A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
With just a handful of games remaining and a playoff berth secured, Kelowna will finish in the middle of the Western Conference pack this season.
Currently, Kelowna (39-19-1-5) is sitting fifth in the West with 84 points, well back of the front-running Everett Silvertips (45-10-5-5, 100 points), but only two behind the fourth-place Seattle Thunderbirds (40-18-4-2, 86 points).
Barring an unlikely scenario in which Seattle overtakes third-place Portland (44-16-3-2, 93 points), the Rockets will be playing the Thunderbirds in the first round of the playoffs.
Both Kelowna and Seattle have four games left, with the Rockets having a slightly easier schedule — with slightly being the key word.
The Rockets will face Vancouver (23-36-4-0, 50 points) three times, including twice this weekend at Prospera Place in Kelowna, on Saturday and Sunday. The Rockets close out their schedule next Saturday at home to Prince George (22-38-4-1, 49 points).
Kelowna is 5-3-1-0 against Vancouver this season and is 9-2 against Prince George.
Meanwhile, Seattle has games against Spokane (23-37-4-1, 51 points), Everett (45-10-5-5), Vancouver (23-36-4-1) and Tri-City (18-4-5-0).
Seattle is 9-2-1-0 against Spokane, 3-7-1-0 against Everett, 3-0 against Vancouver and 13-0 against Tri-City.
Simply put, to overtake Seattle for fourth, Kelowna will need the Thunderbirds to lose at least once, preferably twice.
If the two teams finish tied in points, the higher spot goes to the team with the most wins. If that’s also tied, then the first tiebreaker is most points in the head-to-head series, which Seattle owns (3-1-0-0).
It’s a slight uphill battle for Kelowna, but the Rockets enter the weekend on a five-game winning streak. And Seattle’s opponent on Saturday night, Spokane, is on a four-game winning streak.
“(Seattle) is a big, heavy team, much like ourselves,” said Rockets head coach Kris Mallette. “It’ll be a great series, regardless.”
On trying to get home-ice advantage, Mallette said “it’s a big deal for us. Comforts of your own home, no distractions. Routine is huge. We know how important it is, and we want to get it done.”
Friday’s results
- Brandon 6, Medicine Hat 3
- Saskatoon 2, Prince Albert 0
- Red Deer 5, Lethbridge 4
- Regina 4, Swift Current 2
- Kamloops 4, Victoria 3
- Everett 5, Tri-City 2
- Portland 7, Vancouver 2
Saturday’s games
- Red Deer at Edmonton, 1 p.m.
- Medicine Hat at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
- Moose Jaw at Brandon, 5 p.m.
- Prince Albert at Regina, 6 p.m.
- Calgary at Lethbridge, 6 p.m.
- Victoria at Prince George, 7 p.m.
- Vancouver at Kelowna, 7 p.m.
- Portland at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
- Spokane at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- Edmonton at Calgary, 1 p.m.
- Medicine Hat at Winnipeg, 3 p.m.
- Vancouver at Kelowna, 4:05 p.m.
- Everett at Seattle, 5:05 p.m.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
PLAYOFFS
At Salmon Arm, it was scoring by committee for the Silverbacks, who finished with four unanswered goals Friday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series against the Wild.
Mathieu Cobetto-Roy, who opened the scoring just 3:16 into the first period, Simon Tassy, Mathieu Bourgault, Ethan Ullrick and Noah Serdachny scored for Salmon Arm, which led 3-1 entering the third period.
Anthony Cafarelli, at 14:04 of the first to make it 1-1, replied for Wenatchee.
Tassy made it 2-1 at 14:20 of the second with his fourth goal of the playoffs, with Bourgault making it 3-1 at 19:27. In the third, Ullrick added to Salmon Arm’s lead at 10:52, with Serdachny closing out the scoring at 14:47 with his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Owen Say stopped 30 of 31 shots for the Silverbacks, with Andy Vlaha turning aside 23 of 28 shots for the Wild.
Salmon Arm was 1-for-6 on the power play while Wenatchee was 0-for-4.
The two teams meet again on Saturday night, 6 p.m., in Wenatchee.
At West Kelowna, John Evans scored twice for the Warriors who eliminated the Vipers from this season’s playoffs.
Brennan Nelson, Charles-Alexis Legault, Felix Trudeau, Marcus Joughin and Zach Reim also scored for West Kelowna, which led 3-0 after 40 minutes following a scoreless first period.
Ryan Shostak, at 2:51 of the third to make it 3-1, and Zack Tonelli, at 14:27 to make it 5-2, replied for Vernon.
The Vipers won the series-opening game, 5-2 on April 1, but West Kelowna rebounded and won the next four, winning by scores of 5-3, 6-2, 6-2 and 7-2.
Johnny Derrick stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Warriors, with Ethan David stopping 28 of 34 shots for the Vipers.
West Kelowna was 0-for-1 on the power play while Vernon was 1-for-3.
Friday’s results
- Langley 5, Victoria 3
- (Langley wins series 4-1)
Saturday’s games
- Salmon Arm at Wenatchee, 6 p.m.
- (Salmon Arm leads series 3-2)
- Prince George at Cranbrook, 6 p.m.
- (Prince George leads series 3-2)
- Chilliwack at Coquitlam, 7 p.m.
- (Chilliwack leads series 3-2)
Sunday’s games
- Coquitlam at Chilliwack, 7 p.m.
- (if necessary)
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