PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Penticton Vees
The West Kelowna Warriors couldn’t find their offense in a 2-0 pre season opening loss to the Penticton Vees at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Wednesday night.
The first period would see no scoring for either side but it was evident from the get go that the Warriors wanted to establish their physical game, laying a few good hits to begin the game.
Ethan Grover, a 2000-born forward for the Warriors tonight, had the best opportunity to score just about past the halfway mark of the frame. He stripped the puck from a Vee just outside of the offensive zone and came in all-alone on a break, missing the net by an inch or two on the blocker side.
The 2nd period caused all sorts of problems for the Warriors, starting at the 1:15 mark when Vees opened the scoring on a deflection in front by Desi Burgart. West Kelowna would be shorthanded for a fair chunk of the 2nd frame and would get burned by the Vees PP just over the halfway mark in the stanza on a scramble play in front of the Warriors goal.
The 3rd period saw what most of the first 20 minutes did, chances by both sides in what was a bit of an unpolished hockey game.
The Warriors would get a late chance to score late in the game as Georgi Feduolov danced around a defender and cut in on goal only to stopped by Vees netminder Nolan Hildebrand to make the game a 2-0 final in the favour of the Vees.
West Kelowna’s effort in the crease tonight was terrific as a tag team of Brad Otton, who stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced before being pulled midway in the 2nd period, and Matt Vernon, who turned aside 19 of 20 shots he saw, was very strong and kept the Warriors stay in the game.
West-K is back in action on Friday, August 26th when they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at Royal LePage Place. Tickets are just $5 for some exciting pre season hockey between the Warriors and ‘Backs. If you can’t make it to RLP, voice of the Warriors Trevor Miller and colour commentator Sheldon Bank will have the call on FASTHockey starting at 6:55 pm for a 7:00 pm puck drop.
Warriors play-by-play man Trevor Miller caught up with head coach and general manager Rylan Ferster ahead of the game in Penticton on Wednesday night:
Trevor also chatted with Warriors captain Nick Rutigliano ahead of the game to get his thoughts on the season ahead and how he feels about wearing a “C” for the club this season:
