WEST KELOWNA – The Warriors wrapped up their three day Training Camp on Tuesday afternoon, ahead of the 2024-25 BC Hockey League season.
New and returning players made their way back to the Central Okanagan to kick off the new hockey season in style. Expectations are high across the organization, and much of the weight of the expectations will fall on the backs of the returning veterans. “It’s always a feeling out process for returning guys,” said Warriors Head Coach Simon Ferguson, “And some come in with a little bit of a relaxed feel, but we’ve really talked about is [wanting the veterans] to be the most dominating players on the ice at all times, and I think we saw a lot of that [during training camp].”
Two of the vets with much to prove this year are Jack Pridham and Callum Hughes, both of whom attended National Hockey League development camps over the Summer, as Pridham went to Chicago Blackhawks camp, while Hughes made the trip down to UBC for the Vancouver Canucks Dev Camp. “I kinda feel like they just picked up where they left off,” said Ferguson said of his two star forwards. “They were flying high in Playoffs last year… You see the type of dynamic players that they both are, so it’s exciting to get to see them compete [at that level].
The Summer saw a total overhaul in the West Kelowna goal crease, as two new tenders were added in the offseason, Dawson Labre and Zack Ferris. “I though Labre was really solid [over the weekend], same thing for Ferris. I think we’re going to have some real good competition there… [to see who] gets more starts throughout the season,” added Coach Ferguson, “Having two guys that you can call on at anytime has been the goal coming into this year.”
As the Warriors now begin their four game preseason, beginning this weekend with road games in Vernon and Cranbrook, the task for Simon Ferguson, Josh Georges, Wyatt Head, and the rest of the coaching staff is to narrow this roster down for opening night in two weeks time. “They have to do something that they do well,” the Head Coach said of the players trying to crack the opening night roster. “It’s not necessarily someone having to score more goals, it’s more about doing what they do best. But if they’re a goal scorer, they better score some goals” Ferguson added with a laugh.
The aforementioned preseason begins this Friday night for your Warriors, as they’re at Kal-Tire Place in Vernon for a matchup with the Vipers at 7:00, then they’ll head to the Kootenays for a date with the Cranbrook Bucks on Saturday night at 6:00PM local time. You can follow both games with the Voice of the Warriors Joey Pitt on FloHockey, or listen to the audio broadcast of the game for free at mixlr.com/BCHLWarriors.
