The Penticton Vees (14-2-0-0) busy week continues, with a pair of road games in Vernon (8-6-0-2) and Wenatchee (11-2-0-1). The Vees make their first visit to Kal-Tire Place tonight, as they face their long-time Okanagan rival for the first time this season.
In case you missed it, the BCHL announced a new playoff format that will take immediate effect. More on that HERE.
It took 16-games, but the Vees and Vipers finally face each other tonight and they’ll get to see a whole lot of one another in the next 14-days. Starting tonight, these two teams play each other three times in the next two weeks, including a home-and-home on Remembrance Day weekend.
The Vees are looking to stretch their win streak to four and looking to keep their unbeaten record against the Interior Division intact (6-0-0). Vernon is coming off a weekend split against the Trail Smoke Eaters, winning 2-1 on the road last Saturday, after dropping a 4-3 decision at home one night earlier. It’s been a mixed bag of results in the last three weeks for the Vipers, as they’ve split their last six games.
Captain Nicholas Jones has been heating up, as the 20-year-old has a pair of goals and six points in the last three games. His line-mate is feeling it too, as Chris Klack has a pair of goals and five points during the same stretch. Penticton has been getting quite a bit of production from their backend of late and one player leading the charge is Joe Leahy. The defenceman has three points in his last three games, including a goal in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Surrey.
The Vees will be icing the same line-up as they did on Wednesday, as Mat Robson will get the start in goal. The 20-year-old is 11-2 on the year and is coming off his second shutout of the season. Robson sports a .931 save percentage and a very tidy 1.70 goals-against average. Gabe Bast (upper-body) and Jonny Tychonick (World Under-17 Hockey Challenge) remain out of the line-up.
Vernon’s roster has a similar look to the Vees when it comes to their offensive approach. The Vipers haven’t scored a whole lot this year, as they’re the second-lowest scoring team in the Interior but they get it from everywhere. They have seven players will 10 or more points and four with five or more goals, and not one player has hit the double-digit plateau in goals. By comparison, the Vees have six players who have double-digit point totals and five with six or more goals.
A pair of veterans led the offensive attack for the Vipers in Jimmy Lambert and Jagger Williamson. Lambert leads the Vipes in assists (10) and points (14) and third-year forward Williamson sits in second with 12 points through 16 games. Michael Ufberg, a first-year defenceman from New Jersey, has had a very good start to his BCHL career, with 12 points and is seventh in scoring in the BCHL among defencemen.
The one surprise early on for the Vipers is how young they are in goal. The Vipers Cole Demers and Ty Taylor are both just 17-years-old. Not too often you see a team deploy two younger goalies at this level but so far it seems to be working for the Vipers. It appears they’ve been splitting time for the most part, as Demers has played in 10 games and Taylor eight.
The Vees were 6-0 against the Vipers last season, winning all three games at Kal-Tire Place and outscoring the Vipers 15-5 in their building. Eight Vipers are back from last year and would love nothing more than to end the skid at home tonight.
Fans can listen to tonight’s game on EZ Rock AM 800, via their website, or on their smartphone and or tablet via the iHeartRadio Canada app; it’s FREE to download. Tonight’s game is also the “BCHL Game of the Week,” meaning it’s FREE to watch on www.hockeytv.com. Fans are required to register an email address if they haven’t already done so.
