The Penticton Vees (33-12-1-1) road trip has taken them over to Vancouver Island and tonight’s it’s a date with the Nanaimo Clippers (18-25-1-5) at Frank Crane Arena. This is the second and final meeting in the regular season between the two teams, as it was the Clippers shutting out the Vees 3-0 back on October 15th in Penticton.
Season Series
Oct 15th Nanaimo 3 at Penticton 0
Feb 3rd Penticton at Nanaimo
The Vees snapped a four-game winless skid on Wednesday, beating the Merritt Centennials 4-2 at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Ty Amonte, Griffin Mendel, Ryley Risling and Taylor Sanheim scored in the win, as the Vees led 2-0 after one and 3-0 after two.
Nanaimo returns home after a three-game road trip through the Interior and Mainland Divisions last weekend. Friday they opened with a 4-3 overtime win in Salmon Arm but then lost 3-0 in Vernon and 9-5 in Surrey on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Tonight is Nanaimo’s first home game since January 20th, when they shutout the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 3-0.
Both Penticton and Nanaimo are in heated divisional races. The Vees come into the weekend seven points up on Vernon for first place and have three games in hand on the Vipers, but they’re using up one of those games in hand. Nanaimo is battling it out with Alberni Valley for the final playoff spot in the Island Division. The Clippers are just two points up on the ‘Dogs and Alberni Valley has a game in hand. In fact, the Bulldogs aren’t in action tonight and host the Clippers tomorrow in Port Alberni. A critical two points are up for grabs.
The Vees will be short on the blue-line as they will only have five regular defencemen dressed, as the injuries have piled up. Wednesday the Vees had AP Garrett Ewert in the line-up but they will have no such luxury tonight. The Vees will dress 13 forwards and may drop one back to take a few shifts on the backend. Jamie Armstrong will draw back into the line-up after not dressing Wednesday and that’s likely the only change.
Penticton is 5-2-0-0 against the Island Division this season and has won two of their three road games against Island opponents. This is the Vees’ first trip back to Vancouver Island since September 17th and 18th when they faced Alberni Valley and Cowichan Valley. Tonight marks the Vees’ first trip to Nanaimo since February 5th of last year, when the smoked the Clippers 6-1; Tyson Jost had a hat-trick in that convincing win. Nanaimo is 7-5-0-1 against the Interior Division and they’re 2-2-0-2 at home against Interior opponents.
Nicholas Jones continues to lead the Vees in scoring with 49 points in now 47 games but nipping at his heels is Grant Cruikshank who has 45 points and a team-best 28 goals. Chris Klack is third in team scoring with 40 points and he’s currently on a seven-game point streak.
The Clippers have struggled to score goals this season, as they’re tied for the second-fewest goals scored this season (122); only Coquitlam has scored fewer (109). The Shipmen only have four players who have scored 10 or more goals and not one player on their team has more than 29 points. Ben Solin and Trent Crozier both have 29 points, followed by Matt Creamer (26), Spencer Hewson (26) and Jamie Collins (23).
Nanaimo has a couple familiar names on their roster in David Eccles and Josh Blanchard. The Vees traded Eccles to the Clippers in November, as they had to get down to the BCHL maximum of six 20-year-olds on their roster. Blanchard is now wearing Clippers’ colours after the Salmon Arm Silverbacks traded the forward to Nanaimo at the roster deadline. Blanchard has a goal and three points in seven games with Nanaimo.
Mat Robson will get the start for the Vees and is 28-10-1-1 on the season, owning a 2.15 goals-against average and sports a .922 save percentage. Evan DeBrouwer shutout the Vees back in October, making 46-saves in that win but it remains to be seen if he gets the call. DeBrouwer has played in the last five games for the Clippers and is 10-18-0-2 this season, with a 3.32 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage.
Clippers Scoring vs. Vees
Tristan Crozier 1-2-3
Spencer Hewson 1-1-2
Will LeNeave 1-0-1
Jamie Collins 0-1-1
Taylor Karel 0-1-1
Adam Pilotte 0-1-1
Fans can listen to tonight’s game on EZ Rock AM 800 locally, or on the iHeartRadio Canada app for their iPhone, iPad, smartphone or tablet. If you’re streaming through your web browser, go to the EZ Rock AM 800 website. The game is also available via the BCHL webcast at www.HockeyTV.com
