Warriors acquire goalie

Photo: Wayne Moore - Castanet File Photo

The West Kelowna Warriors have dealt goaltender Scott Patton to Oakville in the OJHL

The West Kelowna Warriors have gotten older between the pipes.

On Friday The Warriors announced the acquisition of goaltender Daniel Mannella (95) from the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in exchange for goaltender Scott Patton (96).

Mannella, who played the last three seasons in the OJHL, finished this past season with a 17-14-1 record, posting a 2.08 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

He finished second in the league in goals against average and save percentage.

In 122 games with the Blades Mannella was 53-53-1 with a 2.82 GAA.

"I'm excited to be joining a quality organization like West Kelowna. I feel that I'm ready to take the next step and play at the highest junior level possible." Mannella said recently.

"I've also heard lots of positive remarks about living in Kelowna and look forward to joining the community and helping the team win hockey games."

Patton was set to enter his second season with the Warriors. As a rookie he appeared in 20 games last season posting a 10-2-0-5 record with a 3.65 goals against average.

Injuries hampered him for much of the second half of the season and parts of the playoffs.

"We would like to thank Scott Patton for his time with the Warriors," said head coach/GM Rylan Ferster.

"He is a great kid and stepped up throughout the season with great efforts between the pipes. He always gave us a chance to win and we wish him the best of luck."

Meantime, the Warriors have also made a change behind the bench.

Shea Naka has rejoined the club. He will serve as assistant coach replace Brent Gough who is moving on to a position with the Arizona Bobcats AAA program.

Gough spent five seasons as assistant coach/assistant general manager with the Warriors.

"Brent is one of the hardest working guys in the BCHL,” said Ferster.

“I’ve always maintained that he could be a great head coach in this league, and I know he will do great things in Arizona.”

Gough will remain a member of the Warriors organization as the assistant GM and director of player personnel.

Naka was an assistant coach with the Warriors two seasons ago before moving on to the Pursuit of Excellence program last season.

“Shae is so good when it comes to video,” said Ferster.

"We have done a lot of video analysis work with our players in the past, and that will continue to be a strong component of what we do. He is also an excellent teacher of the game, and I look forward to working with him again.”

West Kelowna will open training camp Aug. 24.