FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, April 5, 2013
Penticton, BC– The defending BCHL champion Penticton Vees, will face the Surrey Eagles in the Fred Page Cup starting Friday, April 12th at the South Surrey Arena. The league winner will then move on to the inaugural Western Canada Cup being held in Nanaimo April 27th-May 5th.
The Vees took out the West Kelowna Warriors in five games in the Interior Conference Final to reach their second consecutive Fred Page Cup. The Vees won the series clincher 2-1 in overtime just last night at the SOEC. Brock Balson played hero when he redirected a James de Haas shot from the slot.
The Vees opened the playoffs with a four-game series sweep of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the Interior Conference Semi-Final.
Through nine playoff games, the Vees have an 8-1 record and are a perfect 5-0 at the SOEC. They started the post-season by rattling off seven consecutive wins before falling to the Warriors in overtime in game four of the Interior Conference Final.
It’s a matchup of the two hottest teams in the BCHL playoffs, as the Surrey Eagles are 10-1 through three rounds and have won nine straight games dating back to game three of their Mainland Division Semi-Final with the Langley Rivermen. The Eagles eliminated the Rivermen in four games in their best-of-five series then swept the Chilliwack Chiefs in three straight in the best-of-five Mainland Division Final. The Eagles had the brooms out once again in the Coastal Conference Final, sweeping the Alberni Valley Bulldogs to advance to the Fred Page Cup.
Both the Vees and Eagles are one of the two highest scoring teams in the post-season, as both teams have 38 goals through nine and 11 games respectively. The top three in league playoff scoring are all Surrey Eagles, as Brady Shaw leads the way with six goals and 16 points. Shaw is followed by teammates Michael Stenerson (6-8-14) and Adam Tambellini (9-4-13). Louie Nanne is the highest scoring Vee, with five goals and 11 points which is seventh best.
It’s not all about the offense, as both teams are very good defensively in their own right. The Eagles have only surrendered 18 goals in 11 games and the Vees 21 in nine games. Surrey’s Michael Santaguida sits first in playoff wins with 10 and owns the league’s best goals-against average (1.61) and save-percentage (.956); three shutouts too. The Vees Chad Katunar is second in wins (8) and third in goals against-average (2.15) and save-percentage (.926).
The two teams split their two-game season series, with each team winning on home ice. The Vees drew first blood on January 5th, winning 3-2 in double overtime in an exciting back-and-forth affair; Troy Stecher scored the game-winner. Surrey rebounded by edging the Vees 2-1 on January 11th at South Surrey Arena, on the back of a two-goal performance by Adam Tambellini. Stecher led the Vees in scoring against the Eagles, with two goals and Brad McClure was a close second with a goal and assist. Brad Shaw led all Eagles with two goals and three points, followed by Adam Tambellini who had a pair of goals.
Season Series
Jan 5th 3-2 (2 OT) Vees (SOEC)
Jan 11th2-1 Eagles (South Surrey Arena)
Fred Page Cup Schedule
Game 1 Friday, April 12th (SSA)
Game 2 Saturday, April 13th (SSA)
Game 3 Monday, April 15th (SOEC)
Game 4 Tuesday, April 16th (SOEC)
Game 5**Thursday, April 18th (SSA)
Game 6** Sunday, April 21st (SOEC)
Game 7** Monday, April 22d (SSA)
** If necessary
Games in Surrey are at 7:15pm
Games three & four in Penticton are at 7pm; game six is at 5pm
The Vees are looking to defend their 2012 Fred Page Cup and RBC Cup Championships. This is their 17th league final appearance in franchise history. The Eagles are making their first appearance in the Fred Page Cup since 2005 and this is their third appearance in franchise history. The Eagles previously won in 2005, 1998 and 1997; winning the RBC Cup in’98. The two franchises did meet in the 1998 Fred Page Cup, with the Eagles beating the Penticton Panthers in five games.
Games three and four of the Fred Page Cup Final are on Monday, April 15th and Tuesday, April 16th at the SOEC; face-off is slated for 7pm. Tickets can be purchased at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC, or online at www.valleyfirsttix.com
The pre-game show on EZ Rock AM 800 starts twenty minutes prior to puck drop for every game of the series. You can also tune in on PENTICTON.MyEZRock.com and at BCHL.ca where both the audio stream and Pay-Per-View options are available.
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