in late October as Taz Burman joined the team from the Western Hockey League and the 20-year-old crease keeper has been stellar since then. The Vancouver, BC native owns a record of 13-8-1 to go along with a 2.31 GAA and a .925 SV% while winning his last four starts and is tied for 4th in the league in goals against average and ranks 3rd in save percentage.
The Warriors and Clippers will drop the puck at 6:00 PM from Frank Crane Arena in Nanaimo with pre-game festivities getting underway at 5:45 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and HockeyTV.com with the voice of the Warriors Trevor Miller as well as Warriors Chaplain Pastor Don Richmond. The Warriors finish their Island road trip with a Sunday matinee against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for a 2:00 PM puck drop.
West Kelowna returns home on Tuesday, January 16th to face-off against the Vernon Vipers in the 5th meeting of their 6-game season series and will be broadcasted live on Shaw TV Okanagan. Tickets are available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office one hour ahead of the opening puck drop.
