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GAME PREVIEW: Warriors Open Showcase Schedule vs. Express

PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL

The West Kelowna Warriors play the first of their two games at the Bauer BCHL Showcase with a matchup against the Mainland Division’s Coquitlam Express on Wednesday night at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.

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Warriors vs. Express 2016/17 Season:

Thursday, September 22nd @ Prospera Centre (5-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)

Wednesday, October 19th @ Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre (3-2 Express) (BOXSCORE)

Saturday, February 4th @ Royal LePage Place (10-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)

Warriors vs. Express 2017/18 Schedule:

Wednesday, September 20th @ Prospera Centre (7:30 PM)

Wednesday, October 4th @ Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre (7:00 PM)

Tuesday, January 23rd @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)

The Warriors and Express met each other three times during the 2016/17 regular season, just as they will over the course of this season, with West Kelowna winning two of the three meetings. The Warriors opened the season series with a 5-3 win at the Showcase one year ago before falling in Coquitlam in the final seconds a month later by a 3-2 score. In the final game of the season series, the Tribe put up their highest goal total of the season with a 10-2 victory to close out the three-game season set.

West Kelowna comes into Wednesday night’s contest after bouncing back from a home opening loss and coming away with a 3-1 win over the Merritt Centennials last Saturday night. Matt Kowalski stole the show with a highlight reel goal (seen here) to open the scoring in the game before Jared Marino added to the lead with his first goal of the season just a minute and three seconds later. Chase Stevenson finished the Warriors scoring with a 2nd period goal before the Cents ruined the shutout bid of Cole Demers with a late goal by Jack Vincent. Demers was terrific on the night with 32 saves on 33 shots for first star honours and his first victory of the 2017/18 season.

Lost in the glory of the goal that the 18-year-old Kowalski scored was that the tally put him at four on the season and give him the team lead in that regard as well as points. Wyatt Head has come out to a strong start in his rookie season with three assists in his first three games of 2017/18 while Chase Dubois rounds out the Warriors top three in scoring with a pair of assists.

Although the Warriors got a much better performance in their one-game weekend against Merritt on Saturday, special teams have still been a work in progress, but are showing signs of improvement. The Kowalski marker was a power play goal but West Kelowna finished the night 1/7 on the man advantage and now sit at 17.6% on the season, ranking 11th in the BCHL. The penalty kill had a good night on Saturday, going 3/3 and looking like it’s normal self once again.

In the four previous Bauer BCHL Showcases, the Warriors and Express have met twice with West Kelowna coming out victorious in both meetings and the Warriors have liked the idea of the four-day event. The Tribe have won six straight Showcase games and own the 3rd-best points percentage in the annual Showcase behind just the Penticton Vees (1.000) and Wenatchee Wild (.875) in that regard with an 8-2-0-0 record in Chilliwack.

The Coquitlam Express are looking to rebound from a rough and injury-plagued 2016/17 season after finishing in 6th place in the Mainland Division with a 11-44-1-2 record. The Express are still searching for their first victory of the new season, opening the year with a 2-2 tie against the Surrey Eagles before heading to Vancouver Island for a pair of games, starting with a 5-3 loss to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs with another 5-3 defeat following after against the Cowichan Valley Capitals.

In the latest defeat in Duncan, Coquitlam got out to a 2-0 in the opening period with goals from Christian Sanda and Hunter Fraser before the Capitals responded with three goals of their own to take the lead. Jake Brien tied the game back up in the 3rd period for the Express but it was the Capitals who scored twice more in the final frame to pick up the win. Clay Stevenson got his first BCHL start in goal with the 18-year-old turning aside 34 of the 39 shots he faced in the losing effort.

The Express have nine returning players from last season including forwards Sam Kozlowski, Christian Bosa, William Lawrence and Mitch Newsome along with defensemen Jake Brien, Devon Mussio, Troy Robillard, Jordan Schulting and goaltender Reid Cooper. 20-year-old Brien, 19-year-old Robillard and 20-year-old Lawrence have been given honours as alternate captains this season.

The three-year veteran blueliner Jake Brien is also leading the team in the assist category with three to go along with a goal for four points, tied for the team lead in points with newcomer Christian Sanda, who has a pair of goals and assists. The St. Paul, Minnesota native has points in each of the first three games for the Express this season with returnee Sam Kozlowski rounding out the top three in scoring with two goals.

The Warriors and Express are slated to drop the puck at 7:30 PM from the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack with the game being available live on the Warriors Internet Network (www.mixlr.com/bchlwarriors) as well as on pay-per-view with www.hockeytv.com. The broadcast kicks off at 7:15 PM with a pre-game show with the voice of the Warriors Trevor Miller and special guest as Warriors Chaplain Pastor Don Richmond will provide colour commentary.