Photo: Matt Piotrowski
Author: Fraser Rodgers
SERIES
Game 1: Friday, May 2nd, Brooks 2 at Penticton 1
Game 2: Saturday, May 3rd, Brooks 3 at Penticton 0
Game 3: Monday, May 5th, Penticton 6 at Brooks 0
Game 4: Tuesday, May 6th, Penticton 3 at Brooks 6
Game 5: Friday, May 9th, Brooks 2 at Penticton 3
Game 6: Monday, May 12th, Penticton at Brooks, 7:00 pm MDT
Game 7: Tuesday, May 13th, Brooks at Penticton, 7:00 pm PDT*
*If necessary
Penticton Vees
President, General Manager & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson
2025 Playoffs Record: 13 GP 10-3
Home: 5-2
Away: 5-1
GF: 48
GA: 25
Power Play: (9/48) 18.8%, 8th BCHL
Penalty Kill: (4/36) 88.9%, 1st BCHL
Scoring Leader: Max Heise (5-10-15)
The Penticton Vees look for a road win to keep their playoff hopes alive, as they take on the Brooks Bandits in Game Six at Centennial Regional Arena tonight.
The Vees staved off elimination on Friday, beating the Bandits 3-2 in Game Five at the SOEC. Louie Wehmann, Max Heise, and Simon Meier scored for Penticton. The Vees trailed 1-0 after the first period, but then scored twice in second on goals from Wehmann and Heise. Meier scored early in the third period, as the Vees did have a 3-1 lead.
Goaltender Will Ingemann was arguably the Vees best player on Friday, as he stopped 31 of 33 shots for his first win of the series. He was the game’s first star. Including his relief appearance in Game Four, Ingemann has stopped 55 of the last 58 shots he has faced. He’s rocking .938 save percentage in this series.
Penticton has split the previous two road games in this series, winning 6-0 in Game Three, but then lost 6-3 a night later in Game Four. So, now they’re back to Brooks a week later looking to force a Game Seven tomorrow in Penticton. The Vees have won five of six road games in the playoffs. They also owned the league’s best road record in the regular season at 21-6.
Ryden Evers leads the Vees with five points (1G, 4A) in five games against the Bandits. He picked up an assist in Game Five. Luke Posthumus , Max Heise, and Louie Wehmann each have two goals in the series.
Special teams has been at the opposite ends of the spectrum for Penticton. The penalty has been number one in the BCHL throughout the playoffs, but got touched up for two goals in Game Five. Coming into the series, the Vees had not allowed a power play goal against in the playoffs. In this series, the PK has killed-off 16 of 20 Brooks’ power plays.
The power play has been just ok. The Vees are just 3-22 in the series on the man advantage and it’s operating at just under 19 percent for the playoffs. The power play went 0-3 on Friday and the Vees squandered a four-minute power play but taking a penalty during that opportunity in the second period. A power play goal tonight could be the difference in Game Six.
Brooks Bandits
General Manager & Head Coach: Ryan Papaioannou
2024-25 Record: 14 GP, 11-3
Home: 5-2
Away: 6-1
GF: 53
GA: 36
Power Play: (14/55) 25.5%, 5th BCHL
Penalty Kill: (9/63) 85.7%, 2nd BCHL
Scoring Leader: Nick Peluso (8-12-20)
The Bandits look to close out this series on home ice in Game Six. Tonight, is the Bandits’ second crack at trying to eliminate the Vees after their Game Five loss on Friday. Friday’s loss was their first defeat on the road in seven playoff games.
Brooks’ top line continues to be a handful, as Parker Lalonde, Nick Peluso, and Luke Bibby have combined for 17 points in this series. Lalonde leads the way with five goals and Peluso has seven points. The three have scored nine of the Bandits’ 13 goals in the series.
The team that has scored first has won four of the first five games in this series. Brooks is 9-1 when they scored first and 2-2 when they don’t. Brooks has outscored the Vees 4-1 in the first periods of this series. They will look for another fast start to get the CRA rocking.
