A roundup of results from junior hockey teams in the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Lethbridge, the Rockets lit up the hometown Hurricanes, with Andrew Cristall and Carson Golder both notching memorable outings for Kelowna on Friday night.
The two forwards both had four-point nights, each with a goal and three assists, as Kelowna improved to 2-0 on its short, three-game Central Division trip before the WHL’s annual Christmas break.
Caden Price, Noah Dorey, Dylan Wightman and Logan Peskett also scored for Kelowna (12-13-3-0), which led 1-0 and 4-0 at the period breaks.
The Rockets, who beat Swift Current 5-2 on Wednesday, close out their trip in Medicine Hat (12-17-4-1) on Saturday night.
Talyn Boyko stopped 35 shots in the shutout win for Kelowna, the team’s first clean sheet of the season. Harrison Meneghin started for Lethbridge, but was pulled midway through the third after the Rockets made it 5-0. He stopped 26 of 31 shots before giving way to Brady Smith, who stopped five of six shots in relief.
Kelowna was 1-for-5 on the power play while Lethbridge went 0-for-5.
Notably, the Rockets were without forwards Colton Dach, who was named to Canada’s world junior team on Monday, and Gabriel Szturc, who is attending Czechia’s world junior camp.
They were also without Adam Kydd (lower-body injury) and defenceman Jackson Romeril (tonsillectomy).
Friday’s results
- Winnipeg at Brandon, ppd.
- Swift Current 8, Edmonton 4
- Red Deer 6, Medicine Hat 4
- Moose Jaw 6, Regina 2
- Kamloops 6, Prince George 5 (OT)
- Saskatoon 8, Spokane 5
- Seattle 4, Everett 1
- Portland 2, Vancouver 1
- Victoria 7, Tri-City 6 (SO)
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Spokane at Prince Albert, 5 p.m.
- Saskatoon at Regina, 5 p.m.
- Brandon at Winnipeg, 5:05 p.m.
- Calgary at Lethbridge, 6 p.m.
- Kelowna at Medicine Hat, 6 p.m.
- Swift Current at Red Deer, 6 p.m.
- Vancouver at Portland, 6 p.m.
- Kamloops at Prince George, 6 p.m.
- Tri-City at Victoria, 6:05 p.m.
- Seattle at Everett, 6:05 p.m.
Sunda’s game
- Edmonton at Calgary, 1 p.m.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Penticton, Aydar Suniev notched a hat trick as the Vees stomped the Wild on Friday night.
Brett Moravec, Beanie Richter, Joshua Niedermayer and Nic DeGraves also scored for Penticton (26-2-0-0-0), which led 2-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks.
Parker Murray and Michael Valdez replied for Wenatchee (12-14-0-2-0), which was outshot 42-18.
Hank Levy turned aside 16 of 18 shots for the Vees, while Owen Millward stopped 35 of 42 shots for the Wild.
Penticton was 1-for-4 on the power play while Wenatchee was 1-for-5.
One week ago, on Dec. 9, Wenatchee stunned Penticton 2-1 as the Vees suffered their first loss of the season despite outshooting the Wild 44-19. Heading into that game, Penticton was a perfect 24-0.
The next night, on Dec. 10, the Vees stumbled again, falling 4-1 in Cranbrook. Penticton outshot the Bucks 37-23 overall, but trailed 3-0 after the first period.
At Vernon, Justin Katz stopped 23 shots as the Warriors downed the Vipers on Friday night.
Felix Caron, Matthew Fusco, Ben MacDonald, Jake Bernadet and Michael Salandra scored for West Kelowna (16-8-4-0-0), which led 3-1 after 40 minutes following a 1-1 first-period tie.
Julian Facchinelli, who made it 1-1 late in the first period with a power play goal, replied for Vernon (12-12-0-4-0). Ethan David turned aside 19 of 24 shots for the Vipers.
The Warriors were 1-for-5 on the power play while the Vipers were 1-for-6.
At Cranbrook, Donovan Frias scored twice for the hometown team as the Bucks downed the Silverbacks on Friday night.
Rhys Bentham, Jack Silich and Kellan Hjartarson also scored for Cranbrook (18-8-1-0-0), which outshot the Silverbacks 35-32.
Raoul Boilard, at 17:30 of the third to make it 3-1, replied for Salmon Arm (14-11-2-1-0).
Nathan Airey stopped 31 of 32 shots for the Bucks, while Matthew Tovell turned aside 30 of 34 shots for the Silverbacks.
Cranbrook was 0-for-2 on the power play while Salmon Arm was 0-for-3.
Friday’s results
- Chilliwack 2, Coquitlam 1 (OT)
- Powell River 4, Cowichan Valley 3
- Prince George 3, Nanaimo 2 (OT)
- Trail 5, Merritt 4
- Surrey 4, Alberni Valley 2
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Prince George at Chilliwack, 6 p.m.
- Wenatchee at Vernon, 6 p.m.
- Merritt at Cranbrook, 6 p.m.
- Surrey at Coquitlam, 6 p.m.
- Cowichan Valley at Nanaimo, 7 p.m.
- Salmon Arm at Trail, 7 p.m.
- Powell River at Victoria, 7 p.m.
- Penticton at West Kelowna, 7 p.m.
- Alberni Valley at Langley, 7:15 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled
KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Friday’s results
- Columbia Valley 8, Golden 3
- Creston Valley 5, Fernie 4 (OT)
- 100 Mile House 2, Chase 0
- Revelstoke 4, Sicamous 3 (SO)
- Kamloops 4, Kelowna 3 (SO)
- Princeton 5, Summerland 1
- Osoyoos 6, Castlegar 1
- Beaver Valley 3, Nelson 2 (OT)
Saturday’s games (all times PT)
- Beaver Valley at Creston Valley, 6:30 p.m.
- Columbia Valley at Golden, 6:30 p.m.
- Summerland at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
- Kelowna at 100 Mile House, 7 p.m.
- Sicamous at Chase, 7 p.m.
- Osoyoos at Nelson, 7 p.m.
- Kimberley at Grand Forks, 7 p.m.
- Princeton at North Okanagan, 7:15 p.m.
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled.