The West Kelowna Warriors (27-10-9-0) will renew an Interior Conference rivalry and conclude their season series against the Vernon Vipers (27-17-1-0) on Saturday night at Kal Tire Place.
How To Follow:
Listen: AM 1150
Watch: FloHockey
Breakdown:
West Kelowna:
Overall Record: 27-10-9-0 (2nd in Interior Conference – 3rd in BCHL)
Home Record: 14-4-5-0
Road Record: 13-6-4-0
Power Play: 33-for-144 (22.9% – 6th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 129-for-170 (75.9% – 13th in BCHL)
Vernon:
Overall Record: 27-17-1-0 (4th in Interior Conference – 7th in BCHL)
Home Record: 15-6-1-0
Road Record: 12-11-0-0
Power Play: 35-for-146 (24.0% – 3rd in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 122-for-155 (78.7% – 9th in BCHL)
Season Series:
Wednesday, October 18th @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Vipers/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 20th @ Kal Tire Place (4-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, November 29th @ Kal Tire Place (4-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, December 10th @ Royal LePage Place (7-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, March 2nd @ Kal Tire Place (7:00 PM)
Looking Back:
West Kelowna enters play on Saturday night in the North Okanagan following another overtime setback, this time at the hands of the Trail Smoke Eaters on Friday night at Royal LePage Place by a 6-5 score. Felix Caron, Trey Ausmus, Isaiah Norlin, Cal Hughes and Jack Pridham each found the back of the net in the losing effort while Rorke Applebee turned aside 34 of the 40 shots thrown his way in his 6th overtime defeat of the season.
The Vipers are coming off of a high scoring affair of their own, picking up a 7-5 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday at Kal Tire Place. Luke Pakulak and Isaac Tremblay each found the back of the net twice while Erik Pastro, Connor Elliott and Hank Cleaves added singles in the winning effort. Colin Reay picked up his 7th win of the season in between the pipes for Vernon, making 17 saves on 22 shots.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Felix Caron (28-31-59)
Isaiah Norlin (12-34-46)
Michael Salandra (21-23-44)
Jack Pridham (18-21-39)
Jackson Kyrkostas (20-17-37)
Vipers Leading Scorers:
Owen Kim (12-27-39)
Hank Cleaves (10-28-38)
Isaac Tremblay (21-12-33)
Erik Pastro (16-17-33)
Anthony Cliche (10-22-32)
Who’s Hot:
West Kelowna:
- Felix Caron – Forward – Terrebonne, Quebec – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
The Warriors leading scorer continues to fill the stat sheet and added to his impressive totals with a three-point effort on Friday night against the Vipers. The RPI commit sits 3rd in league scoring with 59 points and is second in goals at 28 on the season. Caron is looking to become the first Warrior since Felix Trudeau in the 2021/22 season to amass 60 points and is just two shy of Trudeau’s 61 from that season.
- Johannes Løkkeberg – Forward – Fredrikstad, Norway – Bowling Green University
Named the Warriors Player of the Month for February, presented by Landmark Clothiers, Løkkeberg has seen his point totals dip slightly since coming back from playing at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Sweden with Team Norway but a meeting against the Vipers could just be what the doctor ordered. The Bowling Green commit has produced 8 points in 4 games against Vernon this season, including a three-assist performance the last time these two teams met back in December.
Vernon:
- Hank Cleaves – Forward – Riverside, Connecticut – Dartmouth University
Cleaves posted his 5th game of three or more points on Friday in the 7-5 victory over Prince George, capped off by his empty net goal. The Dartmouth commit has enjoyed a strong stretch of play over the last part of February into March, producing points in four of his last five games and amassing a goal and five assists for six points over that stretch. Cleaves is a veteran of 85 BCHL games and has registered 76 total points in his time in a Vipers sweater.
- Luke Pakulak – Forward – Surrey, BC – Clarkson University
Another veteran forward with a lengthy career in Vernon, Pakulak has delivered in big moments for the Vipers and open the scoring with each of his two goals coming in the first period on Friday night. A commit of Clarkson University, Pakulak also has points in four of his last five games while collecting 3 goals and 3 assists in that span including a pair of multi-point efforts.
The Warriors and Vipers play in the fifth and final game of their season series with puck drop slated for 7:00 PM from Kal Tire Place. The game will be broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed online on FloHockey.
