West Kelowna Hockey

[tiomio]

West Kelowna has a great BCHL hockey team - the West Kelowna Warriors! These young men play great hockey and earn scholarships from many great universities while entertaining their fans. Speaking of fans, where are you people? Right here in your own backyard you have a hockey team and the crowds are severely lacking. While I am totally aware of the Kelowna Rockets, I must say that supporting your hometown team should take precedence over a Kelowna team. At Royal Lepage Arena we can ring bells, blow horns, clap clappers, yell, and have a great time enjoying the hockey game.

One former Warrior is now playing for the Edmonton Oilers! Yes, we have great talent right here in West Kelowna!

Why not come out to a game on Tues, Jan 20th - Warriors vs Penticton Vees? Its guaranteed to be an action packed game between these two rivals. Hope to see you there clapping, cheering and making lots of noise for our hometown team!

[bobblehead]

I am a season ticket holder for the Warriors and I must agree, the fan base is lacking. With almost 30,000 people on the Westside we should be able to fill the arena. Tickets are very affordable, and the talent on the ice is very good. It's exciting hockey and fun to watch.

[tiomio]

How do we get the word out? You were the only person who even viewed my post! We need people to come out even for one game to see how exciting the Warriors games can be!

[Fancy]

Over 187 have viewed your post. The responses will be few.

[HeavyHauler]

When you have the Kelowna Rockets to go watch, why pay the same amount of $$ to see subpar hockey?

[Steve-O]

Thats where you are wrong HH. It is not sub par hockey. Many of these kids on the Warriors could be playing major junior but are able to maintain status to play college hockey in the US by play in the BCJHL. Back home in Calgary, I would skip the cost of seeing the Hitmen and check out one of the cities two AJHL teams and it is great hockey. Heck, go a step further and watch the Chiefs or even midget AAA hockey. If you are truly a fan of the game you will appreciate the skills these kids have.

Back on topic. tiomio, game times are hard for me or I would be at more games. Checked out taking a Sunday off work to take the kids but they didn't want to go. The last game we took them to was too loud they said. Has the volume been turned down at all for the PA system?

[Bubalouie]

Jr. A as it used to be called is so NOT sub par hockey. A lot of these players chose NOT to play in the dub because it erases all chances of earning a scholarship to usually a pretty good American school.

[tiomio]

Hey everyone, there is a game tonight against the Penticton Vees, guaranteed to be action packed! If you have a Seahawks jersey and wear it to the game you get in free. Also there is a draw for a Seahawks Jersey tonight from Shut Out Sports! If you don't have a jersey the admission tonight is only $5.00, yes Five Dollars for a great night of hockey! Why not give it a try, you might be very suprised at how good BCHL hockey is!

[Buckeye19]

That's a false claim that most of the players choose not to play major junior (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) so as not to void scholarship opportunities. At most, there are a handful of players in Junior A (Tier 2) that have that option. Major Junior is a big step up from Junior A and most kids can't cut it. Take a look at the history of the NHL Draft and you'll see that the overwhelming majority of players are picked from Major Junior and top leagues in Europe. Sure, there are some great players who go the NCAA route but they are few and far between.

This is not to say the BCHL isn't good hockey - it is and I enjoy watching it. When there is better hockey next door and one of the most successful WHL franchises is in your backyard, you know where the majority of support is going to be. This is a struggle for almost every Junior A team that has a Major Junior franchise close by.

[smoky500]

I came across the following in the Penticton Herald today " Vees F Tyson Jost and D Dante Fabbro are tabbed by TSN hockey analyst Craig Button as top-10 first-round picks in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft" so yes there are some good quality, talented players in the BCHL. I will also comment that Castanet tends to report only about the Warriors in their BCHL section.

[canvan]

Royal Lepage Place where the Warriors play is a poorly designed arena. That could be part of the problem, the upper seats behind the net are a terrible spot to watch the game you can't see when you sit down. The concession location is also a problem.