GAME DAY: Merritt Centennials (6-9-1-1) at West Kelowna Warriors (10-5-2-0)

Merritt Centennials – (6-9-1-1)

It’s no secret the Centennials are hungry for a win. 2 wins and 8 losses in their last ten games has them stuck in 6th place as the Prince George Spruce Kings and Cranbrook Bucks inch closer in the standings. During that streak of losses Merritt has been competitive in every game as a lot of speculators have been saying the Centennials deserve better than their record suggests. If they wish to turn it around they’ll have to beat a strong Warriors team. Expect a high scoring game as both teams have identical 6-4 wins against each other this season so far.

West Kelowna Warriors (10-5-2-0)

While West Kelowna boasts an impressive record they haven’t played their best hockey of late. After blowing a 3-0 lead in Cranbrook and squeaking by with a 4-3 win the Warriors lost three straight games. After losing to the Cents 6-4 at the NVMA the Warriors offense disappeared scoring just 2 goals in two games in the next two games. West Kelowna ended the streak in the second game of a double header in Prince George with a 4-1 win.

Previous Meetings;

In two games played at the NVMA the Centennials lost 6-4 then won by the same score in early November. 

West K is better on the road than at home. Where the team has 4 wins and 4 losses. 

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents – 12/55 (21.82%) (8th) PK 12/62 (80.65%) (7th)

Warriors–      9/48 (18.75%) (12th) PK 13/65 (80%) (8th)

Players to Watch;

Ryan Spinale could get a bit of a confidence boost after committing to Colgate University for the 2025/26 season. So far he is a point per game player with 17 points in 17 games. He also had a goal and assist in his last meeting. Dylan Lariviere scored twice, Wegner and Felsing had a goal and assist of their own in that game. 

For the Warriors it was the imports getting two points in that game with Viggo Nordstrom and Johannes Lokkeberg getting multi point performances. 

Keys to Victory;

Key number 1 – Better starts. The Cents have given up the first goal four games in a row and have only won once along that span. The Cents need to get back to whatever they were doing earlier in the season where they scored the first goal quite often.

Key Number 2 – Take advantage of a team not playing their best. The Warriors just snapped a three game losing streak and are only .500 at home this season. While their record looks quite solid they have squeaked by in a lot of wins this season.

Key number 3 – Play off the crowd. It’s a sellout in West K with standing room only. Merritt has played better on the road than at home so let the energy from the crowd motivate you to silence the home side and be the bad guys.