The Penticton Vees (6-0-0-0) open up a weekend home-and-home set against the West Kelowna Warriors (3-2-0-1) to try and push for their seventh consecutive victory on Friday night at Royal LePage Place.
PENTICTON VEES OKANAGAN CUP SCHEDULE:
Friday, September 25th vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (7-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, September 26th vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (8-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 2nd vs. West Kelowna Warriors (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 3rd @ West Kelowna Warriors (3-2 Vees/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 7th vs. Vernon Vipers (4-0 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 10th @ Vernon Vipers (BOXSCORE)
Friday, October 16th @ West Kelowna Warriors (7:00 PM)
Saturday, October 17th vs. West Kelowna Warriors (6:00 PM)
Friday, October 23rd vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6:00 PM)
Saturday, October 24th @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6:00 PM)
Friday, November 6th @ Vernon Vipers (6:00 PM)
Saturday, November 7th vs. Vernon Vipers (6:00 PM)
The Vees will look to push their win streak to seven games to begin the Okanagan Cup tournament after earning a 4-1 victory over the Vernon Vipers at Kal Tire Place to conclude the teams’ back-to-back game set. Jack Bar, Devlin O’Brien scored 1st period markers while Ryan McGuire and Luc Wilson each tallied empty net goals to help Penticton to the victory. Yaniv Perets turned aside 29 of the 30 shots he faced in goal for the Vees in his 4th win of the Okanagan Cup.
Penticton and West Kelowna meet for the final time in the Okanagan Cup tournament schedule before a potential meeting in the semifinals or final. The Vees have defeated the Warriors twice in their two meetings thus far in the exhibition season, each by 3-2 scores with the first taking place at the SOEC in early October. The later game was played at RLP which the Vees got goals from Quinn Hutson and Matteo Costantini in regulation and the shootout to earn the 3-2 victory. Yaniv Perets got the nod in goal on the night, pushing aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced for the win in between the pipes.
Vees Okanagan Cup Leading Scorers:
Quinn Hutson (6-3-9)
Matteo Costantini (3-6-9)
Liam Malmquist (0-8-8)
Luc Wilson (3-4-7)
Ben Wozney (0-6-6)
A familiar face returns to the lineup for the Vees as forward Jackson Niedermayer will draw back in for the first time in four games. The Arizona State University commit has had a strong start to his Okanagan Cup tournament, registering a pair of goals and an assist for three points in just two games. The Penticton, BC native is back for his 3rd season with the Vees and finished last season ranking 3rd on the team with 23 goals while placing 5th in team scoring with 45 points. Niedermayer has had plenty of success against the Warriors during his tenure in Penticton, tallying 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points in 7 regular season contests while earning a point in every game against West Kelowna in the teams’ five-game playoff series, scoring 2 goals and adding 4 assists for 6 points.
Acquired from the Powell River Kings during the offseason, defender Ben Wozney has showcased his offensive skills from the blue line in a big way over the course of the Okanagan Cup. A commit to Bowling Green University, Wozney currently leads all defensemen in assists and points with 6 while the Vees d-core has jumped into the offense regularly. Penticton’s blue line has combined to produce 3 goals and 16 points with Wozney (0-6-6), Owen Murray (0-5-5) and Jack Bar (2-2-4) all placing in the top 5 of scoring amongst BC Hockey League defenders.
Penticton’s potent power play was prevalent in their victory on Saturday night, going 2-for-5 and continuing to play a major part in triumphs. The Vees man advantage currently sits 1st among Okanagan Cup squads, operating at 32.0% and has the most goals of any BCHL team on the power play, producing 8 tallies in 25 attempts. The penalty kill has also factored into wins just as much, killing off 24 of the 25 penalties the Vees have taken in the tournament and sit at 95.8% on the PK.
The West Kelowna Warriors are coming off of a split weekend of play against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, dropping a 5-4 decision at Royal LePage Place on Friday night before the two teams squared off the next night at the Shaw Centre, a game which the Warriors came out on top by a 3-2 score. Felix Trudeau and Matthew Steinburg tallied in the opening two periods before Deegan Mofford scored a power play goal in the 3rd period that proved to be the difference in the game. Johnny Derrick stood tall for West Kelowna in the crease, stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced in his 2nd Okanagan Cup victory.
Warriors Okanagan Cup Leading Scorers:
Elan Bar Lev Wise (2-5-7)
John Evans (2-4-6)
Carter Wilkie (2-4-6)
Wyllum Deveaux (2-2-4)
Charles-Alexis Legault (1-3-4)
Returning for his second season with the Warriors, forward John Evans will be looked upon to produce a fair bit of offense this season in West Kelowna. The University of New Hampshire commit sits tied for 2nd in team scoring with 2 goals and 6 points in 6 games while collecting each of his goals against the Vees, coming back in their last meeting on October 3rd at Royal LePage Place. The South Surrey, BC product is currently riding a three-game point streak coming into this game, registering 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points over his last three contests.
A three-game point streak for leading scorer Elan Bar Lev Wise came to a conclusion after Saturday night’s game in Salmon Arm but had a big weekend with a four-assist night on Friday in West Kelowna’s 5-4 defeat. The Ohio State University commit had only registered two multi-point games in his BCHL career throughout his regular season play over the course of 113 games and never had had a game with more than one assist. A Vancouver, BC native, Bar Lev Wise had earned 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points during his three-game point streak.
The Vees and Warriors will do battle at Royal LePage Place tonight for the third of their four-game Okanagan Cup set. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM in the Central Okanagan with the game available to listen to with a FREE audio stream at mixlr.com/pentictonvees as well as pay-per-view viewing on HockeyTV.com.
