What’s on Tap
The Penticton Vees (29-6-0-1) ring in the New Year at home, hosting the Trail Smoke Eaters (17-17-0-4), in the first BCAA Wicked Wednesday of 2017. Both teams closed out 2016 with wins, the Vees beating the Merritt Centennials 4-2 last Friday and the Smoke Eaters shutting out the West Kelowna Warriors 4-0, also on Friday.
Tonight is the fourth of seven meetings between the two teams and the first since December 14th, when the Vees scored a 4-3 overtime win. In fact, two of the three games thus far between the two have gone to extra time with the Vees winning both. Trail’s lone win came at home on November 30th, when the upended the Vees 5-3; they have points in all three games.
Line-Up Notes
Penticton tweaked their roster ahead of the January 10th roster deadline, acquiring the CJHL playing rights to 20-year-old forward Taylor Sanheim from the Portage Terriers, in exchange for 18-year-old forward Ty Barnstable. Sanheim spent parts of the last three seasons in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen, collecting 51 points in 132 career regular season games. Sanheim will likely make his Vees’ debut on Saturday against Vernon; He’ll wear number 92.
The Vees are still somewhat shorthanded as defencemen Gabe Bast, Kenny Johnson and James Miller will be scratched. Bast is rehabbing a lower-body injury and isn’t expected back until February, Miller is close to returning from an upper-body injury and Johnson is serving a four-game suspension. To help fill the hole on the blue-line, the Vees have once again called up Konsta Jaske from the nearby Summerland Steam.
Trail has been hit by the injury bug as well, as they will be missing forwards Ryan Murphy and Mitch Barker tonight due to injury, along with defenceman Ryan Warner. Fellow defenceman Tyson Slater is also scratched. The Smokies have called-up forward Tyler Ghirardosi from the Beaver Valley NiteHawks.
Home Cooking
The Vees come in winners of six straight at the SOEC and are 15-2-0-1 at home this season. The Vees last loss at home was over a month ago on December 2nd, a 4-3 double-overtime loss to Salmon Arm. Trail has struggled somewhat on the road, losing their last four away from Cominco Arena but two of those came in overtime. Trail’s last win at the SOEC was back on March 1st, 2013, as they’re 0-11-0-2 in their last 13 trips to Penticton.
Grant Cruikshank leads the Vees in scoring against Trail, as he has three goals and six points. He scored the OT-winner back on December 14th, on a power-play goal at 1:55 of the extra frame. Right behind him is Nicholas Jones who has a pair of goals and four points. Kale Howarth has been a thorn in the Vees’ side this season, as the Trail forward has four goals and five points against the Vees this season.
Faster Start
Penticton will want to have a much better start this time around, as it was Trailing jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period back on December 14th, before the Vees scored three unanswered to go up 3-2 in the third. Trail though tied it with just under two-minutes left in regulation to force OT. Good starts have been a big key to the Vees success this season, as they’re 20-2-0-0 when scoring first; that’s a .909 winning-percentage. Trail is 9-14-0-3 when giving up the game’s first goal.
Crease Battle
Mat Robson will likely start in goal and is 24-6-0 on the season, owning a 1.91 goals-against average and sports a .927 save percentage. He’s 2-1 against Trail this season. Linden Marshall picked up the shutout last Friday against West Kelowna and was the losing goalie the last time the Smokies faced the Vees. Both he and Zach Dyment have shared the net against Penticton this season.
Marshall will get the start tonight for the Smokies and is 7-7-0 on the year, owning a 2.75 goals-against average and sports a .921 save-percentage.
Arms Race
Jones still leads the Vees in scoring with 39 points in 36 games but right in his rear-view mirror is Cruikshank, who has 36 points. Behind those two is Chris Klack who has 31 points and Ty Amonte is fourth in team scoring with 29 points. 16-year-old Jonny Tychonick is the Vees’ top scoring defencemen, as he has 16 points in 26 games.
Howarth is the top point-getter for the Smokies with 45 in 35 games but nipping at his heels is Luke Santerno, who has 44. Josh Laframboise is third in team scoring with 34 points, followed by Ross Armour (29) and Captain Connor Brown-Maloski (27).
Did You Know?
Howarth is one of the hottest Smoke Eaters right now, as the Red Deer, Alberta, native has six goals and seven points over his last seven games; he had a four-game goal streak from December 9th-December 17th. The Vees’ Grant Cruikshank has scored six goals over his last five games and is coming off a two-goal against Merritt.
Penticton has a 14-point lead atop of the Interior Division and a big reason why is their record against the division. Coming into tonight’s game the Vees are 15-3-0-1 versus fellow Interior teams and are 7-1-0-1 at home. Trail is 8-10-0-3 against the Interior but has lost four of their last five divisional games.
Head to Head
Oct 1st: Trail 2 Penticton 3 (OT)
Nov 30th: Penticton 3 Trail 5
December 14th: Trail 3 Penticton 4 (OT)
Jan 4th Trail at Penticton
Jan 38th Penticton at Trail
Feb 8th Trail at Penticton
Feb 10th Penticton at Trail
Vees Scoring vs. Trail
Grant Cruikshank 3-3-6
Nicholas Jones 2-2-4
Ty Amonte 1-2-3
Owen Sillinger 1-2-3
Trail Scoring vs. Vees
Kale Howarth 4-1-5
Mitch Stapley 0-4-4
Luke Santerno 1-2-3
Braeden Tuck 1-2-3
Double-Header Wednesday
It’s Semi-Final Wednesday at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Montreal. Dante Fabbro, Tyson Jost and Canada face Sweden at 4:30 pm PT on TSN. Canada booked their spot in the final four with a 5-3 win over the Czech Republic on Monday; Sweden beat Slovakia 8-3 in their Quarter-Final match up. In the other Semi-Final it’s the USA facing-off against Russia.
Broadcast Information
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
