Sports

Kelowna Chiefs rookie Nick Josephs didn’t take long to make his presence known in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.

In only his second game, the 17-year-old from Calgary helped put the Junior B squad back into the win column with his first KIJHL hat trick, giving the Chiefs a 5-1 win over the Chase Heat at Rutland Arena Tuesday night.

What’s more, he also contributed with an assist on Scott Renner’s powerplay goal, which opened the game’s scoring early in the first period.

Rookie Brade Mende scored the Chiefs second goal, which went unanswered until late in the third period when Heat forward Alex Fournier scored his team’s single goal on goaltender Tyler O’Donnell, who just couldn’t hang on to the goose egg but turned aside a respectable 27 shots.

Kelowna’s own Jordan Salahor added a couple of assists in the Chiefs’ effort as well.

The win improves the Chiefs’ record to five and eight, fourth in the Okanagan/Shuswap conference. The division’s leaders, Osoyoos Coyotes, also lead the entire KIJHL with 24 total points.

The Chiefs host the Summerland Steam October 27 (7 p.m.) at Rutland Arena before bussing to Osoyoos the following night to take on the league leaders.

—With notes from Wendy McLeod