The Penticton Vees (13-2-0-0) are back at home and welcome the Surrey Eagles (4-9-0-2) to the SOEC. The Vees are fresh off two road wins last weekend, doubling up the Merritt Centennials, 4-2, and the West Kelowna Warriors 6-3.
Surrey dropped both games up in Prince George over the weekend, getting thumped 11-2 Saturday and losing 4-2 Sunday afternoon. However, before those two losses in the Cariboo, they did hand the Wenatchee Wild their first regulation loss of the year, beating them 6-1 Thursday.
The Vees’ starts were a major key on the weekend, as they outscored Merritt and West Kelowna by a combined score of 7-2 in the first period. Penticton flew out to a 4-1 lead through 20-minutes Friday in Merritt, and followed that up by scoring three in 44-seconds in the first period Saturday in West Kelowna. That coming after they were shutout 3-0 by Nanaimo.
Speaking of which, this is the Vees’ first home game since the infamous shutout loss against the Clippers at the SOEC on October 15th; the first shutout loss at home since February, 2013. The Vees sport a 4-1 record as the home team and three of those four wins have come at the SOEC, with the other at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack. Despite the hiccup nearly two weeks ago, the Vees are still an impressive, 30-2-1-0 at the SOEC in their last 33 regular season games. That’s an incredible .924 winning percentage.
Surrey has had their struggles away from the Eagles’ Nest this year, as they’ve won just one of their nine road games and going back to last year, they are 4-32-0-2 on the road. However, they’ve won in the Interior already, knocking-off the Vernon Vipers 3-2 in OT back on October 7th.
The Penticton Vees will still be without Gabe Bast on the blue-line and now Jonny Tychonick as well. The 16-year-old rookie defenceman is with Team Canada White at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. The U-17 tournament runs October 30th to November 5th.
Mat Robson and Nolan Hildebrand split the games last weekend but it remains unclear who starts tonight. With three games in four nights, there’s a strong chance both Vees’ puck-stoppers will see action this week.
Nicholas Jones has overtaken Ty Amonte for the team scoring lead, with 18 points in 15 games, one point up on the rookie forward. Grant Cruikshank still has the most goals on the Vees with nine, and the most power-play goals with four.
Surrey’s roster features three former Vees in Desi Burgart, Cory Babichuk and Darius Davidson. Burgart spent his rookie season in Penticton last year and Davidson played in 21 games after a midseason trade. Babichuk came to Penticton this off-season but was acquired by the Eagles before the regular season.
The Eagles have six players back from last year’s squad that finished 17th out of 17 teams in the BCHL with a 7-48-1-2 record. However, they have three of their top five scorers are back from last year and have nine players on this year’s roster with 10 or more points. Five are averaging a point per-game or better. Back is second-leading scorer from last year Paul McAvoy, who leads the team in scoring this year with 17 points in 15 games. Also back is Jeffrey Stewart who was third in team scoring last year as a 17-year-old. The second-year forward has 13 points in 13 games this season. A couple fresh imports are having strong starts too, in Nick Fea and Ashton Calder. Fea is from New Jersey and played with the North Jersey Avalanche U-18 squad last year. Calder was a late September addition but the Lake Superior State commitment has had a strong start, picking up five goals and nine points in nine games with the Eagles. Calder came to the Eagles after starting the year in the North American Hockey League with the Minnesota Wilderness.
Though the Eagles have had their well-documented struggles in the past two seasons, this isn’t a team the Vees can afford to take lightly. The Eagles are a dangerous offensive group that can put up a crooked number on the scoreboard if you’re not careful. Just ask Wenatchee.
Penticton has feasted on the Mainland Division going back to the beginning of last season. Since September of 2015, the Vees are 17-1-0-0 against Chilliwack, Coquitlam, Langley, Prince George, Surrey and Wenatachee. The Vees are a combined 5-0-0-0 against Langley (3) and Prince George (2) this season.
It’s a special night at the SOEC, as it’s not only a “Wicked Wednesday,” but also “Vees Fight Cancer” night. The team is wearing pink accented jerseys, along with pink laces and pink hockey tape. There is also a special head shave happening in the first intermission. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to tonight’s game.
Listen to tonight’s game on EZ Rock AM 800 locally, on their website at www.iheartradio.ca/ez-rock, or on the iHeartRadio Canada app. The game is also available through www.hockeyTV.com
