Photo: Lisa Mazurek
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Game Time: 7:00 pm PDT
Location: Royal LePage Place
Radio: 107.5 Beach Radio
Webcast: Hockey TV
Vernon Vipers
GM & Head Coach: Jason McKee
2022-23 Regular Season: GP 54 27-21-2-4, 6th in Interior Conference
Home: 18-6-1-2
Away: 9-15-1-2
GF: 160
GA: 164
Power Play: 21.8 (6th)
Penalty Kill: 85.5% (1st)
Top Scorer: Reagan Milburn (19-29-48) Lee Parks (23-25-48)
| Playoff series |
| GM 1: Friday, Mar. 31, @ West K, 7:00 pm |
| GM 2: Saturday, Apr. 1 @ West K, 7:00 pm |
| GM 3: Tuesday, Apr. 4 vs West K, 7:00 pm |
| GM 4: Wednesday, Apr. 5 vs West K, 7:00 pm |
| GM 5: Friday, Apr. 7 @ West K, 7:00 pm* |
| GM 6: Sunday, Apr. 9 vs West K, 5:00 pm* |
| GM 7: Tuesday, Apr. 11 @ West K, 7:00 pm* |
*If necessary
Season Series: The Vipers went 1-2-2 against West Kelowna this year. Two of the games were solved by shootouts. Four of the five meetings were 4-3 scores. The lone outlier came on December 16 as West K took it 5-1. West K outscored Vernon 20-14 over five games. Lee Parks and Reagan Milburn led the Vipers with 7 points (3G, 4A)(2G, 5A) in five games against the Warriors. Jonthan Horn enjoyed playing West K, he had 6 of his 21 points in 7 games against them. The Viper goaltending split against the Tribe, Clarke was 1-0-1 with a 2.88 GAA, while David went 0-2-1 with a 3.92 GAA.
Tonight: The Vipers will look to keep their consistent play going heading into the post season. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They’ve also won 6 of their last 7 down the stretch. In their last 6 victories, they’ve outscored the opposition 32-6. 14 of those came against Merritt on Saturday night.
West Kelowna Warriors
GM & Head Coach: Simon Ferguson
2022-23 Regular Season: GP 54 28-20-6-0, 3rd in Interior Conference
Home: 18-8-1-0
Away: 10-12-5-0
GF: 211
GA: 205
Power Play: 27.4% (2nd)
Penalty Kill: 72.5% (16th)
Top Scorer: Jaiden Moriello (25-30-55)
Outlook: The Warriors finished 3rd place in the Conference for the second straight year. Last season they went on a big run to the Conference Finals before losing out to the eventual Fred Page Cup champion Vees.
Their team looks quite a bit different that the team that made that run last season. They have a handful of players from last season and will look to them for the leadership to get through the grind that is the playoffs.
West Kelowna finished second in the league in goals scored, but were near the bottom in the league in goals against. They scored 51 more goals than Vipers, but allowed 41 more goals against!
The Vipers used Roan Clarke and Ethan David in what was close to a platoon situation, the Warriors on the other hand lost their starter, Justin Katz, for the remainder of the season. They’ll lean on a tandem of 19 year old Cayden Hamming and 17 year old Angelo Zol.
