Warriors lay egg in loss to Eagles

Photo: Wayne Moore - Kelowna - Castanet

Warriors Ambrose Firkus is denied by goaltender Victor Adamo during Surrey's 3-0 win Friday night.

There's no denying the West Kelowna Warriors have talent - a lot of it.

But, as the saying goes - talent and a buck eight-five will get you a large double double at Tim's, but not many wins at the hockey rink.

That was the case Friday night when the Warriors fell 3-0 to the reigning BC Hockey League champion Surrey Eagles in Chilliwack in the season opener for both teams.

"We had some guys that didn't show up. There were some veteran players that just didn't show up tonight," stated Warriors head coach Rylan Ferster following the game.

Photo: Wayne Moore - Kelowna - Castanet

Forward Brennan Clark goes flying after being knocked down during a scramble in front of the Surrey net Friday.

"We have some guys out there that just want to be on their own page and they think we are going to out skill guys. We're not going to do that here."

Surrey scored once in each period and twice on the power-play to put this one away.

Joseph Drapluk put the Eagles up 1-0 midway through the opening period when he took two whacks at a rebound in the crease before finally muscling the puck past Warriors netminder Andy Desautels.

Early in the second, just eight seconds after a Warriors power-play Zane Schartz wired a wrist shot to the top corner past Desautels from the left circle.

Colton Mackie concluded the scoring midway through the third on another power-play when he tapped home a nifty no-look between the legs cross crease pass from former Warrior Brett Mulcahy.

The Warriors had their chances, especially in the middle frame when they trailed just 1-0 and 2-0 when they were handed three straight power-play chances but were unable to get anything past Eagles goaltender Victor Adamo.

The 19-year-old Toronto native blocked 40 shots - 19 of those in the second period alone - including at least three off the stick of Ambrose Firkus who was resigned to shaking his head and looking to the rafters after Adamo flashed a quick glove hand on all three occasions.

The Warriors lost the services of rookie Jordan Masters early in the third period after he was handed an automatic game misconduct for a check from behind.

With just 10 seconds left on the clock Warriors Seb Lloyd was whistled for goaltender interference, a play which drew an angry response from several Eagles players.

It also sparked a spirited tilt between Warriors Taylor Graham and Surrey's Ryan Fraser-Lee.

The Warriors don't have much time to lick their wounds. They return to the ice Saturday afternoon against the Nanaimo Clippers to close out their portion of the Showcase event in Chilliwack.

In other games on the opening day of the Showcase:

Ryan Gropp scored the winner on a second period power-play as Penticton edged the Victoria Grizzlies 2-1.
The Merritt Centennials erased a 2-1 deficit with four goals over the last 6:43 to beat Coquitlam 5-2. Payton Schaefer scored twice for Merritt.
Mitch McLain scored 22 seconds into overtime leading Langley to a 4-3 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters.