The Penticton Vees season has come to a close after a 4-1 Game 6 loss to the Vernon Vipers. Saturday night saw the defending National Champion Vipers score three times on the power play to win 4-1 in front of 2,221 fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vipers have now earned their second straight trip to the BCHL?s Fred Page Cup and will be facing the Powell River Kings in a rematch of last year?s finals. The Vees got on the board 4:05 into Game 6 with Eric Filiou deflecting in a rebound off a Garrett Milan shot, which was set up by ?AP? forward Hayden Trupp. The Vipers immediately responded 1:24 later when Dan Nycholat blasted home his 3rd of the series on the Vipers? first power play of the game. Then with 3:41 remaining in the first frame, the Vipers struck again with Mike Collins forcing a turnover at the Vees blue-line. Collins – who had three points on the night – fed Braden Pimm who scored short side on Sean Bonar to give the Vipers their first lead of the game. In the second period the Vipers scored another pair – both on the man advantage – as the Vees took four consecutive penalties – clearly frustrated with their season winding down and showing fatigue with Saturday?s match their 16th game in 29 days. First Adam Thompson fired in his second goal of the series from the blue-line to make the score 3-1 Vernon, then Kellen Jones gave the Vipers their fourth of the night on a 2-on-1 rush down the left wing that saw him centre the puck, which popped into the net off either a Viper forward on the right side of the net, or a Penticton defender. The goal was credited to Jones with no assist garnered. There was no scoring in the third period and the Vees saw their season end with the fans at the SOEC giving them a standing ovation for the final minute of play. Sean Bonar allowed four goals on 30 shots in what is most certainly his final game as a member of the Vees. The Princeton bound net-minder finished the post season with a staggering save percentage of .927. Graeme Gordon made 29 saves on 30 shots and in turn earned his 7th win of the post-season. The Vees finished 0/3 on the man advantage, while the Vipers notched three power play goals. The Vees failed to score while up a man all series, while the Vipers scored eight power play goals in the six games as well as two short-handed goals. The loss saw 20-year-old players Denver Manderson, Andrew Pickering, Eric Filiou, Ryan Viselli, Matt Paltridge, and Jake Johnson (who was injured and didn?t play) close out their junior careers, while many other Vees will be headed to college next season to continue their hockey careers. There are many season highlights for the 2009/2010 Penticton Vees, who will be remembered as an immensely talented group that struggled to field a healthy line-up, but worked their hardest every night out. The season featured a smattering of unusual injuries and one key subtraction; from swine flu (Bonar) to mono (Filiou), a broken leg (Dolan) to a finger nearly being sliced off (Szczechura), a mystery lower-body ailment (Manderson) to mystery upper body ailments (Sexton and Johnson). Also, the surprise recall of Taylor Peters on trade deadline in January proved to be a key loss down the middle. Highlights of the season include: Beau Bennett?s torrid finish to the season that saw him compile 23 points in the final six games of the season to win the scoring title. Denver Manderson posted a seven point game and led the BCHL regular season with 2.3 points per game. Sean Bonar was named the WJAC MVP. Joey LaLeggia had the leagues longest point streak and led all BCHL rearguards as a 17-year-old rookie. Manderson was named Interior Confernce MVP, Bennett named Interior Conference Rookie of the Year. The Vees set a franchise record of 100 points in the regular season. Perhaps most memorable of all their achievements was the dramatic triple overtime win in Vernon in Game 5 that saw a depleted Vees line-up outlast the Vipers to extend their season to a sixth game back in Penticton. While this group won?t ever hit the ice together again as a team, Vees Head Coach and GM Fred Harbinson will now switch his attention to the 2010/2011 season with recruiting and player evaluation on the fore front. The Vees Spring Identification Camp runs from May 13th to 16th. Contact Vees Assistant Coach David Small for more information on the event at (250) 493-VEES (8337).
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