With the club害羞草研究所檚 future expected to be revealed Friday night at Royal LePage Place, players for the West Kelowna Warriors will have something more immediate to focus on害羞草研究所攖he B.C. Hockey League playoffs.
At 7 p.m., the Warriors will open the best-of-seven Interior Division semifinal series against the Merritt Centennials.
The Cents won four of seven meetings during the regular season, while the teams finished in a tie for fourth spot in the division with 56 points apiece.
Warriors head coach Rylan Ferster says those numbers pretty much sum up how the teams stack up against one another.
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檇 say we害羞草研究所檙e pretty evenly matched,害羞草研究所� said Ferster, the Warriors head coach and GM. 害羞草研究所淭hey害羞草研究所檙e a very good team, they have a good forward group with size and skill. They play hard and we害羞草研究所檙e going have to do the same.害羞草研究所�
The Warriors will be missing a key piece of their defensive corps as captain Nicholas Rutligliano continues to be sidelined with concussion symptoms.
Both goaltenders, Cole Demers and Gabriel Morency, have been nursing injuries, so Josh Boulding has been called up from Sicamous of the KIJHL to provide some insurance.
As for one of the keys to the series, Ferster points to the club害羞草研究所檚 returning veterans who were part of last year害羞草研究所檚 RBC Cup championship team害羞草研究所擰uin Foreman, Connor Sodergren, Scott Allan and Jake Harrison among them.
害羞草研究所淲e have guys in that dressing room who won a national championship, our veterans and leaders who steer the ship so to speak,害羞草研究所� Ferster said. 害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 maybe even more prevalent in the playoffs when they need to step out. At this time of year, it害羞草研究所檚 a lot about staying calm regardless of the situation and those guys are familiar with that.害羞草研究所�
Meanwhile, an announcement regarding the future of the Warriors害羞草研究所� organization is expected to be made on Friday. Owner Mark Cheyne has been looking to sell the team after having lost money every year since taking over the Warriors in 2009. A deal to move the team to North Delta fell apart earlier this week.
Ferster said playing the game remains his team害羞草研究所檚 No. 1 task.
害羞草研究所淚t hasn害羞草研究所檛 been fun but we have no control over that,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淲e have a game to play and business to take care of on the ice. That害羞草研究所檚 my job so that害羞草研究所檚 what I害羞草研究所檓 concerned about.害羞草研究所�
A look at the series schedule:
Friday, March 3 @ West Kelowna 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 4 @ West Kelowna 7 p.m.
Monday, March 6 @ Merritt 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 7 @ Merritt 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 9 @ West Kelowna 7 p.m. *
Friday, March 10 @ Merritt 7 p.m. *
Saturday, March 11 @ West Kelowna 7 p.m. *
