With the club含羞草研究社檚 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含羞草研究社攖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.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檇 say we含羞草研究社檙e pretty evenly matched,含羞草研究社� said Ferster, the Warriors head coach and GM. 含羞草研究社淭hey含羞草研究社檙e a very good team, they have a good forward group with size and skill. They play hard and we含羞草研究社檙e going have to do the same.含羞草研究社�
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含羞草研究社檚 returning veterans who were part of last year含羞草研究社檚 RBC Cup championship team含羞草研究社擰uin Foreman, Connor Sodergren, Scott Allan and Jake Harrison among them.
含羞草研究社淲e have guys in that dressing room who won a national championship, our veterans and leaders who steer the ship so to speak,含羞草研究社� Ferster said. 含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 maybe even more prevalent in the playoffs when they need to step out. At this time of year, it含羞草研究社檚 a lot about staying calm regardless of the situation and those guys are familiar with that.含羞草研究社�
Meanwhile, an announcement regarding the future of the Warriors含羞草研究社� 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含羞草研究社檚 No. 1 task.
含羞草研究社淚t hasn含羞草研究社檛 been fun but we have no control over that,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淲e have a game to play and business to take care of on the ice. That含羞草研究社檚 my job so that含羞草研究社檚 what I含羞草研究社檓 concerned about.含羞草研究社�
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. *
