A roundup of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
For the Kelowna Rockets, it comes down to this: Win on Saturday night and they avoid a tough first-round playoff opponent.
Just one point separates fifth-place Kelowna (32-304-1, 69 points) and sixth-place Vancouver (32-31-4-0, 68 points) as the league enters its final weekend of regular-season action.
On Friday, Kelowna jumped over Vancouver into fifth with a resounding 6-2 road victory 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 available 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*
At Penticton, Billy Renfrew scored twice as the Vees cruised past 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 replied for Merritt (20-25-5-1-0, 46 points), which was outshot 42-18.
Notably, the Vees had 17 shots in the second period alone, almost equaling the Centennials’ game total.
Will Ingemann stopped 16 shots for the Vees, with Karlis Mezsargs making 37 saves for Merritt.
Both teams were 1-for-3 on the power play.
At Prince George, Adam Csabi had the game’s only goal as the Vipers blanked the Spruce Kings despite getting heavily outshot.
Ethan David posted the shutout as Vernon (31-19-1-0-0, 63 points) was outshot 34-16.
Charlie Zolin made 15 saves for Prince George (15-33-3-0-0, 33 points).
Csabi opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the game. The remaining 59 minutes were scoreless.
Both teams were scoreless on the power play, with Vernon at 0-for-3 and Prince George at 0-for-5.
Last week, the Vipers fired their head coach and general manager Jason McKee who had been with the team since 2019-2020.
At Trail, Rorke Applebee was nearly perfect between the pipes, stopping 26 of 27 shots, as the Warriors downed the Smoke Eaters.
Owen Drury, Sean Keohane and Jack Pridham scored for West Kelowna (30-10-11-0-0, 71 points), which led 1-0 and 3-0 at the period breaks.
Josh Schenk replied for Merritt (25-20-6-0-0, 56 points), as he closed out the scoring at 14:10 of the third period. Ryan Parker stopped 22 of 25 shots for the Smoke Eaters.
Both teams were scoreless 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
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
