Game Day: West Kelowna Warriors (5-2-0-0) at Merritt Centennials (4-4-0-0)

Merritt Centennials – 4-4-0

They were dominated on the shot clock in the first two periods last night in Trail. Merritt has been a consistently good team except for two games. Penticton and Trail. The team couldn’t get any momentum going and will hope Andrew Ballantyne has what it takes to give his team the energy boost they desperately need.

The Cents got home around 5 a.m last night. This is also their 5th game in 9 days. Don’t be surprised if the Cents look gassed out there.

West Kelowna 5-2-0-0

Not the team you want to face after a long road swing. The Warriors haven’t experienced much loss at all this season. They have won 9 of 11 games including the preseason where they went undefeated. In the preseason West K won two games in Merritt 6-3 and 5-3. Last night Michael Salandra played the hero in a wild sequence of events. After Skogen Schrott  missed a chance to win it on an overtime breakaway Salandra took it the other way and tapped home the overtime winning goal to send the Spruce Kings home winless on their three game road trip.

Previous Meetings;

This is another one of those teams that has dominated Merritt of late. 

The Warriors are 17-3-1 over Merritt in the last five years and went 6-0-1 against the Cents last season. Three games were very close, four were blowout losses. Merritt did a little better at home against the Warriors last season, when the played in West Kelowna they got smoked pretty bad a couple times. Including a humiliating 14-0 loss.

Merritt is seeking their first win in Trail in five years.

11/05/2022 vs. West Kelowna 1 8 Loss 527 4-9-2 L2

01/14/2023 vs. West Kelowna 4 6 Loss 718 10-22-4

01/25/2023 at West Kelowna 3 4 SOL SO 966 10-22-5

02/20/2023 at West Kelowna 1 9 Loss 1,564 11-27-5

02/26/2023 at West Kelowna 1 7 Loss 935 11-30-5

03/04/2023 vs. West Kelowna 5 4 Win OT 511 12-31-5

03/24/2023 at West Kelowna 0 14 Loss 1,052 12-36-5

Blue Paint Battle;

Andrew Ballantyne and Karlis Mezsargs now have near identical records, a save percentage around .900 and GAA near 4.00 so you know the pair has kept their team in it when called upon. Brian Passmore will go with Andrew Ballantyne who stopped 35 of 38 in a 6-3 win over the Spruce Kings here at the NVMA.

Ballantyne will get the start either tonight against West Kelowna. He did surrender four goals in the preseason against West Kelowna but that was just the second preseason game for both teams.

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents – 5/27 (18.52%)(13th) PK 82.4% (80%) (4th)

Warriors–  5/23 (21.74%) (8th) PK 6/29 (79.31%) (8th)

The Centennials are 1/11 on the PP at home

Players to Watch;

Zach Losier has 7 goals and 9 points, Michael Felsing scored his first BCHL goal and now has 1 goal and 7 assists on the season. CT Larochelle scored in his return so he should be confident. Ryan Spinale continues to be a turnaround player with 4 goals and 8 points in 8 games. He is on a 5 game point streak. Last season he had 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points in 34 games. He has turned into a steady forward for Merritt.

Michael Salandra leads the way for West K with 4 goals and 9 points in 7 games and is coming off an OT game winning goal. Felix Caron has 3 goals and 8 points, Brennan Nelson, Jack Pridham and Johannes Lokkeberg all have 3-4 goals as well. Just like last season the Warriors have a lot of firepower. 

Keys to Victory:

Key number 1 – Discipline. They led the league in penalties last season and now lead again for most penalties taken in the BCHL. It’s hard to see how they have had success with so much time in the penalty box. 34 penalties is 3 ahead of Chilliwack and Alberni Valley.

Key Number 2 – Energy. The Cents will play their fifth game in nine days, With all the travel early and the condensed schedule it’s going to be grind. The team will just have to do their best with the hand they’ve been dealt. They will have bussed the day before Brian Passmore hopes Ballantyne will help give his team that extra boost. He stayed behind and didn’t travel to Trail so he will be rested.

Key number 3 – Shots on Net. Passmore wants his team to stop giving up 40 shots a night. It will simply wear their goalie down. Last game that was the “M.O” and they still gave up 48 shots again. The team has been getting results but there is a lot they need to clean up. They were on pace to give up almost 50 shots.

Less shots against, less penalties, less running out of gas late in the game, and a better PP. If the team can improve in those areas they will take that next step and be at the top of the standings.