10 leagues, 132 teams started the journey to the RBC Cup and now it’s down to four. It’s Semi-Final Saturday in Cobourg, Ontario, as the Penticton Vees square off against the host Cougars at 11:30 am PT / 2:30 pm ET. In the nightcap, the Brooks Bandits face the Terrebonne Cobras.
The Vees finished fourth four round-robin, splitting their four games, beating the Cougars and Trenton Golden Hawks but lost to Brooks (overtime) and Terrebonne. Cobourg finished first, as they did not lose in regulation, posting three wins and one overtime loss (Penticton).
Friday night was the RBC Cup awards banquet and for a full recap on who won, click HERE.
Today is the Vees seventh elimination game and they’ve won their previous six, including that 3-2 win over Chilliwack to qualify for the RBC Cup. Penticton won three Game 7’s during their run to a BCHL championship and won three more elimination games at the Western Canada Cup. In contrast, the Cougars have only played in one elimination game and that was a Game 4 loss to Trenton in their OJHL Conference Final series.
The Cougars boast the RBC Cup Top Goalie, Top Forward and Top Scorer award winners in Stefano Durante and Spencer Roberts. Durante won the Top Goalie award after posting three wins, 1.92 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. Roberts won both the Top Forward and Top Scorer awards as he led the tournament in both goals (4) and points (7) and finished the round-robin with a two points in the Cougars win over Brooks.
The Vees have gone with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the majority of the round-robin but it remains to be seen if they do the same this afternoon. Duncan Campbell is back in the line-up after serving a one-game suspension on Thursday for a major penalty he received on Wednesday. One thing that is certain is Mat Robson starting in net for the Vees. Robson led the RBC Cup in goals-against average (1.68) and save percentage (.942).
Cobourg was missing forwards Mac Lowry and Quinn Syrydiuk in their round-robin finale on Thursday and fellow forward Ryan Casselman left that game with an apparent injury as well. Head Coach John Druce did tell the local newspaper that he expects all three to be available this afternoon.
Read: Cobourg’s Road to the RBC Cup
The Vees never trailed in their 3-2 overtime win over the Cougars in the round-robin, as they had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before Taylor Sanheim scored six and half minutes into the extra frame. That game was highlighted by good goaltending and tight-checking, don’t expect any different this afternoon.
Today’s game can be heard on EZ Rock AM 800 and online HERE The webcast is also available on the RBC Cup website HERE. Remember, Tug’s Tap House and the Barking Parrot Bar are both showing the game on their big screen.
