WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors and Cranbrook Bucks will go the distance in their best-of-seven Interior Conference Quarter Final series with Game 7 taking place on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at Royal LePage Place.
The series is tied at 3-3 after a winding opening six games to the set, which saw West Kelowna on the right side of victory in the first three games. Highlighted by an 8-2 victory in Game 1, Trent Wilson provided the overtime winning goal just 16 seconds into the period to give West Kelowna a Game 2 victory ahead of a Game 3 win in Cranbrook by a 3-2 margin.
The Bucks showed their resilience with their backs against the wall, picking up three one-goal wins, including a 4-3 win in Game 4, a 6-5 victory in Game 5 in West Kelowna and followed that up with Jaden Fodchuk scoring the overtime winner in Game 6 to force the decisive Game 7 on Tuesday night.
Tuesday’s Game 7 will mark the third in franchise history for West Kelowna, who have been on the road and hosting each time previously. In 2011, a two-goal performance from Grayson Downing helped the Warriors defeat the Trail Some Eaters by a 4-0 score and win their opening round series while in 2019, the Warriors suffered a 6-3 defeat to the Wenatchee Wild south of the border in the first round of the playoffs.
For the Bucks, it will be the first time in their short BCHL existence that they will play in a winner-take-all Game 7 with their two previous playoff seasons ending in six games. In 2022, Cranbrook fell to the Prince George Spruce Kings in six games while last season the Bucks saw their season end in Game 6 as well, on the road in Wenatchee.
The Warriors will have an added reinforcement back in the lineup as Jack Pridham will make his return from a two-game suspension he received in Game 4 of the series. The Boston University commit leads the series and is tied for the BCHL Playoffs lead with 5 goals thus far. The series has been a tight one following a Game 1 blowout as each of the last five games have been decided by just one goal, including two in overtime.
Puck drop on Game 7 on Tuesday night will take place at 7:00 PM with tickets available for purchase on the Warriors website as well as at the Warriors Office and Box Office, which opens one hour before puck drop on game day.
