Junior hockey: Rockets fall to Hitmen, Chiefs paste Coyotes

A round-up of results from junior hockey teams in the Okanagan.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE

Calgary 5, Kelowna 1

For the second game in a row, the Kelowna Rockets lost 5-1, this time to the Calgary Hitmen on Friday night.

At Calgary, former Rocket Jake Kryski scored twice for the Hitmen as the hosts took a 2-1 lead late in the first period and never looked back. On Wednesday night, Kelowna lost 5-1 in Lethbridge to the Hurricanes. Kryski, 20, played briefly for Kelowna, 37 games during the 2016-17 season before being traded to Calgary.

In Friday’s game, Calgary (15-14-2-1) scored early, Egor Zamula at 2:51. However, Kyle Crosbie replied just minutes later at 8:00 for Kelowna (15-17-2-0) to level the score. Nine minutes after that, though, at 17:26, Kryski netted his 15th goal of the season to make 2-1. Riley Stotts scored for Calgary at 2:01 of the second, with Kryski scoring at 13:30 of the third to push the Hitmen lead to 4-1. Ryder Korczak, rounded out the scoring at 19:23.

James Porter stopped 27 of 32 shots for Kelowna while Jack McNaughton turned aside 25 of 26 shots for Calgary. The Rockets were 0-for-5 on the power play while the Hitmen were 2-for-5. The attendance was 8,757.

Tonight, Kelowna will close out its four-game Central Division road trip against the Medicine Hat Tigers (17-14-1-2). Game time is 6:30 p.m. PT. On Friday, the Tigers posted a 4-1 road win against the Central Division-leading Red Deer Rebels (20-10-2-0). Notably, Red Deer outshot Medicine Hat 50-38, with Tigers goalie Mads Sogaard making 49 saves. The Tigers were 3-for-3 on the power play while the Rebels were 0-for-2.

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This will be the Rockets’ last game before the league’s annual Christmas break. Kelowna’s next game won’t be until Friday, December 28th, a road game in Kamloops. On Saturday, December 29th, the Rockets will host the Blazers.

B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE

Penticton 2, Trail 1

At Penticton, the Vees needed a shootout to hold off the Smoke Eaters on Friday night.

Vees netminder Jack LaFontaine stopped five of six shots in the shootout, while Ryan Sandelin and Jackson Niedermayer scored in the shootout for Penticton (21-10-1-2). Sandelin also scored the Vees’ only regulation-time goal, at 11:22 of the second period following a scoreless first period. Carter Jones replied for Trail (12-17-5-3) at 2:17 of the third to make it 1-1.

LaFontaine stopped 21 of 22 shots overall, while Adam Marcoux faced 29 shots, stopping 28 for Trail. The Smoke Eaters were 0-for-4 on the power play while the Vees were 1-for-6. The attendance was 2,902.

Cowichan Valley 3, Vernon 1

At Vernon, the Capitals scored once in each period for a two-goal win over the host Vipers.

Brady Lynn, Dan McIntyre and Luc Wilson scored for Cowichan Valley, which led 1-0 and 2-1 at the period breaks. Michael Young, at 4:43 of the second to make it 1-1, replied for Vernon (12-13-6-3).

Jack Grant stopped 35 of 36 shots for the Capitals while Bradley Cooper stopped 27 of 30 shots for the Vipers. Cowichan Valley was 1-for-4 on the power play while Vernon was 1-for-5. The attendance was 1,990.

West Kelowna 6, Merritt 3

At West Kelowna, netminder Connor Hopkins turned aside 48 of 51 shots as the Warriors held off the Centennials.

Lucas Cullen, Mike Hardman, Lucas Bahn, Parm Dhaliwal, Anthony Bishop and Cavin Tilsley scored for West Kelowna (21-14-0-1), which led 2-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks. Bradley Cocca, Mattias Dal Monte and Matthew Kopperud replied for Merritt (21-12-1-1). Six goals were scored in the third period, with the Cents tallying the first three to make it 3-3 and the Warriors netting the last three.

Austin Roden, with 27 saves on 32 shots, took the netminding loss for Merritt. The Cents were 0-for-4 on the power play while the Warriors were 2-for-4. The attendance was 721.

Wenatchee 4, Salmon Arm 3

At Wenatchee, Matt Gosiewski scored at 4:27 of overtime to life the Wild past the Silverbacks.

Brandon Koch, Murphy Stratton and Christophe Fillion also scored for Wenatchee (22-10-2-0), which leads the Interior Division with 46 points, one more than second-place Penticton (45) and two more than third-place Merritt (44). John Little, Hudson Schandor and Justin Wilson, at 6:49 of the third to level the game, replied for Salmon Arm (16-13-4-0).

Ethan Langenegger stopped 38 of 42 shots for Salmon Arm while starter Cal Sandquist (8 saves, 10 shots) and Austin Park (12 saves, 13 shots) split netminding duties for Wenatchee. The Silverbacks were 1-for-5 on the power play while the Wild were 0-for-4. The attendance was 2,519.

In BCHL action for Saturday, December 15th, Powell River (20-13-1-0) visits Merritt, Cowichan Valley treks to Salmon Arm and Trail hosts Penticton.

KOOTENAY INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE

Kelowna 5, Osoyoos 2

At Kelowna, Dylan Kent scored twice in the first period as the Chiefs blitzed the Coyotes with 51 shots, including 17 in the first period.

Liam Drager, Brody Dale and Tyler Love also scored for league-leading Kelowna (26-1-1-0-2), which led 2-0 and 3-1 at the period. Blake Astorino and Tyler Badger replief for Osoyoos (12-14-2-0-0).

Daniel Paul stopped 46 shots for the Coyotes while Braeden Mitchell had a much easier time in net, facing just 18 shots and turning aside 16. Osoyoos was 2-for-4 on the power play while Kelowna was 2-for-10. The attendance was 364.

Revelstoke 10, Chase 0

At Revelstoke, Josh Irvine had a hat trick while Ryan Pereverzoff and Tommy Bodtker also scored twice as the Grizzlies routed the Heat.

Josh Vandermolen, Cody Flann and Matt Cadden also scored for Revelstoke (23-3-0-0-0). Geoff Drought faced an onslaught of pucks for Chase (6-20-2-0-1), turning aside 63 of 73 shots. Liam McGarva posted the shutout for Revelstoke with a 24-save effort.

Chase was 0-for-2 on the power play while Revelstoke was 2-for-8. The attendance was 550.

Princeton 6, Sicamous 3

At Sicamous, the Posse scored twice in each period to defeat the Eagles by three goals.

Achille Casali, with two goals, Brendan Adams, Colby Rhodes, Devin Watson and Justin Fodchuk scored for Princeton (11-17-1-0-2), which led 2-1 and 4-3 at the period breaks. Sebastien Archambault, Aaron Plessis and Colby Sherlock replied for Sicamous (9-15-2-0-2).

Dominic Bosa stopped 31 of 34 shots for Princeton while Cole Steinke stopped 22 of 28 shots for Sicamous. Both the Posse and Eagles were 0-for-5 on the power play. The attendance was 285.

North Okanagan 4, Summerland 2

At Armstrong, the Knights rallied from a 2-0 deficit by scoring four unanswered goals to defeat the Steam.

Cameron McKenzie, Ty Tippett, Jett Saharchuk and Alex McLeod scored for North Okanagan (9-19-0-1-0). Liam McLaren and Cody Swan replied for Summerland (17-11-1-0-2), which led 2-0 after the first period only to have North Okanagan score twice in the second to level the score.

Eric Scherger stopped 28 of 31 shots for Summerland while Austin Madge stopped 25 of 27 shots for North Okanagan. The Steam were 1-for-5 on the power play while the Knights were 0-for-1. The attendance was 195.

In KIJHL action for Saturday, December 15th, Kamloops (9-15-0-1-1) visits Sicamous, Revelstoke hosts Princeton and 100 Mile House (13-11-1-0-3) treks to Osoyoos.

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