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PREVIEW: WARRIORS HOST NORTH OKANAGAN RIVALS

Photo Credit: Julie Pringle (Snap Commercial Photography)

NOVEMBER 16th, 2018

WEST KELOWNA B.C. –  The West Kelowna Warriors look to split the season series with the Vernon Vipers Friday night.

WARRIORS VS VIPERS REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE:

Sept 14th @ Vernon         LOSS 4-3

Nov 16th @ West Kelowna     

Dec 8th @ Vernon

Jan 4th @ Vernon

Jan 18th @ West Kelowna

Feb 16th @ West Kelowna

The Warriors hope to bounce back after suffering a 7-4 loss to the Penticton Vees Wednesday night. It was a game that got away from the Warriors from the get go. The Penticton Vees were able to score three goals in the first seven minutes of the hockey game that not only chased Brock Baier out of the net but forced the Warriors to play from behind for majority of the game. The Warriors also lost their number one centre Parm Dhaliwal after receiving an open ice hit from Vees defenseman Kenny Johnson. Johnson would be handed a 4 game suspension for leaving his feet hitting Dhaliwal high.

Tonight the Warriors will host the Vernon Vipers. The Vipers have experienced some bumps this season with numerous injuries up front. Defenseman Jack Judson is their leading goal scorer with 19 points this season, which has led to the Vipers needed to make some moves. Warriors Head Coach and General Manager Geoff Grimwood and Vipers Head Coach Mark Ferner decided to make a trade that would improve both clubs: Warriors would acquire former Vipers defenseman Austin Chorney and then the Vipers would acquire former Warrior forward Matt Kowalski. Chorney, 18, played his first game with the Warriors and was able to register a point in the 7-4 loss Wednesday night. Head Coach and General Manager Geoff Grimwood stated “Austin has played very well with Vernon as of late, so I don’t expect any rust with an experienced guy like him”.

The Vernon Vipers travel to Royal LePage Place with a new scorer in their top six, Matt Kowalski. Kowalski, 19, is a native of Vernon and even managed to score a powerplay goal in his first game with the Vipers last Wednesday in Trail. Head Coach and General Manager of the West Kelowna Warriors Geoff Grimwood believes the trade not only will benefit each team, but it will benefit each player, “Matt was a very popular player here within this dressing room and with the fans here, we just feel with how competitive this division is we need our D core to be as good as it can be, we feel we got a pretty strong group of forwards. Matty is an outstanding young man, and we’re gonna miss him”.

Austin Chorney and the West Kelowna Warriors hope to stay atop the BC Interior Division tonight with a win over the Vipers. Tonight’s game will be broadcast on a live video stream on Hockey TV, also on a free radio stream on Mixlr.com/BCHLWarriors. The West Kelowna Warriors would like to apologize ahead of time for any audio difficulties in the first 10-15 minutes of the video stream.

Warriors Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations Chase Johnston is back on the mic with a pregame show 10 minutes before puck drop. Just a reminder that tickets are still available for this evening’s match up. Visit the Warriors website and select single game tickets for more details.