Photo: Warriors goaltender #33 Johnny Derrick’s stellar play as of late is just one of the many improvements in the Warriors play
Photo Credit: Tami Quan
December 31st, 2021
West Kelowna, B.C. – The West Kelowna Warriors head down to the South Okanagan Events Centre Friday night when they clash with the Vees on New Years Eve.
The Warriors are coming off their 2nd biggest win of the season defeating the Penticton Vees 4-3. It was almost a carbon copy of the Warriors last win against the Vees but with different goal scorers. Forward Chase Dafoe scored a pair of goals and Charles Alexis Legault picked up a pair of assists. The one player that really stood out for the Warriors Wednesday night was between the pipes in Johnny Derrick. Derrick recorded 32 saves keeping his team in the game. Derrick had a tough finish to November and a shakey start to the month of December but since then has dialed his game in winning back to back against the best club in the BCHL.
Assistant Coach Ayrton Nikkel was pleased with his forward group reading the play of the Vees well, “As a unit when our forwards can back check and track the puck well that allows our d-core to stand up forcing the Vees to make those simple chip ins or dump ins and we can win those races back to the puck which gets us breaking out even quicker”.
Friday December 31st @ Penticton Vees (20-4-0-1): 7:00pm (Warriors lead season series 2-1)
Saturday January 1st VS Penticton Vees (20-4-0-1): 7:00pm
Tonight the Warriors travel to the Vees barn the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Warriors have yet to play a game this season inside the SOEC with all three matchups played inside Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna. The Warriors recent success has been fueled by the noise of the home crowd and familiar ice conditions. The Penticton Vees are known to have one of the top home ice advantages in the BCHL with over 2000+ fans. The Vees have only lost one game inside the SOEC all season long and it was against a club that’s tied with them for first place in the league the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. The Warriors will need their absolute best to defeat the Vees in their own barn Friday night. They will not only need to replicate their play over the past two games but capitalize on the man advantage and stay out of the penalty box. After Friday’s game the Warriors will return to West Kelowna to conclude the full week set against the Vees which will also be a 7:00pm puck drop on Saturday.
Puck drop for Friday’s game is 7:00pm from the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton. The game will also be broadcast live on HockeyTV, the BCHLWarriors Mixlr feed.
