PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The West Kelowna Warriors take their three-game winning streak on the road with the first of a two-game season series against the Langley Rivermen at George Preston Arena on Tuesday night.
Warriors vs. Rivermen 2016/17 Season:
Saturday, November 25th @ George Preston Arena (4-2 Rivermen) (BOXSCORE)
Tuesday, February 7th @ Royal LePage Place (5-3 Rivermen) (BOXSCORE)
Warriors vs. Rivermen 2017/18 Schedule:
Tuesday, September 26th @ George Preston Arena (7:00 PM)
Tuesday, October 17th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)
The Warriors enter play on Tuesday night after another successful Bauer BCHL Showcase with their eighth consecutive victory at the event and sweeping their schedule in Chilliwack with a 7-2 win over the Coquitlam Express followed by a tightly contested 2-1 victory over the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Chase Dubois tallied his first goal of the season while Stephen Kleysen earned the game winning goal, scoring for the second straight game. Cole Demers got the start in goal, turning aside 26 of the 27 shots he faced in the game for his second win of the season.
West Kelowna is hoping for better fate against Langley in the 2017/18 season as they dropped both decisions to the Riv’ one year ago. A 4-2 Rivermen win in Langley was followed up three months by another two-goal triumph, a 5-3 victory in West Kelowna to close out the season series sweep. Quin Foreman led the Warriors with two goals against the Rivermen last season while Chase Dubois, Braeden Epp and Jared Marino added singles.
The Bauer BCHL Showcase just wrapped up from its 6th year of existence and the Warriors wish the event would last longer than just five days. West Kelowna, after their pair of victories coming last Wednesday and Thursday, brings their record at the Showcase to an impressive 10-2-0-0 to go along with eight consecutive victories. The ten wins is the second best over the course of the last six years, behind just Penticton and their twelve for top spot.
It wasn’t just the pair of wins at the Showcase that were impressive for the Warriors, the penalty kill has been rock solid over the last few games. The PK has not allowed a goal against in its last three games, going 13/13 over that span. The last goal the Warriors penalty kill has surrendered came in their home opener against the Trail Smoke Eaters over two weeks ago.
Nik Amundrud will get the nod in goal for West Kelowna in the game tonight, making his 1st career start in Langley. The 20-year-old netminder owns a 2-1 record in 3 starts this season with a 2.74 GAA to go along with a .907 SV% this season. The Melfort, Saskatchewan native is coming off of a victory his last time out, making 30 saves on 32 shots in a 7-2 win over Coquitlam on Wednesday night.
The Langley Rivermen enter Tuesday’s game with a 2-1-0-2 record and sit in 2nd place in the Mainland Division standings in the early part of the season with 6 points. The Riv’ are coming off of their Bauer BCHL Showcase that featured a 4-3 victory over the Merritt Centennials on Thursday afternoon followed up by a 4-0 loss on Sunday afternoon to the Wenatchee Wild. Braedon Fleming got the start in the Langley crease and made 30 saves on 34 shots in the defeat.
The Rivermen operate with a relatively young squad with only four 20-year-old and ten players returning from last year’s group including captain Brendan Budy, forwards Angus Crookshank, Sean Gulka, Eric Butte, Trevor Ayre, Nicholas Ponak, defensemen Alec Capstick, Spencer Berry and Jake Livingstone.
Although a young group, a pair of 20-year-olds are in the top three in team scoring as Bowling Green commit Trevor St. Jean leads the Riv’ with two goals and six points. Eric Butte is the other elder statesman with a goal and four points. The captain Budy leads the team with four goals and has five points while Nicholas Ponak and Sean Gulka round out the scoring with three points apiece.
Despite the 1-1 Showcase record, the Rivermen have gotten out to a strong start in the early part of their 2017/18 regular season schedule, earning points in four of their five games thus far. Things don’t get any easier for the Riv’ after this game against the Warriors as they head out to Vancouver Island for a pair of games this weekend against the Victoria Grizzlies and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
The Warriors and Rivermen drop the puck from the “Lodge” at 7:00 PM with the pre-game show coming at 6:45 PM on the Warriors Internet Network (www.mixlr.com/bchlwarriors) and live on pay-per-view at www.hockeytv.com with the Voice of the Warriors, Trevor Miller.
