Chiefs thump Summerland, stay unbeaten

KIJHL

Brody Dale and his linemates ran wild as the scorching hot Kelowna Chiefs blitzed the Summerland Steam for their seventh straight win to open the KIJHL regular season.

Dale and Lane Paddison each had two goals and four assists and Zach Erhardt notched two goals and three helpers as the Chiefs beat Summerland 7-2 on Tuesday night at the Rutland Arena.

Dale leads the league in points with 24 and also has the most goals with 11 and most assists with 13. Erhardt jumped to second in the league with 16 points and Paddison is tied for third with 13.

Jordon Woytas also scored for Kelowna, which led 1-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks. Two power-play goals in a 48-second span early in the third ballooned the lead to 5-0, and it was 6-0 before Zak Cooper spoiled Braeden Mitchell’s shutout bid with 6:56 to play.

Tyson Conroy also scored late for the Steam (3-4-0).

Mitchell made 16 saves for the win, and Eric Scherger stopped 30 shots for the Steam.

The Steam host the Osoyoos Coyotes (1-3-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in this season’s first battle of the South Okanagan.

The Chiefs (7-0-0) will visit the Princeton Posse (1-4-0) on Friday night, then host the Eddie Mountain Division-leading Kimberley Dynamiters (5-1-0) on Saturday, 7 p.m. at Rutland Arena, to close out September.