The Penticton Vees (40-13-1-3) close out their regular season tonight on the road against the Chilliwack Chiefs (40-10-0-6) at Prospera Centre; puck drop is 7 pm. Both teams come into tonight’s match up on a losing note. The Vees lost 4-3 in overtime last night to the Surrey Eagles and the Chiefs also lost in OT lost last Sunday, 3-2 at home to the Prince George Spruce Kings.
This is the second and final meeting in the regular season between these two teams, as the Vees needed overtime to beat the Chiefs 3-2 in Penticton on November 26th; Owen Sillinger was the OT hero that night.
The Vees could possibly look at tonight’s game like a dress rehearsal for the playoffs, as this will be their final game until March 17th; a three week layoff lies ahead. The Chiefs are down to their final two games, as they face PG once again on Sunday afternoon to close out their schedule.
Chilliwack arguably has been the best team in the CJHL since the Christmas break, maybe outside of the Brooks Bandits in the AJHL. Since December 28th, the Chiefs have lost just twice, and only once in regulation; their 19-1-0-1 since the Christmas break. Chilliwack won nine in a row from December 28th to January 20th, then another 10 in a row from January 22nd to February 18th; they’re rolling.
The Chiefs are the second highest scoring team in the BCHL, compiling 239 goals in 56 games; that’s 53 more goals than the Vees have scored. Jordan Kawaguchi is not only their Captain but their offensive catalyst as the 19-year-old has a team best 81 points which is good enough for third overall in the BCHL scoring race, behind the Wenatchee duo of Brendan Harris and Charlie Combs. Kawaguchi also enters the final weekend four points back of Doug Ast for second in all-time points in franchise history with 238; David Van Der Gulik is first with 261.
The Chiefs actually have two players in the top 10 in league scoring as Kohen Olischefski is sixth in the scoring race with 73 points in 56 games; rounding out the top three on the team is Jake Smith who has 58 points.
Mark Sinclair has been a workhorse in the second half in the Chiefs’ net, playing in all but two of their last 21-games. He comes into tonight’s match up with a 33-12 record, to go along with 2.59 goals-against average and .910 save percentage; he was handed the heavy workload after an injury to Brendan Barry.
The Vees have down a very good job of bouncing back from a loss this season, as they’re 10-2-1-1 when losing the game prior; they only lost back-to-back games twice this year. They’ll need to be a lot sharper tonight, as it was a pretty sloppy first period by their standards Thursday when it comes to execution.
On the road this year the Vees are 18-8-0-2 and are 11-1-0-1 against the Mainland Division. The Chiefs are 22-3-0-2 at home and their loss Sunday to PG was their first at home since December 2nd.
Chilliwack is locked into second place in the Mainland and will be playing the Langley Rivermen in the first round of the playoffs come next weekend, but the Vees still have a couple of items that are undecided. First, they’re five goals up on Wenatchee for the BCHL lead in goals-against (129) and are hoping they can hold that lead tonight with a solid defensive effort. Secondly, with some help, they can still finish as high as second in the overall standings, if they beat Chilliwack tonight in regulation and hope PG beats them again on Sunday, also in regulation. That could go a long way in the home ice race in the BCHL Fred Page Cup playoffs.
Mat Robson is back in goal and the BCHL MVP nominee is 34-12 on the year with a 1.98 goals-against average and sports a .929 save percentage. Mat Gosiewski will draw back into the line-up up front after sitting out last night in place of AP Massimo Rizzo.
Tonight’s game can be heard on EZ Rock AM 800 locally, or via the iHeartRadio app on your iPhone, iPad, smartphone and or tablet. The game is also available via the BCHL webcast at www.HockeyTV.com
