The Penticton Vees begin their 12-game Okanagan Cup schedule as they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in a pair of games at the South Okanagan Events Centre beginning on Friday night.
PENTICTON VEES OKANAGAN CUP SCHEDULE:
Friday, September 25th vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6:00 PM)
Saturday, September 26th vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6:00 PM)
Friday, October 2nd vs. West Kelowna Warriors (6:00 PM)
Saturday, October 3rd @ West Kelowna Warriors (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, October 7th vs. Vernon Vipers (6:00 PM)
Saturday, October 10th @ Vernon Vipers (6:00 PM)
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)
Friday, November 13th Semi-Finals
Saturday, November 14th Finals
The Vees come into the extended exhibition season after nearly seven months of no competitive hockey due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time the Vees were on their home ice in a game against other competition, Carson Kosobud scored an overtime game winning goal to help Penticton to a 4-1 opening round series win over the West Kelowna Warriors to advance to the second round of the BC Hockey League playoffs.
The Vees earned four of a possible six wins against the ‘Backs a season ago, including a victory in each of the last four games of the season set. Salmon Arm won the first two games in their building before the Vees rattled off a 6-3 win in mid-November before picking up three more consecutive victories to conclude the season series.
2019/20 Regular Season Leading Scorers:
Jay O’Brien (25-41-66)
David Silye (20-42-62)
Danny Weight (25-35-60)
Lukas Sillinger (22-37-59)
Jackson Niedermayer (23-22-45)
The Vees have seven players returning from the 2019/20 campaign with five forwards, one defenseman and a goaltender making their way back to the Peach City. Forwards Liam Malmquist, Drew Elser, Tyler Ho, Jackson Niedermayer and Tristan Amonte while defender Ethan Martini and goaltender Yaniv Perets are back as well. The Vees made numerous moves throughout the offseason including acquisitions of team captain Fin Williams from the Prince George Spruce Kings, scoring forward Luc Wilson from the Cowichan Valley Capitals and veteran defenseman Ben Wozney from the Powell River Kings.
Of the Vees acquisitions from the offseason, 17-year-old Fin Williams brings a wealth of experience after being acquired from the Prince George Spruce Kings. A commit to the University of Michigan, Williams spent much of the stretch run during the 2018/19 season with the Spruce Kings and appeared in Fred Page Cup Final, Western Canada Cup and National Junior ‘A’ Championship. The North Vancouver, BC native played in 40 games a season ago in Prince George, amassing 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points before being acquired by the Vees.
There will be many fresh faces in the Vees lineup through the season with one being forward Matteo Costantini, who makes his Penticton exhibition debut tonight after spending last season with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). The St. Catharines, Ontario native earned the OJHL’s Rookie of the Year and Top Prospect reward with 36 goals and 32 assists for 68 points in 50 games with the Sabres. A recent commit of the University of North Dakota, Costantini ranks 96th amongst North American skaters from the National Hockey League’s Central Scouting bureau ahead of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, slated for October 6th.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks finished the 2019/20 regular season with a 30-23-4-1 record, collecting 30 wins as a ream for the first time since the 2010/11 season. The Silverbacks finished 3rd in the Interior Division and took on the Island Division’s Victoria Grizzlies in the opening round of the playoffs. The ‘Backs swept the Grizzlies in four games to advance to the second round before the season ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019/20 Silverbacks Regular Season Leading Scorers:
Akito Hirose (9-42-51)
Noah Wakeford (18-32-50)
Daniel Rybarik (31-18-49)
William Poirier (23-18-341
Nick Unruh (12-27-39)
Salmon Arm enters the 2020 exhibition schedule with six players returning from their 2019/20 campaign, including captain Hunter Sansbury on the backend. Simon Tassy, Sam Schofield, Logan Shaw and Drew Bennett make their way back to the Shuswap for another season while Sansbury and Kieran Ruscheinski remain on the blue line for Salmon Arm, who also made key acquisitions through the off season.
One of those key acquisitions through the summer was in the way of forward Carter Loney, who joined the Silverbacks from the Steinbach Pistons of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Winnipeg, Manitoba native was named the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) Rookie of the Year after putting up 16 goals and 34 assists for 50 points in 52 games with the Pistons in his first season of Junior hockey. The University of Minnesota-Duluth commit is expected to hear his name called at the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, ranking 167th in the final rankings from the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau.
After two seasons of strong goaltending from Ethan Langenegger, who has now advanced to Lake Superior State in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Silverbacks made a move to bring in 20-year-old netminder Riley Kohonick from the Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The White City, Saskatchewan native posted a 2.95 goals against average and a .920 save percentage in 38 games played with the Hounds last season. Kohonick also has some championship experience, winning a gold medal at the Telus Cup, Canada’s National Major Midget Championship, in 2018.
The Vees and Silverbacks square off in the opening game of a weekend doubleheader on Friday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM and, with COVID-19 restrictions in place with no fans permitted to attend the games, tonight’s game will be streamed with a FREE audio broadcast at mixlr.com/pentictonvees as well as aired live on HockeyTV.com.
