It may have come down to the wire but the Penticton Vees made history in their regular season finale Saturday. The Vees became just the fifth team in BCHL history to reach 50-wins in a single-season, after drubbing the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 5-1 at the Shaw Centre.
Assistant Coach Nick Fuher called Saturday’s win a total team effort
This year’s squad joins the 2011-12 Vees, the 1989-90 New Westminster Royals and the 1998-99 and 2009-10 Vernon Viper teams, as teams to reach the 50-win plateau.
After a scoreless first period, Luke Voltin, Easton Brodzinski and Scott Conway scored in the second to put the visitors up 3-0 through 40-minutes. Nic Jones and Tyson Jost padded the lead in the third period as Penticton won the deciding game in the seven-game season series.
Zach Driscoll kicked-out 34 of 35 shots and was robbed of his fifth shutout in the dying minutes of the third period, when Elijiah Barriga’s goal was allowed to stand after what appeared to be an obvious high-stick.
Voltin broke the scoreless tie in the early moments of the second after he went end-to-end before scoring his 11th at 1:29. Voltin skated all the way from his own end before snapping a shot over Angus Redmond’s blocker from the slot.
Then midway through the middle frame the Vees scored twice in just over 70-seconds to blow the game open. First, Brodzinski redirected in a centering pass from Chris Gerrie at 11:23 for his 32nd. Gerrie did all the work, powering past the defenceman down the wing, before centering for Brodzinski in front. Then, on their first power-play, Conway hammered a juicy rebound through Redmond from the top of the circle at 12:34 for his 56th.
That goal by Conway was his 116th point and secured him the Brett Hull Trophy as the BCHL’s top scorer; the first Vee to win the scoring title since Beau Bennett in 2010.
Jones added to the lead four-minutes into the third with the Vees down a man. Short-handed, Dante Fabbro sprung Jones on a breakaway from the blue-line in and the Vees forward made no mistake, going over Redmond’s glove at 4:15. Fabbro setting up Jones’ goal minutes after inadvertently blocking a shot with the back of his helmet.
Jost capped off his MVP regular season with his 42nd goal eight-minutes into the final period. Salmon Arm fumbled the puck behind their net, which saw it slide out a wide open Jost, who roofed a shot upstairs at 8:10.
Final Score: 5-1 Vees
Shots: 40-35 Vees
Power-Plays: Vees 1-2 Salmon Arm 0-4
Three Stars: 1) Dante Fabbro 2) Zach Driscoll 3) Tyson Jost
Conway finished the regular season on a 23-game point streak and Jost picked up points in his final 16-games. Penticton finished with a 28-6 record against the Interior Division this year and never lost back-to-back games all season.
The Vernon Vipers beat the Trail Smoke Eaters 7-2 Saturday, securing the final playoff spot in the Interior and a date with the Vees in the Interior Division Semi-Final. Game One is set for Friday, March 4th at the SOEC and tickets are available at the Valley First Box Office, or online at www.valleyfirsttix.com
