PHOTO: Tami Quan/Tami Quan Photography
The West Kelowna Warriors hit the road for their fourth exhibition contest as they head to the South Okanagan to face-off against the Penticton Vees on Wednesday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Warriors Exhibition Schedule:
Wednesday, August 22nd @ Royal LePage Place vs. Penticton Vees (3-1 Vees)
Friday, August 24th @ Royal LePage Place vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (8-2 Warriors)
Saturday, August 25th @ Shaw Centre vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (3-2 Warriors/OT)
Wednesday, August 29th @ South Okanagan Events Centre vs. Penticton Vees (7:00 PM)
Friday, August 31st @ Royal LePage Place vs. Trail Smoke Eaters (7:00 PM)
Saturday, September 1st @ Cominco Arena vs. Trail Smoke Eaters (7:00 PM)
Warriors vs. Vees 2018/19 Regular Season Schedule:
Friday, October 19th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, October 26th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
Tuesday, November 13th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, November 14th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 21st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 22nd @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
This is the second and last meeting between the Warriors and Vees in the preseason with Penticton earning a 3-1 victory in each of the team’s exhibition openers one week ago at Royal LePage Place. Finn Halladay, Henri Schreifels and Ryan Green found the back of the net for the Vees while Cole Wyatt scored shorthanded for the lone Warriors tally in a game that iced a lot of young prospects and rookies.
The Warriors come into the midweek showdown after a sweep of their home-and-home against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, most recently earning a 3-2 overtime triumph over the ‘Backs. Mason Richey scored once in the first period and again in the third frame before the game went to extra time but did not last long. Matt Kowalski scored just five seconds into OT to help the Warriors to back-to-back wins. Cole Demers made 18 saves on 19 shots in his start while Berk Berkeliev turned aside 17 of the 18 shots thrown his way in the second half of the game,
The overtime winner on Saturday marked the fourth goal of the preseason for Kowalski, who has been lighting the lamp with regularity over the past two exhibition contests. Although having to sit out the first four games of the regular season due to a suspension from last year’s playoffs, Kowalski is already showing to be in mid-season form heading into the final three games of the exhibition schedule.
The lineups for tonight’s game should be ones that resemble what fans can expect to see on Friday, September 7th when the regular season opens up. The Warriors are expected to have all of their returning players in the lineup while in the crease, it looks to be Cole Demers getting the start with Connor Hopkins backing him up.
The Vees have only played in the one preseason game coming last week in West Kelowna before hosting their annual Peaches Cup intrasquad game on Saturday night. Penticton’s lineup should be a solid representation of what is expected to be in the regular season with veterans such as Lukas Sillinger, Ryan Sandelin and Jack Barnes possibly seeing the ice. Returning forward and captain Massimo Rizzo will be one vet who will not play as he deals with an ailment that will hold him out until the start of regular season play.
The Warriors and Vees drop the puck at the SOEC at 7:00 PM with the game being broadcasted live on mixlr.com/bchlwarriors and HockeyTV.com. West Kelowna wraps up their preseason play against this weekend with a home-and-home set against the Trail Smoke Eaters, beginning on Friday night at RLP.
Season tickets are now on sale for the upcoming 2018/19 season, which is set to begin Friday, September 7th before heading to Royal LePage Place to host the Trail Smoke Eaters in their home opener on Saturday, September 8th. Head to the Warriors newly renovated office to check in on ticket details.
