West Kelowna Warriors (29-21-0-8, 4th Interior)
Penticton Vees (44-9-3-2, 1st in Interior)
GM 1 Venue: SOEC
GM 1 Face-Off: 7pm
Season Series: Oct 10th 4-3 Vees, SOEC, Oct 11th 4-0 Vees, Royal LePage Place, Nov 5th 3-2 Warriors, SOEC, Nov 29th 4-3 Warriors, SOEC, Dec 19th 4-2 Vees, SOEC, Dec 20th 7-2 Vees, Royal LePage Place, Jan 20th 8-4 Vees, Royal LePage Place
Playoff Series Schedule
Game 1 March 3rd (SOEC) 7pm
Game 2 March 4th (SOEC) 7pm
Game 3 March 6th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 4 March 7th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 5* March 9th (SOEC) 7pm
Game 6* March 10th (Royal LePage Place) 7pm
Game 7* March 11th (SOEC) 7pm
* If necessary
Vees Record vs. West Kelowna: 5-2-0-0 (Home: 2-2-0 / Away: 3-0-0)
Home Record: 25-3-1-0 (24-3-1-0 at SOEC)
Vees Record vs. Interior Division: 26-7-1-1
Vees Leading Scorer: Patrick Newell 16-31-47
Vees Scoring vs. West Kelowna:
Lewis Zerter-Gossage 2-8-10
Patrick Newell 5-4-9
Demico Hannoun 4-5-9
Tyson Jost 4-2-6
Riley Alferd 2-3-5
Steen Cooper 2-3-5
Dakota Conroy 2-3-5
Cody DePourcq 1-4-5
Connor Chartier 4-0-4
Mike Lee 1-3-4
Jack Ramsey 1-3-4
Gabe Bast 0-3-3
Dante Fabbro 0-3-3
Matt Serratore 2-0-2
Patrick Sexton 1-1-2
Miles Gendron 0-2-2
Jarod Hilderman 0-2-2
Mitch Newsome 0-2-2
Cam Amantea 0-1-1
Goaltending vs. West Kelowna:
Hunter Miska GP 6 4-2-0 / 2.51 GAA / .912 SV % / 1 SO
Brendan Barry GP 1 1-0-0 / 3.00 GAA / .57 SV %
Vees Situational Scoring:
Score 1st: 31-4-2-2
Opposition Scores 1st: 13-5-2-0
Lead after 1st: 22-1-1-1
Tied after 1st: 17-5-1-1
Trail after 1st: 5-3-1-0
Lead after 2nd: 39-2-1-1
Tied after 2nd: 4-2-2-1
Trail after 2nd: 3-5-0-0
More Shots: 38-9-0-1
Outshot: 6-0-2-1
Shots Tied: 0-0-1-0
Warriors Record vs. Penticton: 2-5-0-0 (Home: 0-3-0 / Away: 2-2-0)
Warriors Road Record: 11-12-0-6
Warriors Record vs. Interior Division: 16-15-0-4
Warriors Leading Scorer: Liam Blackburn 22-51-73
Warriors Scoring vs. Penticton:
Brayden Gelsinger 2-4-6
Jonathan Desbiens 4-1-5
Liam Blackburn 2-3-5
Jason Cotton 1-2-3
Brett Mennear 1-2-3
Andrew Johnson 0-3-3
Josh Bly 2-0-2
Tanner Campbell 1-1-2
Kylar Hope 1-1-2
Braeden Jones 1-1-2
Kristian Blumenschein 0-1-1
Tyler Kunz 0-1-1
Nick Rutigliano 0-1-1
Rylan Yaremko 0-1-1
Hunter Zandee 0-1-1
Goaltending vs. Penticton:
Andy Desautels GP 5 2-3-0 / 4.31 GAA / .882 SV %
Scott Patton GP 1 0-1-0 / 4.70 GAA / .815 SV %
Warriors Situational Scoring:
Score 1st: 20-7-0-4
Opposition Scores 1st: 9-14-0-4
Lead after 1st: 16-5-0-3
Tied after 1st: 6-4-0-2
Trail after 1st: 7-12-0-3
Lead after 2nd: 21-1-0-3
Tied after 2nd: 2-4-0-2
Trail after 2nd: 6-16-0-3
More Shots: 16-10-0-6
Outshot: 12-11-0-2
Shots Tied: 1-0-0-0
What to Watch For:
Vees
- Home Ice: 24-3-1-0 at the SOEC this season. Won nine of their last 10 home games, including their last five. They took 49 out of a possible 54 points at the SOEC this season, dropping points to only West Kelowna, Vernon and Chilliwack; that’s a .907 winning-percentage in Penticton. West Kelowna (2) and Vernon were the only two teams able to beat the Vees at the SOEC this season. If need be, the Vees will have four potential home games in this series but they also had four home games this season against West-K and only won two of them. The Warriors have played well in Penticton and their fans travel well too. The Vees will need to assert their home ice dominance right away in this series, if they’re going to have any success.
- Depth of Front: Despite finishing first in both the Interior Division and the BCHL the Vees didn’t have one player in the top 20 in league scoring. Heck, they didn’t even have one player in the top 40, as leading-scorer Patrick Newell finished 44th in the BCHL in scoring with 47 points. Not one player on the Vees cracked the 50-point plateau and only two hit the 20-goal mark (Demico Hannoun & Tyson Jost [23]). The Vees did have 11 players with 10 or more goals and nine players with 30 or more points; they spread it around. The seasonal series is an example of that, as every player on their 22-man roster picked up at least a single point in seven games against West Kelowna. As a team they finished fifth in the BCHL in goals with 216. Depth is everything if you’re going to make a long post-season run and right now the Vees boast a lot of depth. However, that needs to translate to the playoffs if they’re going to get past West Kelowna.
- Composure: Broadcast partner Trevor Miller and I beat this to death during the season, but the ‘C’ word seems to be so important in games between Penticton and West Kelowna. Plain and simple, these two South Okanagan rivals do not like each other and that carries over to the ice. If history tells us anything, the team that holds it together better, has come out on top more times than not in this rivalry. It seems like that has been an advantage for Penticton and it shows in the stats. They were the least penalized team in the BCHL this year, as they played with a man short just 179 times. Salmon Arm was the next closest team at 222; 43 more penalties. Things have the potential to run hot in this series and as the saying goes, cooler heads prevail. The Vees did get six more power-plays than West Kelowna in the seasonal series. Got to keep the emotions in check.
Warriors
- Health in Goal: The Warriors had a rash of injuries in goal this season, as both Andy Desautels and rookie Scott Patton missed time. In fact, the Warriors have used seven different goalies this year, five different AP’s; three of those AP’s got shutouts. 20-year-old Desautels has been hampered by various ailments this season and left his last start on February 20th and hasn’t played since; no word on his timetable. He played in 31 games this year but that’s down from the 46 he suited up for last year. Patton came back from injury and started the last three games for the Warriors and those were all must wins. He was excellent in those three starts, sporting a 2.28 goals-against average and an impressive .931 save-percentage. Can Patton be the guy if Desautels can’t go? He faced Trail and Surrey in those three starts and Penticton will certainly be a stiffer test. Don’t rule out seeing an AP either, as call-up Stephen Heslop played six games this season for West-K, won twice and had a .923 save-percentage in those six appearances. His Princeton Posse were knocked-out of the KIJHL playoffs by the Osoyoos Coyotes, so he’ll likely dress in this series if Desautels doesn’t.
- Who’s Up Front: The injury bug also stung the Warriors up front, as they were missing leading-scorer Liam Blackburn, Andrew Johnson, Josh Bly and Jordan Masters in their last handful of games. Masters was just hurt on Saturday in their regular season finale and went to the hospital after the game after attempting a hit in the second period. Not sure who will be back and who will be out, but those are some prominent players that were on the sidelines. Blackburn is their number one center and Johnson would be there 1-A. Bly and Masters are good depth players that know their way around the net. If the likes of Blackburn and Johnson can’t go in game one that means added pressure on the likes of Brayden Gelsinger, Jason Cotton and Jonathan Desbiens. All three are gifted offensive players and still give the Warriors a significant offensive punch. Their top guys have to be just that if the injury bug continues to linger.
- Road Warriors: Pardon the pun but West Kelowna is going to have to win at least one game at the SOEC in order to advance to the second round. They were 11-12-0-6 on the road this season and lost four of their last five road games to close out the regular season. However, the playoffs offer a clean slate and their goal is to get the split from the first two games. They can take comfort knowing they won two of four games at the SOEC and both were one-goal games. The snapped that four-game road losing streak with a 4-2 win in Trail on February 21st to keep themselves alive in the playoff race. Like I said, their fans travel well and will add a boost but it will still be a stiff test to try and better the team that had the best home record in the BCHL this season.
