The West Kelowna Warriors (3-1-1-0) look to rebound and get back in the win column while finishing up a weekend away from home and a matchup against the Trail Smoke Eaters (2-3-0-0) on Saturday night from Cominco Arena.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. TRAIL
Saturday, October 8th @ Cominco Arena (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 10th @ Cominco Arena (7:00 PM)
Friday, January 6th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 18th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 24th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
West Kelowna will look to get back in the win column following a 4-3 overtime loss to the Cranbrook Bucks on Friday night at Western Financial Place. Chris Duclair scored his first two career BC Hockey League goals while Felix Caron added a single on the power play as the Warriors fell just short. Justin Katz made his fifth consecutive start for the Warriors, making 27 saves on 31 shots in his first overtime loss of the season.
The Warriors and Smoke Eaters played a six-game season series last year that went in West Kelowna’s favour, winning five of the six contests and outscored Trail by a 27-22 margin in that span. West Kelowna won each of their two home games in the season set and earned wins in three of the four road games played in Trail.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Michael Salandra (2-6-8)
Brennan Nelson (2-4-6)
Rylee Hlusiak (1-5-6)
Nolan Hayes (0-5-5)
Isaiah Norlin (2-2-4)
The point streak of forward Michael Salandra was extended on Friday night in the overtijme defeat to the Bucks as the first year Warrior now has points in each of his last four games. The Pleasantville, New York native leads the team with 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points on the campaign and sits 6th in BCHL scoring, trailing five Penticton Vees forwards for top spot.
Not only was it enough for Warriors forward Chris Duclair to earn his first career BCHL goal on Friday night in Cranbrook but he made it twice as nice, scoring a 3rd period marker that, at the time, put the Warriors ahead in the game. The Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quevec native is the younger brother of current NHLer Anthony Duclair and is in his first seasonwith the Wsarriors following a 22-goal campaign with the Odessa Jackalopes in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and is heading to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) following his junior hockey career.
Despite the loss on Friday, the Warriors have been one of the more successful teams when it comes to finding the back of the net, sitting tied for second in the BCHL in goals for with 20 thus far on the year in five games. Through those five contests, the Warriors have seen five different multi-goal efforts in their games, with Matt Fusco, Brennan Nelson, Kailus Green, Jaiden Moriello and Chris Duclair all earning two-goal games this season.
The Trail Smoke Eaters come into Saturday night’s game looking for a perfect weekend following a 7-5 triumph over the Wenatchee Wild on Friday at Cominco Atrena. Josh Schenk, Judah Makway, Brady Hunter, Nic Remissong, Mathieu Cobetto-Roy, Jack Kurrle, and Evan Bushy each found the back of the net in the win while Cole Tisdale earned his first win of bthe season in between the pipes, making 41 saves on 46 shots.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Nicholas Remissong (4-1-5)
Adam Parsons (2-3-5)
Evan Bushy (1-4-5)
Mathieu Cobetto-Roy (2-2-4)
Brady Hunter (1-3-4)
The Smoke Eaters come into this season following a first round exit in five games to the Penticton Vees a season ago in the playoffs, finishing the year in 8th place in the Interior Division, posting a 20-29-2-2-1 record. Trail brings back 11 players from lastr year’s team, including captain Brady Hunter. Ridge Dawson, Josh Schenk, Adam Parsons, Nicholas Remissong and Quinn Disher join him up front while Ethan Warrener, Ethan Willoughby, Jordan Hendry and Evan Bushy are back on the blue line with Cole Tisdale returning in net.
Following a strong second BCHL season last year for the captain Hunter, the Merrimack College commit will be looked upon to provide some key offense for the team movoing forward this season. The Enfield, Nova Scotia native posted 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points last season in just 41 games played to lead the team in scoring last season and is coming off of a three-point night against the Wild on Friday.
The Warriors continue their two-game Kootenay road trip as they travel to the West Kootenays to battle the Smoke Eaters for the first time this season. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM at Cominco Arena with the game being broadcasted live on AM 1150 as well as streamed on BCHLTV.ca with the voice of the Warriors, Trevor Miller.
