Warriors host rival Vipers on annual teddy bear toss night

The West Kelowna Warriors are back on home ice Friday night to battle the Vernon Vipers.

The annual Teddy Bear Toss will take place as well, as fans are encouraged to bring new or gently used stuffed animals wrapped in plastic to throw on the ice upon the Warriors first goal of the night. The stuffies will be donated to senior homes in West Kelowna. PetSmart will also be at the game selling stuffed toys by donation.

Ahead of Friday’s Teddy Bear Toss at RLP, we look back and see some furry goals of the past!

In 2016, Braiden Epp scored the goal that got our fans tossing their stuffies on the ice!

Who will it be this season?#BCHL | @BraidenEpp pic.twitter.com/8L7pw2URIA

— West Kelowna Warriors (@BCHLWarriors) November 29, 2022

The 13-6-2-0 Warriors are coming into the meeting having won last Saturday's match 4-3 against the dangerous Prince George Spruce Kings. Alexi Van Houtte-Cachero, Riley Sharun, Aiden Reeves and Luke Devlin all found the back of the net in the win, while Justin Katz stopped 27 of 30 shots thrown his way.

The 9-10-0-3 Vipers are entering Friday's match fresh off of a 4-0 shutout win over the Langley Rivermen on Saturday. Vernon is led by Reagan Millburn, who has manufactured nine goals and eight assists for 17 points to pace his team.

Vipers GM and head coach Jason McKee has done already a lot of roster tinkering and has recently acquired former Cranbrook Buck Ethan Sundar. The native of St. Alberta, Alta has an assist in each of his first two games with Vernon following the trade.

West Kelowna is currently paced offensively by Jaiden Moriello, with 12 goals and nine assists throughout 21 games. The Warriors rely on a lot of depth scoring, with 11 players having double digit point totals.

Puck drop on Friday is set for 7 pm and you can still buy tickets for the game here. Following the game, Kelowna will head to Penticton to battle the Vees as they look to break their undefeated 23-0 record.