WEST KELOWNA 5 VICTORIA 1
Rylan Ferster’s old team showed no mercy for his new team on Saturday night as the high-flying West Kelowna Warriors cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Victoria Grizzlies in front of 1,111 fans at The Q Centre.
Ferster coached West Kelowna to the 2016 B.C. Hockey League and RBC Cup national Junior A championship, but his new team looks like it’ll be in tough to just make the playoffs this season.
The Warriors, with 10 NCAA committed players and two NHL draft picks, scored twice in the first period and held the Grizzlies without a shot until the midway point of the opening frame.
The Warriors, who were coming off a 2-1 win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals in Duncan on Friday, were too fast for a Grizzlies team that lacks the firepower of past Victoria teams. With Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick and Cornell-bound Luke Devlin and Seattle Kraken draft pick Ben MacDonald, who’s headed to Harvard next season, the Warriors look ready for another run at the BCHL title.
On Saturday, West Kelowna’s supporting cast did most of the damage. Kailus Green, a Kelowna native and one of only a handfull of Warriors without an NCAA scholarship, scored twice, while Brennan Nelson and Jack Bernadet, also without an NCAA committment, both scored in the second period to put the visitors up 4-0.