Cents Game Day – Merritt vs West Kelowna – March 18/22

Date – Friday, March 18, 2022

Game Time – Puck drop 7:00 pm

Location – Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, Merritt B.C.

Broadcast – Q101 & BCHLTV

West Kelowna Warriors – 33-16-1-0

Merritt Centennials – 3-42-2-2

The Merritt Centennials will play their final home game of the season tonight at the NVMA when they welcome the West Kelowna Warriors to town, for a game that will have zero impact on the standings. The Cents have been eliminated from playoff contention for multiple weeks now but have been able to play spoiler, that won’t be the case tonight at West Kelowna is locked into the third seed in the Interior.

The Vernon Vipers and Merritt Centennials continued the season series on Wednesday night at the NVMA for the first time since the Snakes blew out Merritt 9-0 two weeks ago.

It was a wide open first 20 minutes of play with both teams getting a chance on the powerplay but not finding the back of the net.

In the final minutes of the frame, Ben Ward sped down the left-wing before cutting strong to the net and beating Roan Clarke to open the scoring. Ward also putting his own body and Clarke’s body into the net as went in strong for his 15^th of the year.

Jackson Baker would get the start for the injured John Hicks, stopping all 9 he would see.

Early in the middle stanza the Vipers would find an equalizer with Luke Buss going off the post and in past Baker.

Both teams would continue to earn powerplay chances throughout the period but both teams held off the scoresheet with the special teams.

Baker stopped 19/20 after 40 minutes.

The Snakes would take over the contest in the third. Just over 3-minutes in, a Davide Patella would lead to a Tyler Chan goal, assists to Luke Lavery and Copeland Fricker.

The Cents would earn a late powerplay chance, but it would be a Viper shorty icing the game with Casey McDonald beating Baker. Vernon would add one into the empty cage to win 4-1.

The Warriors enter play tonight winners of six in a row, including a 5-3 win last night versus Salmon Arm. Felix Truduea continued to led the offense with 58 points.

Previous meetings;

The Cents and Warriors have already met six times this year and still have two more to go including tonight’s contest. The scores haven’t been close over the first six, with West K winning all three with the closest margin of defeat being three goals. The two teams will wrap up the season series next weekend in West K.

Blue Paint Battle;

John Hicks allowed six goals on Thursday but deserved a better fate. Hicks is now 0-14-3 with a .895 SV% and 5.22 GAA.

Jackson Baker is 0-9 with a .863 SV% and a 6.96 GAA.

Also joining the Cents for the stretch run is AP goalie Payton Trzaska. The goalie played for the Princeton Posse this season in the KIJHL, posting a 10-8 record with a 3.20 GAA and .914 SV%. With Merritt he is 0-1, 6.79 GAA and a .887 SV%.

West Kelowna had two goalies playing well down the stretch with Justin Katz and starter Johnny Derrick. Katz is 11-5 with a .919 SV% and a 2.54 GAA. Derrick is 22-11-1 with a .900 SV% and 3.08 GAA.

Special Teams Comparison;

Warriors – PP 24.0% (6/18) PK 81.4% (6/18)

Cents – PP 11.7% (18/18) PK 67.4% (18/18)