West Kelowna Warriors to battle Salmon Arm in weekend set

Photo: Tami Quan

Warriors forward Matthew Steinburg

The West Kelowna Warriors look to bounce back into the win column Friday night when they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the first of a home-and-home weekend series.

The Warriors return to action after a pair of heartbreaking 3-2 defeats at the hands of Penticton last weekend, the second loss in a shootout.

They hit the ice with a 2-1-0-1 record in the pre season Okanagan Cup, while the Silverbacks come in 0-2. They haven't played in two weeks after a pair of lopsided losses to Penticton two weekends ago.

Minus two of their veterans in the second game last weekend, John Evans took it upon himself to carry the offensive load, scoring a pair of goals including the Warriors first power play marker of the tournament.

With 24 players on the active roster, including 15 forwards, Warriors head coach Simon Ferguson has shaken things up through the first four games, dressing different lineups and mixing up the lines.

He's expected to do that again this weekend, conscious of the health and fatigue of some players who had limited ice time prior to the start of the tournament.

The Silverbacks meantime are expected to be ready to go after the coaching staff publicly admitted the team was not ready to compete in dropping 7-0 and 8-2 losses to Penticton.

Saturday's game in Salmon Arm will be shown on Shaw TV.

The Warriors will again face Penticton and Vernon in upcoming weekends, before taking the Halloween weekend off.

The semi finals and final of the Okanagan Cup will be held Nov. 13 and 14.

The BCHL is hoping to begin its regular season in early December with, or without fans.