The West Kelowna Warriors (3-1-0-0) open a big weekend home-and-home set in the Shuswap as they battle the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (3-1-0-0) on Friday night at the Shaw Centre.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. SALMON ARM
Friday, October 6th @ Shaw Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, October 7th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, November 22nd @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Saturday, December 2nd @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, December 13th @ Shaw Centre (6:00 PM)
Friday, February 16th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
West Kelowna comes into Friday night’s contest in Salmon Arm after getting their way back into the win column with a 5-3 triumph over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place. Five different goal scorers in Felix Caron, Jackson Kyrkostas, Caden Kemkaran-Humble, Jack Pridham and Michael Salandra each found the back of the net while Matthew DellaRusso made 18 saves on 21 shots in his first career BCHL start for his first career win.
The Warriors and Silverbacks begin the first of their six-game season series tonight in the Shuswap and the beginning of a back-to-back set on the weekend. The two teams had a tight season set last year with West Kelowna winning in a shootout in the final game of the regular season to win the series 3-2 while also propelling them into 3rd place in the Interior Conference.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Johannes Løkkeberg (3-1-4)
Cal Hughes (2-2-4)
Michael Salandra (2-2-4)
Felix Caron (1-3-4)
Brennan Nelson (1-3-4)
A goal and assist from returning forward Felix Caron helped the Warriors to victory on Saturday night on home ice and was the first multi-point game of the season from the RPI commit. Caron, a Terrebonne, Quebec native, registered his fifth career multi-point game and has now posted points in three of the first four contests of the new season.
There are three Warriors players who have tallied a point in each of the first four games of the season and will carry a four-game point streak into the third weekend of action in the BCHL. Each of Michael Salandra, Isaiah Norlin and Brennan Nelson have earned a point in each game this season while all four sit with 4 points on the year in some variety and way.
The power play of the Warriors has been a key to their strong start to the season, having scored in each of the first four games of the new campaign. West Kelowna is tied for second in the league in power play percentage at 30.8% while tied with seven other teams for a league-leading 7 power play goals for while possessing the playmaking ability of Caron, who is tied with Powell River Kings defender Will Jones with 3 power play assists this season.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks come into action on Friday after their largest offensive output of the season, scoring six goals in a 6-1 victory over the Cranbrook Bucks on Saturday night at the Shaw Centre. Six different goal scorers in Maddux Martin, Jacob Bonkowski, Riley Ashe, Ryan Gillespie, Reid Varkonyi and Cole Cooksey combined to help Salmon Arm to the win. Eli Pulver made his first start with the ‘Backs and turned aside 26 of the 27 shots thrown his way in his first win of the season.
Silverbacks Leading Scorers:
Isaac Lambert (2-3-5)
JJ Monteiro (1-4-5)
Tristan Allen (0-5-5)
Reid Varkonyi (3-1-4)
Ryan Gillespie (2-2-4)
The Silverbacks return a total of seven players from last season’s team, which went 7-2-04-3 to finish 4th in the Interior Conference before advancing to the Interior Conference Final in the playoffs. Captain and forward Nathan Mackie is back while Casy Laylin, Reid Varkonyi, Maddux Martin, Ryan Gillespie and Isaac Lambert join him up front with Tristan Allen the lone blueliner who is back on the back end.
Friday will see the top two penalty killing teams in the BC Hockey League face-off as the Warriors hold the strongest PK in the league, killing 14 of the 15 penalties taken this season while the Silverbacks are 2nd in that regard, killing off 11 of the 12 penalties taken thus far while Salmon Arm has also notched a shorthanded marker while down a man.
Points in four straight games has returning blueliner and long-time BCHL veteran Tristan Allen with five points this season, all having been assists. The Kamloops, BC native recently committed to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and sits 2nd in scoring amongst blueliners in the league. Allen was acquired from the Merritt Centennials at the trade deadline last season and holds 7 goals and 62 points in 131 career games played.
The Warriors and Silverbacks play the first of their weekend home-and-home set on Friday night at the Shaw Centre for a 7:00 PM puck drop. The game will be broadcasted with a free audio stream at mixlr.com/bchlwarriors as well as streamed live on FloHockey. The Warriors return home for a matchup against these same Silverbacks on Saturday night at 7:00 PM at Royal LePage Place. Tickets are available for purchase online at the Warriors website as well as in-person at the Warriors Office and Box Office.
