The West Kelowna Warriors return to Royal LePage Place after four games away from home to take on the Chilliwack Chiefs in a rematch of the 2016 BCHL Finals on Saturday night at RLP.
Warriors vs. Chiefs 2016/17 Season:
Wednesday, September 21st @ Prospera Centre (5-2 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, October 4th @ Royal LePage Place (1-0 Warriors/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Sunday, January 29th @ Prospera Centre (3-2 Chiefs/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Warriors vs. Chiefs 2017/18 Schedule:
Saturday, September 30th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
Sunday, February 11th @ Prospera Centre (5:00 PM)
The Warriors and Chiefs met three times one season ago with the Bauer BCHL Showcase added in the usual two-game season series. West Kelowna took 5 out of 6 points in games against Chilliwack in 2016/17 including a 5-2 win at the Showcase, a 1-0 shutout overtime victory at RLP on October 4th followed by a 3-2 overtime loss in Chilliwack in late January after the two teams slugged out a BCHL Final the year before in the playoffs with the Warriors prevailing in sox games.
West Kelowna enters play on Saturday night after a tough, hard-fought 2-1 loss against the Penticton Vees on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Chase Dubois scored with 1:14 remaining in regulation time to make the final moments of the game interesting but the Vees would be the ones to skate away with the one-goal victory. Nik Amundrud was outstanding on the night for the Warriors, turning aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced in the game despite the defeat.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Matt Kowalski (5-3-8)
Stephen Kleysen (2-3-5)
Parm Dhaliwal (2-3-5)
Chase Dubois (2-3-5)
Michael Ryan (0-5-5)
The Warriors special teams has been highlighted the past few games and for good reason, the power play is ranked 3rd in the league with a 24.3% clip and has 9 goals on the season, good enough for 2nd spot in the BCHL in that regard behind only Wenatchee (13). The penalty kill has been spot on for the Warriors as well, going 5/5 a night ago against the Vees and now up to 88.9% on the season, good for 4th in the league and has not allowed a power play goal against in five straight games.
Chase Dubois scored the lone goal for the Warriors in the 2-1 loss to Penticton on Friday night with a laser-like wrist shot and has points in each of his last three games. The Williams Lake, BC native has collected two goals and an assist in his last three contests after starting the year with just two points in his first four games.
With Nik Amundrud’s busy performance a night ago, the crease will be seen by 18-year-old Cole Demers, who is slated to get his 3rd start of the season. The Kelowna, BC native has had a solid season thus far in a short sample size, leading the BCHL in goals against (0.99) and save percentage (.974) so far through his three games of work.
The Chilliwack Chiefs enter Saturday night’s affair wanted to forget about the night before as they also were defeated on Friday night by the Trail Smoke Eaters by a 7-3 score at Cominco Arena and sits at 1-4-1-1 on the season. Skylar Brind’Amour, Kaden Pickering and Ryan Miotto scored in the game for the Chiefs while Mathieu Caron started the game in goal, turning aside 12 of the 15 shots he faced in 23 minutes of action before Daniel Chenard closed out the game with 14 saves on 17 shots.
Chiefs Scoring Leaders:
Will Calverley (4-2-6)
Harrison Blaisdell (1-5-6)
Kaden Pickering (1-4-5)
Powell Connor (0-4-4)
Skylar Brind’Amour (2-1-3)
It’s been a rough September for the 2018 Royal Bank Cup hosts as they look to earn their second win of the season when they roll into West Kelowna. After a year of going all the way to the Western Canada Cup, and making various moves and altercations, only three players remain from last year’s Mainland Division winning squad including captain Will Calverley, forward Tommy Lee and defenseman Powell Connor.
With the high amount of roster turnover from a season ago, the Chiefs will have to rely on some young players to get scoring going and one in particular has done a good job through six games. Harrison Blaisdell has a goal and five assists in his last four games and has plenty of high praise from some NHL Central Scouting staff as has his team mate, and son of former NHLer Rod, Skylar Brind’Amour. The Michigan State University commit has goals in three of his last four games.
When it comes to the special teams’ side, the Chiefs have struggled when on the man advantage so far this season, running their power play at just 12.9% over the past seven games and ranks them 15th in the league. The penalty kill has had a decent start and currently sits in 10th place in the BCHL with an 81.6% operating percentage.
The Warriors and Chiefs are set to drop the puck at 7:00 PM tonight at Royal LePage Place with tickets available for purchase at the Warriors office or by calling (250) 769-7051. If you can’t make it to the game, voice of the Warriors Trevor Miller will have the call on the Warriors Internet Network and HockeyTV.com beginning with a pre-game show at 6:45 PM.
The Warriors have introduced a new Fan’tatstic Five ticket package that gives fans a chance to experience five of the most highly anticipated games of the season for just $55.55 with games against the Wenatchee Wild, Penticton Vees, Salmon Arm Silverbacks, Vernon Vipers and Victoria Grizzlies. For more information on these packs and all ticket info, visit the Warriors office or call (250) 769-7051.
