PHOTO: Jack Murray
The Penticton Vees (8-2-0-0) return home for the first of a four-game home stand as they host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (7-3-1-0) for the lone time this season on Veteran’s Night at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Wednesday night.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. ALBERNI VALLEY
Wednesday, November 10th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:30 PM)
The Vees enter Wednesday night’s tilt against the Bulldogs looking to try and start a new streak after having their three-game winning stretch snapped in a 3-2 loss to the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday night in Duncan, BC. Bradley Nadeau and Luc Wilson scored in the opening period but it was not enough for the Vees, who dropped just their second game of the season. Colin Purcell stood tall in the Vees net, making 35 saves on 38 shots but suffered his first loss of the season.
Penticton and Alberni Valley split the last season series the two teams played against one another back in the 2019/20 season with each team winning on their home ice. The Bulldogs handed the Vees their first loss of that season, ending an 11-game win streak, in the middle of October before Penticton extracted their revenge in an overtime victory at the SOEC in the final month of the season in February.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Bradley Nadeau (9-5-14)
Luc Wilson (8-6-14)
Josh Nadeau (6-6-12)
Fin Williams (3-9-12)
Brett Moravec (2-8-10)
The longest point streak in the BC Hockey League belongs to Vees forward Luc Wilson, who scored in his hometown of Duncan on Saturday for the Vees. The marker pushed his stretch of consecutive games with a point to 10 on the season, scoring 8 goals and adding 6 assists to tie Bradley Nadeau for the team lead in points with 14. The University of Minnesota State-Mankato commit also possesses the longest active goal scoring streak of any BCHLer, tallying a marker in each of his last four contests and has scored at least one goal in 7 of the Vees 10 games thus far this season.
The first power play goal (and point) of the season for 16-year-old Bradley Nadeau pushed his point streak to three games and has now registered a goal in three straight contests. The University of Maine commit has six goals and two assists for eight points over that stretch, including a four-goal outing on October 30th against the Powell River Kings. Nadeau ranks second in the BCHL in rookie scoring, sitting three points behind another 16-year-old in Matthew Wood while Nadeau has impressively collected the most points while 5-on-5 at his 8 goal and 5 assist for 1- point ratio.
After getting out to a sputtering start on the man advantage, the Vees have turned that around in scoring a power play goal in each of their last seven games to vault their PP up to the 5th ranked spot in the league. Wilson leads the way with 3 power play tallies as the Vees have registered 10 power play goals as a unit this season. Penticton sits in 5th with a 23.8% power play, operating at a 10/30 clip over the last seven games, converting at 30%.
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs make their way into Wednesday night’s contest looking for their 5th straight win after a 3-0 blanking of the Nanaimo Clippers on Saturday night at Weyerhaeuser Arena in Port Alberni. Josh Zary, Finn Brown and Ethan Bono each collected goals while Hobie Hedquist turned aside each of the 35 shots he faced in the game for his 5th win of the season and league-leading 3rd shutout of the campaign.
Bulldogs Leading Scorers:
Brandon Buhr (6-8-14)
Josh Zary (6-5-11)
Stephen Castagna (2-9-11)
Finn Brown (7-1-8)
Mirko Buttazzoni (4-3-7)
The Bulldogs have been stingy so far this season. Just how stingy? They have not surrendered a goal in the whole month of November, and then some, as they come into Wednesday night with shutouts in each of their last three games, all of which come courtesy of first year netminder Hobie Hedquist. The University of North Dakota commit has not allowed a goal since the 12:37 mark of the 3rd period on October 27th against the Nanaimo Clippers, a span of 192:23 of shutout hockey for Hedquist and the Bulldogs. If the Heron Lake, Minnesota native can pitch his fourth straight blanking, he will surpass the BCHL record for the longest consecutive shutout streak, set by Brad Theissen in the 2004/05 season for the Prince George Spruce Kings at 250 minutes and 25 seconds.
Alberni Valley sits second in the Coastal Conference with a 7-3-1-0 record, allowing just 29 goals this season, which is tied for the fewest goals allowed in the conference with the Langley Rivermen. During their current four-game win streak, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by a 16-5 scoreline, including their streak of three straight shutouts happening on home ice. Allowing goals on the penalty kill has been something the Bulldogs have been effectively shutting down as they have gone 15-for-15 in their last seven games on the PK.
Third year BCHL forward Josh Zary is in his 20-year-old season with the Bulldogs and has been a constant offensively for the group, amassing 6 goals and 11 points through 10 games of the season. The Nanaimo, BC native has registered points in four of his last five games, scoring 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points over that span and is tied for the team lead with Brandon Buhr and Finn Brown in power play goals with a pair on the season.
The Vees and Bulldogs play in the one and only game of their season series on Wednesday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. It’s Veteran’s Night as the Vees honour those who have or are serving our country proudly with a special pre-game ceremony. Puck drop is slated for 6:30 PM and tickets are available at the SOEC Box Office as well as online at ValleyFirstTix.com and are just $10 as Wicked Wednesday’s return for another season. The game is also available to listen on Bounce Radio 800 as well as streamed online on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:10 PM.
