BCHL Okanagan Preview: West Kelowna Warriors

As a hockey player, West Kelowna Warrior head coach Simon Ferguson was no stranger to winning.

“In 2003, with the Kelowna Rockets, we won the Western Hockey League championship,” Ferguson told Global News.

“The following year in ’04, we hosted and won the Memorial Cup,” Ferguson added.

A few seasons later, Ferguson followed that up by winning the AHL’s Calder Cup with the Hershey Bears in 2010 before hanging up the blades and stepping behind the bench.

Now in his third season as the Warriors’ head coach,  Ferguson has been handed the reigns as general manager and saddled with the task of bringing a BCHL championship back to West Kelowna.

“I think it’s every coach and GM’s main goal is to do that,” said Ferguson.

“I think our job here is not focusing on bringing that cup back. It’s more about the processes that will lead to bringing that cup back.”

This season, the Warriors have brought in some backend help from Beantown in the form of Tyler Rubin.

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“I’m more of an offensive-style defenceman; I like to have the puck on my stick,” Rubin said of his playing style.

According to Rubin, while he likes to join the rush, he’ll also take care of things in the defensive zone.

The 5-foot-10 and 160-pound blue-liner was listed by NHL Central Scouting last season after playing Greater Boston prep hockey for Belmont Hill School.

The Natick, Mass., product is now finding his feet in the BCHL.

“Speed is a little bit faster, everything happens a little quicker, guys are bigger, but I think I have adjusted pretty well,” Rubin said.

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West Kelowna captain Elan Bar-Lev-Wise is back with the team for his final season in junior, and he’s looking to go out on a high note.

“It would mean a lot, obviously, winning a championship with any team,” Bar-Lev-Wise said.

“But especially with West Kelowna, such a great program. It would be a great honour for me.”

The Warriors will honour firefighters for their efforts on the Mt. Law wildfire this summer when they open their season Saturday at Royal LePage Place against the Prince George Spruce Kings.