A summary of junior hockey scores from the Okanagan and surrounding area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
For the Kelowna Rockets, it comes down to this: If they win on Saturday night, they can avoid a tough first-round playoff opponent.
There's only one point difference between fifth-place Kelowna (32-30-4-1, 69 points) and sixth-place Vancouver (32-31-4-0, 68 points) as the league heads into its final weekend of regular-season action.
On Friday, Kelowna jumped over Vancouver into fifth with a strong 6-2 road win over the Giants at the Langley Events Centre, as the Rockets improved to 6-1 this season against the Lower Mainland rivals.
Gabriel Szturc, with two goals, Kayden Longley, Max Graham, Andrew Cristall and Caden Price scored for Kelowna, which led 2-1 and 3-1 at the period breaks.
Szturc also had an assist for a three-point night, while Graham and Cristall each had four points with three assists.
Cameron Schmidt, who opened Friday’s scoring at 13:35 of the first, and Tyson Zimmer, who made it 4-2 at 12:08 of the third, replied for Vancouver.
Jari Kykkanen stopped 22 of 24 shots for the Rockets, with Brett Mirwald making 30 saves on 35 shots for the Giants.
Both teams were 1-for-2 on the power play.
The two teams meet again on Saturday night in Kelowna, with the winner meeting fourth-place Wenatchee (34-29-4-0, 72 points) in the first round of the playoffs.
Placing sixth means meeting third-place Everett (43-18-2-3, 91 points) in the first round.
The Rockets are 2-2 against Wenatchee this season but are 0-4 against Everett.
Kelowna will need to win, in regulation, overtime or shootout, on Saturday night to claim fifth place.
The Rockets and Giants are tied in wins at 32 each, and that’s the first tiebreaker.
For example, if Vancouver wins 4-3 via overtime or shootout, the Giants would have 70 points. Kelowna would also have 70 points in that scenario, but the team with higher wins gets the nod.
That would be Vancouver at 33 with Kelowna still at 32.
More on the league’s tiebreaking formula is accessible online.
Notably, seventh-place Victoria (29-30-5-4, 67 points) could tie Kelowna at 69 points if the Rockets lose in regulation and the Royals win.
However, because Victoria has fewer wins, the Royals will finish seventh, which translates into a first-round series against second-place Portland (46-15-4-1, 97 points).
Friday’s results
- Prince George 9, Kamloops 2
- Medicine Hat 3, Lethbridge 2
- Saskatoon 5, Prince Albert 1
- Brandon 3, Regina 2
- Seattle 3, Spokane 1
- Swift Current 7, Calgary 6
- Tri-City 4, Portland 3 (OT)
- Wenatchee 4, Victoria 2
Saturday’s games
- Wenatchee at Everett
- Vancouver at Kelowna
- Lethbridge at Medicine Hat
- Regina at Moose Jaw
- Seattle at Portland
- Kamloops at Prince George
- Edmonton at Red Deer
- Prince Albert at Saskatoon
- Spokane at Tri-City
- Swift Current at Calgary
Sunday’s games
- Red Deer at Edmonton
- Tri-City at Everett
- Portland at Seattle
*End of the regular season*
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Penticton, Billy Renfrew scored twice as the Vees easily beat the Centennials on Friday night.
Callum Arnott, Thomas Pichette and Larry Keenan also scored for Penticton (38-8-3-2-0, 81 points), which led 3-1 and 4-1 at the period breaks.
Ray Hamlin and Charles-Thomas Larochelle responded for Merritt (20-25-5-1-0, 46 points), even though they were outshot 42-18.
Notably, the Vees had 17 shots in the second period alone, almost matching the Centennials’ total shots in the entire game.
Will Ingemann saved 16 shots for the Vees, while Karlis Mezsargs made 37 saves for Merritt.
Both teams scored once on three power play opportunities.
At Prince George, Adam Csabi scored the game’s only goal as the Vipers shut out the Spruce Kings despite being heavily outshot.
Ethan David achieved the shutout for Vernon (31-19-1-0-0, 63 points) even though they were outshot 34-16.
Charlie Zolin made 15 saves for Prince George (15-33-3-0-0, 33 points).
Csabi scored the first goal just 56 seconds into the game. The remaining 59 minutes were without any goals being scored.
Both teams failed to score on the power play, with Vernon at 0-for-3 and Prince George at 0-for-5.
Last week, the Vipers dismissed their head coach and general manager Jason McKee who had been with the team since 2019-2020.
At Trail, Rorke Applebee was almost flawless in goal, saving 26 out of 27 shots, as the Warriors defeated the Smoke Eaters.
Owen Drury, Sean Keohane, and Jack Pridham scored for West Kelowna (30-10-11-0-0, 71 points), who were leading 1-0 and 3-0 at the breaks between periods.
Josh Schenk responded for Merritt (25-20-6-0-0, 56 points), scoring the last goal at 14:10 of the third period. Ryan Parker saved 22 out of 25 shots for the Smoke Eaters.
Both teams failed to score on the power play, with West Kelowna at 0-for-3 and Trail at 0-for-4.
Friday’s results
- Alberni Valley 5, Chilliwack 1
- Powell River 7, Cowichan Valley 5
- Surrey 10, Nanaimo 6
- Victoria 6, Coquitlam 2
Saturday’s games
- Nanaimo at Langley
- Coquitlam at Cowichan Valley
- Salmon Arm at Penticton
- Vernon at Prince George
- Chilliwack at Victoria
- West Kelowna at Cranbrook
- Powell River at Alberni Valley
Sunday’s games
- Surrey at Langley
- Cranbrook at Trail
- Merritt at Salmon Arm
KIJHL
PLAYOFFS: THIRD ROUND
Friday’s results
- Fernie 3, Beaver Valley 2
- Princeton 3, Revelstoke 2 (OT)
Saturday’s games
- Fernie at Beaver Valley
- (Fernie leads series 1-0)
- Revelstoke at Princeton
- (Princeton leads series 1-0)
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled.
