Win three straight games against the defending B.C. Hockey League and national junior A champions and move to the finals.
That’s the huge challenge the West Kelowna Warriors faced starting Thursday night in Penticton against the Vees. West Kelowna trailed the series 3-1 after a dramatic comeback 5-4 overtime win Tuesday night.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” said Warriors’ head coach Rylan Ferster. “We won a game we had to win, now we have to go out there and find a way to win another. Let’s go out there and win a shift and then go from there. Playoffs is so much about momentum, how quickly it can come and how quickly you can lose it. We’ve lived to fight another day.”
On Tuesday, the Warriors overcame a 4-1 deficit and Reid Simmons scored at 16:39 of OT in front of 950 fans at Royal LePage Place. Penticton struck the post 10 seconds into overtime and missed two breakaways.
Ex-Viper Marcus Basara, David Pope and Max French scored in a nine-minute span in the third period to pull the Warriors even.
Said Penticton head coach Fred Harbinson: “To be honest I thought we probably deserved more to win last night then the night before. We’re up 3-1 and we have to be pretty excited about that.”
A Game 6 would be played tonight at Royal LePage Place. The winner meets the Surrey Eagles in the finals.
Trail Smoke Eaters’ forward and Interior Conference MVP Brent Baltus has made a change in destination for his college future and will suit up for the Michigan Tech Huskies in the fall.
Originally committed to the University of Alaska-Anchorage, Baltus opted out when the school chose not to renew the contract of head coach Dave Shyiak.
Baltus, a Nanaimo native, led the Smokies in scoring this season with 24 goals and 27 assists despite playing just 47 games.
He was named winner of the Vern Dye Memorial Trophy as conference MVP after a poll of BCHL coaches.
