Photo Credit: Tami Quan Photography
October 2nd, 2020
WEST KELOWNA B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors begin week two of the Okanagan Cup Tournament with the Penticton Vees Friday and Saturday night.
Last week the Warriors were perfect against the Vernon Vipers, so their record says. Thanks to some great goaltending from both Johnny Derrick and Zach Bennett the Warriors only allowed a goal each giving the Warriors 4-1 and 2-1 victories. Warriors Assistant Coach Ayrton Nikkel commented that his team could be a little better especially after escaping with a 2-1 victory last Saturday night. “There’s no excuse for the sloppy puck management in the offensive zone and some missed assignments, but in the end it’s preseason and the guys came around late in each game.”
The great news coming out of last weekend for the Warriors were some shining stars up front. Felix Trudeau scored a pair of goals in the opening game and returning forward Deegan Mofford also scored a goal in each game to finish the weekend leading the Warriors with two goals each. John Evans continues where he left off last season with a pair of assists.
Tonight the Warriors will have some more new faces in the lineup. One is Colorado Avalanche prospect Matthew Stienburg, who joined the Warriors after the suspension of Ivy League NCAA play brought him to West Kelowna. Then there’s Boston College committed forward Connor Joyce and blue liner Pat Lawn who were highly sought after by Warriors scouting staff. It would be no surprise to see Stienburg start Friday’s game on a line with longtime friend Wyllum Deveaux, the two grew up playing against each other in Nova Scotia.
The new faces for the Warriors will have their hands full against a Vees team that dominated in their opening weekend with convincing 7-0 and 8-2 victories over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. The Vees are led by some returning players but all the talk is about their depth. The Vees have four lines that can attack on the rush. A couple names to look for are Matteo Costantini and Quinn Hutson. Costantini recently committed to the University of North Dakota and his expected to go in the 3rd-4th round of next weekends NHL entry draft. Hutson is committed to Boston University and currently leads not only the Vees but the entire BCHL in scoring early on with 5 points.
The Warriors need their best to beat the Vees this weekend, but with new faces and chemistry still needing to be developed, the Warriors focus right now is to get their team in sync in all areas of the ice. The powerplay is one of them. The Warriors have had a total of 10 opportunities on the man advantage last weekend and were unable to cash in on any of them. However it looks as if their penalty kill has been solid with the Warriors allowing only one goal in 12 attempts by the Vernon Vipers last weekend.
This evening’s game will be broadcast on both HockeyTV and the Warriors Mixlr Network. Puck drop at 6:00pm from the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton. Saturday’s game will be a 7:00pm puck drop from Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna. Saturday’s game will also be braodcast on the Shaw Spotlight channel. A reminder that no fans will be allowed in either building. HockeyTV has a sale that ends this evening where you get $80 off a subscription. Use coupon code BCHLWARRIORS20 at hockeytv.com/subscriptions.
