Photo Credit: Damon James
January 18th, 2019
WEST KELOWNA B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors get snake bit by the Vernon Vipers Friday night losing 1-0.
The Warriors and Vipers kicked things off with good old fashioned physical hockey. First an awkward open ice collision between Warriors forward Willie Reim and Vipers defenseman Will Dow-Kenny forced Dow-Kenny to spend some time in the quiet room. Then only a couple minutes later Lucas Cullen blocked a slap shot from the point and immediately skated to the bench to get looked at by trainer Kelsey Walker. Both Dow-Kenny and Cullen returned to the ice later in the period. The Vipers would draw first blood with a blown play by the Warriors in the offensive zone allowing Elan Bar Lev Wise to skate the other way beating Connor Hopkins to make it 1-0 late in the first.
The second period both clubs traded some scoring chances but both Aiden Porter and Connor Hopkins stood tall. The story of the game at this point was the stellar defensive play of the Vipers and the sloppy passes in the offensive zone by the Warriors. Although the Warriors registered 18 shots on goal after two periods, they were all relatively easy stops made by Vipers goaltender Aiden Porter.
The Vipers went into full shut down mode in the third period forcing numerous Warriors turnovers and maintaining possession in the attacking zone. There were a couple quality chances for former Vipers forward and newly acquired Warrior Garrett Worth but he couldn’t beat Aiden Porter. The Vipers would hold on to defeat the Warriors 1-0. The word the fans were choosing to use as they walked out of Royal LePage Place was “timing”. The Warriors seemed to be a little off with their offensive breakouts and distribution of the puck, and it cost them the only goal of the game.
Shots on goal 34-30 in favor of the Vipers.
3 Stars
- VER G Aiden Porter (30 Saves + SO)
- WKW G Connor Hopkins (33 Saves)
- VER F Elan Bar Lev Wise (1G)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game:
WKW F Cavin Tilsley
The Warriors next game is Sunday afternoon versus the Prince George Spruce Kings. Puck drop at 12:00pm from Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna. It’s a special “Hometown Hockey” game where Ron McLean and Tara Sloan will be hosting the live festivities just in the Courtyard after the game. Tickets available @ tickets.westkelownawarriors.ca. Catch Sunday’s game and every other home and away game this season on Mixlr and Hockey TV. Just head to the Warriors website and click on the “Listen Live” column to get directed to a radio feed of each game.
