Head coach and GM Rylan Ferster is hard pressed to remember a much more lethargic or disappointing effort from his West Kelowna Warriors.
A lacklustre performance in a 4-0 loss to Trail last Saturday night in their home opener in front of 1,266 fans has made for a long week for the BCHL club.
Clearly, Ferster wants to see a vastly different Warriors’ squad this Saturday night when they host the Merritt Centennials.
“None of us are happy with it, we’re actually a little embarrassed…it was an important night, a good crowd and a good atmosphere,” Ferster said of the loss to Trail. “Our compete level wasn’t good. No disrespect to Trail, they’re a good hockey team. We didn’t get the bounces, but we didn’t really earn them. It’s been a long week licking our wounds.”
Still, as much as the loss stings, Ferster emphasized it’s just one game in a long season.
As for the message to his players, the Warriors’ head coach doesn’t believe there’s much more that needs to be said.
“We have a lot of veterans on this team, the guys know it wasn’t good, they care,” he said. “We have to play 56 more games, our season doesn’t all fall on one game, so we’ll move on. We’ve had good practises this week and we’ve addressed the things we need to do.”
The Warriors (1-1) and Centennials (0-2) will face off Saturday night at Royal LePage Place at 7 p.m.
Next week, the Warriors will head to Chilliwack for the BCHL Showcase. West Kelowna will play the Coquitlam Express on Thursday, followed by the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Friday.