PHOTO: Mike Hockley
The Penticton Vees (31-11-1-1) conclude their World Championship Weekend and will be donning 1955 vintage jerseys in hosting the Trail Smoke Eaters (26-13-2-1-1) on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
2019/20 REGULAR SEASON VS. TRAIL
Friday, September 6th @ Trail Memorial Centre (4-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, September 7th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7-1 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 23rd @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, November 6th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-1 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, January 10th @ Trail Memorial Centre (4-3 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 11th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
The Vees and Smoke Eaters play the sixth and final matchup of their season series with Trail handing a 4-3 loss to Penticton on Friday night at the Trail Memorial Centre. David Silye, Danny Weight and Liam Malmquist each found the back of the net for the Vees in the defeat while Yaniv Perets stopped 23 of the 26 shots thrown his way in his 8th loss of the season between the pipes.
Vees Leading Scorers:
David Silye (17-30-47)
Jay O’Brien (15-32-47)
Lukas Sillinger (16-30-46)
Danny Weight (18-26-44)
Jackson Niedermayer (16-17-33)
Vees captain David Silye kept his strong stretch of scoring going into the weekend, opening the scoring for the Vees in the second period on Friday night in Trail. The Arnprior, Ontario native has posted a goal in each of his last four games, scoring 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points over a four-game point streak. The Clarkson University commit has also tallied points in seven of his last eight games and has overtaken the top spot in scoring on the team with 17 goals and 47 points.
With an assist on the Vees third goal in Trail on Friday night, Jackson Niedermayer is also the owner of a four-game point streak coming into action on Saturday. The reigning BCHL Player of the Week has registered 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points during that span while the Arizona State University commit has points in seven of his last eight games and 12 of his last 14 contests.
Penticton will look to keep their winning ways alive on home ice, entering play on Saturday night with wins in each of their last two games at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vees also carry a seven-game unbeaten stretch, going 6-0-0-1 in that span, and collecting 13 of a possible 14 points over their last seven home games while outscoring their opposition by a 34-13 margin in that span.
The Trail Smoke Eaters enter Saturday night’s action after picking up their 26th win of the season in a 4-3 victory over the Vees on Friday night at the Trail Memorial Centre. Braden Costello and Kent Johnson each tallied a pair of goals in the win, with Johnson’s 3rd period empty net goal standing up as the game winning marker. 17-year-old Logan Terness turned aside 43 of the 46 shots he faced in his 20th win of the season in net.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Kent Johnson (31-47-79)
Owen Ozar (19-32-51)
Michael Colella (17-32-49)
Philippe Lapointe (15-26-41)
Tyler Ghirardosi (18-14-32)
The BCHL’s leading scorer in Kent Johnson became the first player to reach 30 goals on the season, tallying a pair of markers in Trail’s win on Friday night. The University of Michigan commit has scored 10 goals and added 16 assists for 26 points over a nine-game point streak while also collecting 25 multi-point games this season. The Port Moody, BC native leads the league in goals (31), assists (47), points (79), power play goals (13) and power play assists (25).
Smoke Eaters forward Owen Ozar has scored five goals in his last four contests and carries a seven-game point streak with him into the game on Saturday night. The Denver University commit has tallied 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points over that span while ranking second in team scoring with 19 goals and 51 points on the season.
After making 43 saves on 46 shots in Friday’s one-goal victory, Smoke Eaters goaltender Logan Terness became the second netminder in the league to post 20 wins on the season. The Burnaby, BC native sits 3rd in the BCHL with a save percentage of .932 while posting the 5th best goals against average at 2.40. Terness has also seen plenty of time on ice and rubber this season as he is 5th in the BCHL with 1796 minutes logged in the crease while playing the 4th most games of anyone with 32 on the year.
The Vees and Smoke Eaters drop the puck on the final game of their 2019/20 season series at 6:00 PM from the South Okanagan Events Centre. It will be the final game the Vees will wear their 1955 vintage jerseys before being put up for auction, beginning on Monday. Tickets for the game can be purchased at the Valley First Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com.
