The West Kelowna Warriors (1-0-0-0) look to open their regular season with back-to-back wins on Vancouver Island as they are in the Provincial Capital to take on the Victoria Grizzlies (0-0-0-1) on Saturday night at The Q Centre.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. VICTORIA
Friday, September 24th @ The Q Centre
Monday, October 17th @ Chilliwack Coliseum [BCHL Showcase] (10:00 AM)
The Warriors come into their second game of the season following a strong debut to the 2022/23 campaign, earning a 2-1 victory over the Cowichan Valley Capitals at the Cowichan Community Centre in Duncan on Friday night. Matthew Fusco scored both of the goals in the win, tallying the two markers in the opening period of play to help West Kelowna to the triumph. Justin Katz was very solid in goal, turning aside 26 of the 27 shots he faced in his 1st win of the new season.
West Kelowna and Victoria will meet for the first of their two-game season series, wrapping up the set in October at the BC Hockey League Showcase in Chilliwack. The Grizzlies got the best of the Warriors in the last season series they played, dating back to the 2019/20 season where a 3-2 overtime win at Royal LePage Place and a 5-4 shootout win at The Q Centre helped Victoria to the pair of victories.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Matthew Fusco (2-0-2)
Luke Devlin (0-1-1)
Rylee Hlusiak (0-1-1)
Brennan Nelson (0-1-1)
Michael Salandra (0-1-1)
The Warriors picked up a pair of goals from the blue line in the way of Matthew Fusco, who scored the first two goals of the season in the opening period on Friday night in Duncan. The rookie defender captained the Dexter Southfield School last season, posting 9 goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 24 games. The Westwood, Massachusetts native is slated to head to Dartmouth College following his junior hockey career and is currently on pace for 108 goals on the campaign.
West Kelowna was one of six teams to find success on the power play on the opening night of BCHL play, going 1-for-4 on the man advantage in the victory. A season ago, the Warriors finished with the second-most goals on the power play, collecting 55 and finished behind only the Penticton Vees in that department.
Collecting an assist in his Warriors debut last night was Rylee Hlusiak, who joined the team from the Hawkesbury Hawks of the Central Canadian Hockey League (CCHL). The Barrie, Ontario native led the team in scoring with 29 goals and 39 assists for 68 points in just 49 games played and will look to contribute a lot of that offense to West Kelowna this season.
The Victoria Grizzlies come into the second night of the season following an opening night shootout loss to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, falling by a 3-2 score at The Q Centre. Olivier Picard scored both of the goals for the Grizzlies in the defeat while five players could not score in the shootout. Ansel Holt got the start in goal for Victoria, making 33 saves on 35 shots and denying four of the five shooters he faced in the shootout loss.
Grizzlies Leading Scorers:
Olivier Picard (2-0-2)
Owen Bohn (0-1-1)
Jack Gorton (0-1-1)
Reegan Hiscock (0-1-1)
Cam Smith (0-1-1)
The Grizzlies come into the season with nine players returning from last year’s team that placed 5th in the Coastal Conference with a 29-25-0-0 record and bowed out in the 1st round of the playoffs to the Langley Rivermen. Devon deVries, Jack Gorton, Luc Pelletier and Cam Smith return up front for the Grizzlies while Michael Adamek, Eli Barnett, Tyler Waram, Justin Gibson and Hoyt Stanley return on the blue line.
The game will feature two Warriors alumni who will be behind the bench of the Grizzlies as General Manager and Head Coach Rylan Ferster, as well as Assistant Coach Geoff Grimwood, will coach against their former team. Ferster was at the helm of the Warriors from 2011-2018, guiding the team to a National Championship during the 2016 campaign and has won more games than any other coach in Warriors history. Grimwood served as Warriors coach for the conclusion of the 2018/19 season.
The Warriors conclude their opening weekend of action on Vancouver Island as they head to the Provincial Capital to take on the Victoria Grizzlies on Saturday night at The Q Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game available to listen to on mixlr.com/bchlwarriors as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca.
