The West Kelowna Warriors open up a big week of action as they head to the South Okanagan to take on the Penticton Vees at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Warriors vs. Vees 2017/18 Schedule:
Friday, September 29th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (2-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 3rd @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 17th @ Royal LePage Place (11-3 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, November 29th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 8th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, December 15th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors and Vees have met three times this regular season with Penticton coming away with two victories in those three games. The last meeting between the two teams was a one-sided affair with the Vees coming away with an 11-3 win over the Warriors just 12 days ago. Willie Reim, Wyatt Head and RJ Murphy all tallied for the Warriors in the defeat while Cody Porter started the game, going two periods and making 21 saves on 28 shots before Cole Demers relieved him in the 3rd period and made 10 saves on the 14 shots he faced in the game.
West Kelowna comes into Wednesday night’s contest after a 4-2 loss on Saturday night against the Vernon Vipers at Royal LePage Place to wrap up their annual Parent’s Weekend. Cavin Tilsley got the Warriors to within a goal in the 2nd period while Chase Dubois added a 3rd period goal on the power play but it wasn’t enough for the Warriors in the loss. Nik Amundrud started the game for West Kelowna, turning aside 32 of the 36 shots he faced in the game for his 7th loss of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Jared Marino (10-13-23)
Chase Dubois (9-14-23)
Michael Ryan (3-19-22)
Parm Dhaliwal (6-13-19)
Chase Stevenson (7-11-18)
The Warriors have had their veterans leading by example over the past few games and it starts with the guy wearing the “C” as Jared Marino has points in 5 of his last 6 games. The Niagara Falls, Ontario native has scored four goals and six points during that six-game stretch and leads the Warriors with 10 goals and 23 points in 28 games so far this season.
Special teams, as it always seems to do, could play a big factor in settling tonight’s matchup with the Warriors power play starting to heat up. West Kelowna has scored a power play goal in each of their last three games, going 6/21 (28.6%) in that span. The Tribe have scored the only power play goal of this season series and are 1/8 against the Vees on the man advantage this season.
In lineup news, the Warriors will be without the services of Parm Dhaliwal for a second straight game as he sits out with an injury with Bennett Norlin and Matt Kowalski remaining out of the lineup due to injuries. AP forward Mitchell Gove will suit up for the Warriors for his 2nd game of the season, coming from the Okanagan Rocket of the BC Major Midget League (BCMML). The 16-year-old Summerland, BC native has scored 11 goals and 18 points in 18 games during the MML season so far.
The Penticton Vees enter Wednesday night with a 17-5-2-1 record, sitting in 3rd place in the Interior Division and have been playing strong hockey as of late, winning their last seven games with the most recent victory coming in the way of a 2-0 victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Jared Nash and Dakota Boutin provided the all the offence while Adam Scheel picked up his first career BCHL shutout with 13 saves and good for his 10th win of the season.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Owen Sillinger (11-17-28)
Nicky Leivermann (7-15-22)
Jonny Tychonick (5-17-22)
Dakota Boutin (10-7-17)
Cassidy Bowes (5-12-17)
The Vees have found their stride over the last seven games and have also found their offence as the red light has gotten a workout over the past few contests. Penticton has outscored their opposition by a staggering 39-9 margin over the seven-game winning streak with big wins against the Warriors and a night later against the Cowichan Valley Capitals by a 10-1 score. Jonny Tychonick has been a big contributor on the backend and comes into Wednesday night with a 5-game point streak registering 1 goal and 11 points over that span including back-to-back nights with 4 assists against West Kelowna and Cowichan Valley.
Lost a bit in the offensive hot stretch is the play of the Vees defense and, in particular, goaltender Adam Scheel. The Lakewood, Ohio native picked up his first career BCHL shutout on Saturday night against the Chiefs and has won his last 5 starts. Scheel is tied for 1st in the league with a 1.99 GAA and is 2nd in the BCHL with a .932 SV% in his 1024 minutes of action this season and is expected to get the start for the Vees on Wednesday night.
As previously mentioned, special teams will be a big factor and Penticton has been getting hot when it comes to both sides of the special teams discussion. The Vees rank at the top of the league in both the power play and penalty kill with the man advantage having gone 5/13 (38.5%) over the last four games, with a power play goal in each of those contests and comes into the game at 22.5% through the 25 games they have played this season while the penalty kill is 13 for it’s last 13 and comes into the game at 88.8% on the year.
The Warriors and Vees drop the puck from the South Okanagan Events Centre at 7:00 PM with the pre-game show getting underway at 6:45 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and HockeyTV.com with the voice of the Warriors, Trevor Miller.
The Warriors return home to Royal LePage Place on Saturday, December 2nd against the Wenatchee Wild. Tickets can be purchased online at wkw.ticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office ahead of the opening face-off.
