Interior Division rivals the Penticton Vees and West Kelowna Warriors meet for the second time at the South Okanagan Events Centre in 10 days.
Owen Sillinger’s empty-net goal shorthanded during a six-on-three helped ice a 4-2 decision in the Vees’ favour on Jan.11.
READ MORE: VIDEO: Vees special teams killer against Warriors in win
The Vees are now 31-9-1-0, while the Warriors are 22-19-1 and 7-9-1 away from Royal LePage Place. The Vees are 17-4-1-0 at the SOEC and a victory will give them 200 since they moved over from Memorial Arena.
To secure a win, the Vees will have to contain Quin Foreman, the Warriors’ top sniper who has 21 goals in 42 games. Connor Sodergren has 19 goals and 45 points in 42 games, while Logan Mostat has four goals and seven points in 13 games since being acquired from the Surrey Eagles, where he posted 11 goals and 24 points in 31 games.
Vees forward Ryley Risling said the Warriors are good at always moving.
“We want to play with a lot of speed,” said Risling. “West Kelowna is a good hockey club. Every night is a battle in this league. I think for us it’s the fundamentals of playing hard and compete level.”
READ MORE: Vees finding their identity
The Three V’s blog reported that Matt Robson is the likely starter for the Vees posting a 4-0 record with a 1.75 goals against average and .944 save percentage.
Up front, captain Nicholas Jones has been a lethal weapon for the Vees. He has seven goals, including four winners against the Warriors.
In BCHL news, the league announced that the board of governors approved a 23-man roster for next season. Teams have been using 22-man rosters since 2012-13.
Also, the board as directed its Franchise Committee to review a franchise transfer application. There has been talks between West Kelowna Warriors owner Mark Cheyne and a group interested in purchasing his franchise and moving it to North Delta’s Sungod Arena. It is the responsibility of the Franchise Committee to make a recommendation to the board of governors as to what would be the best course of action for the BCHL and all its member clubs in this matter. The Franchise Committee is also to determine a timeline to when this potential transfer would be voted on by the board.
Finally, regarding speculation on the Nanaimo Clippers and a possible impact to their operation from a relocating Western Hockey League (WHL) franchise, the city of Nanaimo is holding a referendum on March 11 where residents will decide whether or not they want the city to proceed with construction of a new hockey arena capable of hosting a WHL franchise. Nothing can be decided about the Clippers’ future until the results of the referendum are known.
