The most successful season in West Kelowna Warriors’ history will be formally celebrated on Friday night with a special ceremony at Royal LePage Place.
Prior to their B.C. Hockey League season opener against Trail, the Warriors will hoist four championship banners to the rafters inside the club’s home arena.
Management, coaches, players and fans will have a chance to acknowledge the 2015-16 Interior Division, the BCHL (Fred Page Cup), the Western Canada Cup and RBC Cup titles.
“As an organization, we’ve been pushing for years to get out of the Interior Division, we finally did it and just got on a roll after that,” said Warriors’ owner Mark Cheyne. “I’m happy for (head coach and GM) Rylan (Ferster) who’s been in the league a long time…happy for the players, the fans and the volunteers. It’ll be great for them to see the banners go up.”
Following the ceremony, the Warriors will officially begin defence of the Canadian junior A hockey championship against the Smoke Eaters. Face off is 7 p.m.
The two clubs will square off again on Saturday night in Trail.
The Warriors closed out their BCHL preseason on the weekend with a pair of losses to the Merritt Centennials.
On Friday night in West Kelowna, the Cents prevailed 5-2. Marshall Wilton and Jake Harrison scored the Warriors’s goals.
On Saturday in Merritt, the Centennials completed the sweep with a 6-3 win.
Wilton scored his second goal in as many nights for the Warriors. Tyler Anderson and Chase Dubois also tallied for West Kelowna.
The Warriors have seven players returning from last year’s championship team, including forwards Connor Sodergren and Quinn Foreman, and defencemen Nicholas Rutigliano, Jake Harrison and Tyler Anderson.
French to captain Bentley…
Former Warriors captain Max French has been named captain of the Bentley University Falcons.
A West Kelowna native, French is a senior this year with the BU program, located in Waltham, Mass.
Last season, French had 47 points in 32 games for a 1.47 points per game average, third best in the nation.
French, 23, played four seasons with the Warriors, from 2008 to 2013.
