The West Kelowna Warriors play their final regular season game on home ice as they take on their Interior Division rivals in the Penticton Vees at Royal LePage Place on Tuesday night.
Season Series:
Friday, September 30th @ Royal LePage Place (3-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 22nd @ Royal LePage Place (6-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, November 22nd @ Royal LePage Place (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, January 11th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 21st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, February 17th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (5-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, February 21st @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors have yet to be able to crack the Vees so far this season as the record stands at 0-6 in the season series for West Kelowna against Penticton. The last game the two teams played came last Friday with the Vees shutting out the Warriors by a 5-0 score at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Cole Demers made the start for the Warriors, allowing three goals on five shots and picking up the loss before being relieved in net by Gabriel Morency who made 14 saves on 16 shots in his appearance.
The Warriors come into Tuesday night’s game after one of their biggest victories of the season, a 3-2 overtime win over the Island Division pennant winners in the Victoria Grizzlies. Chase Stevenson and Jon Russell got the scoring going with the Warriors in front of a crowd of 1,325 at Royal LePage Place. The Grizzlies came back with two first period goals to tie the game at 2-2 where it would remain for the duration of the game. The Warriors earned a power play late in the first overtime period and Stevenson scored his 2nd goal of the game to earn the Warriors 27th victory of the season. Gabriel Morency made 40 saves on 42 shots for his 5th victory of the season.
Tuesday night marks a milestone occasion for one Warrior forward as Cavin Tilsley with hit the century mark with his 100th career regular season game coming tonight against the Vees. The Delta, BC native has 15 goals and 39 points in his 99 career games so far in his career while in split time between the Warriors and Prince George Spruce Kings this season, Tilsley has complied 5 goals and 18 points in 43 games played.
Gabriel Morency will be making his second consecutive start on Tuesday night after coming off of a 40-save performance on Saturday night against the Grizzlies. The Quebec, Quebec native has won his last four starts and holds a 2.84 GAA and a .922 SV% in his 10 appearances with the Warriors this season. Over his last four victories, Morency owns a 1.72 GAA with a sparkling .950 SV% including a shutout in Prince George against the Spruce Kings on February 9th.
The final regular season home game goes tonight with the Warriors owning a very good record of 17-11-0-0 at Royal LePage Place so far this season. Fans are encouraged to stick around after the game as the Warriors will hand out their team awards for the 2016/17 season. The ceremony will take place at centre ice right after the final buzzer sounds on Tuesday night.
The Penticton Vees enter play on Tuesday night with a 39-13-1-2 record having clinched 1st place in the Interior Division and are coming off of a three-game weekend on home ice which saw two wins. The first coming on Friday night against the Warriors before dropping a 5-1 decision to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Saturday while finishing the weekend with a 2-1 overtime win over the Victoria Grizzlies on Sunday. Grant Cruikshank scored in regulation while James Miller collected the overtime winner with Mat Robson making 27 saves on 28 shots in the victory.
The Vees sit 9th in the BCHL in scoring with 178 goals for this season in 55 games played with captain Nicholas Jones leading the team in scoring with 22 goals and 58 points in his 55 games played this year. Rookie forward Grant Cruikshank leads the Vees in goals with 30 on the season while Jones paces the club in assists (36) and points (58). Mat Robson has been outstanding all season long for the Vees holding a 33-12-1 record along with a 2.01 GAA and a .927 SV% with his goals against and save percentage both ranking 2nd in the BCHL.
The biggest pest for the Warriors to play against this season has been forward Nic Jones as the Vees captain has torched West Kelowna all season long. Jones has nine goals in six games against the Warriors this season (including scoring in each of the six games) and has a total of 13 points to go along with his nine goals. Robson has played the Warriors well in the crease as well this season, boasting a 6-0 record combined with a 1.80 GAA and a dazzling .945 SV%.
The Warriors and Vees drop the puck at 7:00 PM with tickets available at the Warriors office or by calling Kim at (250) 769-7051. If you can’t make it to the rink, the pre-game show starts at 6:50 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and www.hockeytv.com. The Warriors wrap up their regular season schedule with a pair of road games in Merritt on Friday night and then in Salmon Arm on Saturday.
