The Penticton Vees (8-0-0-0) search for their ninth straight victory and to stay undefeated in the Okanagan Cup as they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (1-4-1-0) on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
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 (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 17th vs. West Kelowna Warriors (BOXSCORE)
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 hope to make it nine wins in a row after their fourth consecutive weekend sweep last weekend, earning a pair of wins against the West Kelowna Warriors, including a 6-0 victory in their last game on Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Jackson Niedermayer, Matteo Costantini, Fin Williams, Ryan Upson and Devlin O’Brien each tallied the win for Penticton while Yaniv Perets turned aside each of the 29 shots he faced in his 2nd shutout of the Okanagan Cup and his 5th victory of the tournament.
The Vees and Silverbacks meet for the third of four times in the Okanagan Cup after the two teams battled in a pair of opening weekend games at the SOEC. It was a weekend the ‘Backs would hope to forget as Penticton outscored Salmon Arm by a 15-2 margin on the weekend in 7-0 and 8-2 triumphs. Quinn Hutson scored a pair of goals in the last meeting between the two sides with Luc Wilson, Ryan Upson, Devlin O’Brien, Jackson Niedermayer and Jack Bar also finding the back of the net in the contest. Kaeden Lane manned the crease in the game, turning aside 20 of the 22 shots he faced in his 1st Okanagan Cup action.
Vees Okanagan Cup Leading Scorers:
Matteo Costantini (4-10-14)
Liam Malmquist (0-13-13)
Quinn Hutson (6-4-10)
Jackson Niedermayer (5-3-8)
Devlin O’Brien (5-2-7)
Returning forward Liam Malmquist has been dishing pucks all through the Okanagan Cup tournament as he currently sits 3rd in scoring with 13 assists and leads all BCHLers in helpers. The Edina, Minnesota native is currently riding a four-game point streak in which he has amassed 8 assists over that span, including 5 of his 13 helpers coming on the power play. The Wisconsin University commit is entering his second season with the team after producing 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 58 games over the course of his rookie campaign.
The 131st overall selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres may be happy to see the ‘Backs come into town after registering four assists against Salmon Arm in the opening weekend of Okanagan Cup action. Matteo Costantini has been a consistent source of offence for the Vees, accumulating points in each of his last two games, scoring a goal and adding four assists for five points last weekend against West Kelowna. The University of North Dakota commit has accumulated a point in each of the tournament games except one thus far, including a pair of three assist games.
Another of the many bright spots for the Vees in Okanagan Cup action has been in between the pipes with the goaltending tandem of Yaniv Perets and Kaeden Lane. Perets has shined in his 5 games of action, holding a 5-0 record and a goals against average of under one, sitting at 0.98 heading into Friday night. The Quinnipiac University commit also possess a .965 save percentage, which both lead the BCHL, as well as two shutouts and has also played the most minutes of any netminder in the extended training camp at 305.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks make their way to Penticton on Friday falling in a pair of games last weekend against the Vernon Vipers, the latest being a 4-3 overtime defeat on home ice at the Shaw Centre on Saturday. Noah Serdachny, Daniel Panetta and Carter Loney each added markers for the ‘Backs in the losing effort while 17-year-old Liam Vanderkooi turned aside 37 of the 41 shots he faced in goal in his first overtime loss of the tournament.
Silverbacks Okanagan Cup Leading Scorers:
Danny Ciccarello (4-1-5)
Carter Loney (1-4-5)
Simon Tassy (3-0-3)
Drew Bennett (2-1-3)
Daniel Panetta (1-2-3)
One of the newest Silverbacks made a splash with points in back-to-back games after being acquired from the Cowichan Valley Capitals as newcomer Nathan Morgan made his debut against the Vipers. The 5’11”, 180-pound forward recently committed to Dartmouth University and played the last two seasons with the Grande Prairie Storm in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), amassing 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points in 113 career games with the Storm before making his way to BC.
A big offseason acquisition in forward Carter Loney has started to pay off offensively as the University of Minnesota-Duluth commit has registered points in three of his last four games. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native is currently second in team scoring with a goal and four assists for five points in the tournament with all of those points coming in his last four games, including a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Vipers.
If the standings remain the same for the next two weeks of play, the Silverbacks and Vees would have a meeting in the semifinals of the Okanagan Cup, slated for Friday, November 13th. Salmon Arm currently sits in 4th place in the four-team tournament with a 1-4-1-0 record while the Vees possess the top spot in the tournament, holding an 8-0-0-0 record. The ‘Backs trail the Vernon Vipers for third place by just a point as Vernon holds a record of 2-4-0-0 while West Kelowna rounds out the standings in 2nd with a record of 3-4-0-1 for the Warriors.
The Vees and Silverbacks play the third of their scheduled four Okanagan Cup games tonight at the South Okanagan Events Centre with a 6:00 PM start time. The game will be aired live with a FREE audio stream on mixlr.com/pentictonvees as well as on pay-per-view at HockeyTV.com.
