Warriors visit Vees tonight to start weekend home-and-home
West Kelowna hosts rematch on Saturday
The West Kelowna Warriors (22-14-0-1) will visit the Penticton Vees (22-11-1-2) tonight — 7 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre — to start an important home-and-home set on the final weekend before the BCHL’s holiday break.
The Warriors host the rematch on Saturday — 7 p.m. at Royal LePage Place — and that could be a first-place showdown for the Interior Division lead heading into the break.
Entering tonight, the Vees are topping the standings — two points up on the Warriors with a game in hand.
West Kelowna is in third place, one point back of the defending BCHL champion Wenatchee Wild, who have two games in hand on the Warriors and one on the Vees.
Wenatchee (22-11-2-0) will host a twinbill against the Vernon Vipers (12-15-6-3) tonight and Saturday.
Vernon is currently sitting seventh and last in the ultra-competitive Interior, 14 points behind front-running Penticton but just three back of sixth-place Trail and five away from fifth-place Salmon Arm.
Merritt is now fourth, but only three points out of the division lead.
West Kelowna has won three of four games against Penticton to date, prevailing 3-2 on Oct. 19, 5-3 on Oct. 27 and 3-0 on Nov. 13 but falling 7-4 in their most recent meeting on Nov. 14.
The Warriors are coming in hot, having won four in a row after sweeping a three-game homestand last week — beating Coquitlam 4-2, Merritt 6-3 and Cowichan Valley 7-2 after starting their winning streak with a 2-1 road victory over Vernon on Dec. 8.
The Vees, who have been shortstaffed for much of December due to injuries, suspension and the absence of three key players winning bronze with Canada West at the recent World Junior A Challenge, are coming off a 2-1 home win over Vernon on Wednesday after losing three of their previous four.
Penticton dropped both games in a homeand-home with Wenatchee, 5-2 on the road and 4-3 at the SOEC, then settled for a split against Trail last weekend thanks to a 2-1 shootout win at home before a 3-2 setback on the road.
The Vees have their WJAC players back in the fold now — captain Massimo Rizzo and fellow forward David Silye, along with defenceman Mason Snell — but Penticton will be without forwards Brendan Harrogate and Drew Elser as well as defencemen Peter Muzyka and Connor Hutchison, who are all sidelined by injuries through this weekend.
“We need to stay focused, it’s a massive four points on the line,” said Warriors assistant coach Matt Miller. “No matter what the Vees’ lineup looks like, we still need our absolute best to beat them — especially in their rink.”
Tensions could be high tonight since Vees defenceman Kenny Johnson has been twice suspended this season for hits against the Warriors, including a four-game ban for a blow to the head of Parm Dhaliwal in their last game on Nov. 14. Dhaliwal, the Warriors’ top centre, missed more than three weeks with an upper-body injury.
Former Warrior Kelvin Hair, who was released earlier this season by the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, is now suiting up for the Vees as a depth defenceman and may get a shot to face his old club tonight.