<div align="center"> VS. </div>
<div align="center">Game 17</div>


In Kelowna and Vancouver's first meeting of the season, the two teams clashed together in the renowned Battle of B.C. Both teams fought hard, but defensively excelled as only 21 shots were registered for the Whalers, and only 14 shots for the Knights. Laukkanen held strong however, backstopping the Knights to a 3-1 victory.

Starting line ups for the night

Kelowna Knights

Anatoly Yanovich - Mikael Talo - Mikko Linna
Beau Bent - Dieter Dominique - Nicholas Leier
Sven Bartok - Kyle LeBlanc - Denis Lever
Aronne Zamloch - Janis Mazmiesis - Lenard Ramsey

Mia Landvik - Ty Justice
Cara Hohenberg - Fedor Shirobokov
Dolph Ziggler - Bernard Frederic

Mikke Laukkanen



Vancouver Whalers

Diego Ramirez - Charlie Conway - Zach Zyvleski
Patrick Kilgore - Jon Ross - Conklin Owen
Bernie Sanders - Levi Kuvrak - Strawberry Blake
Lars Dahlstrom - Winston Porter - Thor Pederson

Alfred Holoday - Theodore Graham
Carl Farris - Pablo Biznette
Alessandro Fondente - Brandon Makarov

Triforce Link


In the first period of the game, no goals were scored but both teams wasted no time getting physical and rough. We seen Fedor Shirobokov take a roughing penalty and Justice and Ziggler take a couple frustration tripping penalties. Jon Ross, however was looking to get on the board early with a couple memorizing chances just 20 seconds into the game.

Zyvleski picks up the puck in the neutral zone, skates it in and he SHOOTS! It misses the net but Alfred Holiday's right on the doorstep to get the rebound, Holiday picks it up, shoots! Another missed net! The Knights are frantically trying to regain control of the puck, but Jon Ross quickly gains possession, skates it in front, shoots it in net, OH what a save by Laukkanen! He deflects the puck away with his pad and the Knights successfully break it out of the zone!

The second period was mildly uneventful as well, except the Knights were able to get on the board late, with just 1:48 left in the period.

Mikael Talo is taking the faceoff in the neutral zone, opposite Jon Ross. Talo swiftly wins it back to Frederic who skates it in. Frederic's waiting.. He's waiting... Oh he catches Linna open on the wing, he dishes it to him, Linna picks it up, he shoots! He SCOOOOORES! What a pass by Frederic, and what a finish as well!

In the third period, both teams turned their play up a couple notches. We seen both Vancouver and Kelowna players come out bringing a heated, fast game. Vancouver had trouble staying out of the box however, which led to Kelowna making it a 3-0 game, putting the win out of reach for the Whalers.

Theodore Graham rings the puck into the Knights' zone, just to knock some time off the powerplay clock. Shirobokov retrieves it, and stalls behind the net for a couple seconds just to weigh his options. He skates it up into the neutral zone, head up looking for a teammate and he sees Dieter Dominique on the wing, so he sends it over with a gorgeous saucer pass. Dominique skates it open, notices the Whalers defender pinching towards him so he sends it back to the middle to Shirobokov who skates it into the zone and posts up at the point waiting for the Knights to get into position. Shirobokov feeds it to Leier who's open at the top of the circle, and he shoots! And it's blocked by Graham! Cara Hohenberg picks up the loose puck in front, shoots! SCOOOOORES! What a great heads up play by Hohenberg! Leier and Shirobokov will pick up the assists!

After being down 3-0 with less than half the period to go, the Whalers weren't going to bow down. The Whalers second line came through heavy for them, with just over three minutes left in the game.

Ziggler takes the puck, and skates it into the Whalers zone. He feeds a pass through the middle of the ice and Fondente picks it off! He's coming down the ice, feeds a quick pass to Brandon Makarov who then feeds it to Jon Ross who's buzzing down the middle! Ross fumbles it, and Frederic gets it back and dishes the puck over to Ziggler. Ziggler skates in the puck, rings it around the boards hoping one of his forwards picks it up down low, but Fondente picks it off again! Fondente skates the puck up the ice, feeds it to Conklin who speeds down the middle and into the Knights zone. Conklin wires it to the net, SCORES! What a tip in by Patrick Kilgore who makes it a 3-1 game! Conklin Owen and Alessandro Fondente pick up the helpers!

That would turn out to be the final goal of the game, the Kelowna Knights picking up a 3-1 victory over the Whalers.

POST GAME INTERVIEW WITH Ty Justice!

"Hey Ty, great game out there I'm sure it feels great to pull a win in the Battle of B.C, what sort of things was coach saying in the locker room before you guys went out there and battled hard in the third period?"

"Yeah he was just telling us we had to relax. We were taking some bad penalties out there, so we just wanted to come out in the third and play the game we're good at. We weren't going to get too antsy or frustrated, and we did a great job staying out of the box."

"What was what you felt to be the turning point in the game for you guys?"

"Definitely when we started drawing some penalties in the third, we started to feel confident in our abilities again and it really translated. We stayed calm and collected, and the puck just started to go our way. Funny how that works, heh."

"What are your thoughts on the Battle of B.C so far?"

"I don't try too hard to get too invested in the hard emotional battles, I try to stay cool headed so I can play with a clear mind. I know how into it the fans get though, so these games always feel like must-wins. Not like every game doesn't, but you know... There's just more of an edge there."



Let's take a minute to acknowledge our Unsung Hero of the Game, brought to you by SMJHL Today.

Cara Hohenberg, from the Kelowna Knights had a fast paced, meat and potatoes game. She scored the goal that made the game 3-0, and really iced the game there. But scoring a goal is not what separated her from the rest, it's the way she held strong as the team depended on her to play a whopping 20:48, the fourth most ice time this game on the Knights beside Linna, Landvik and Justice. She registered three shots and managed to block two herself, showing that she isn't afraid to sacrifice the body to keep the team in the game. She also spent 5:40 on the penalty kill, so when the team depended on her the most she delivered.


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