FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Saturday September 10th
VEES SHUTOUT WARRIORS 1-0 IN SEASON OPENER
West Kelowna, BC ? The Penticton Vees will be looking to move to (2-0) on the 2010/2011 season come Saturday night, when they play their home opener against the Westside Warriors.
Joel Rumpel was marvelous on Friday night, making 32 saves and earning a shutout as the Vees won in Royal LePage Place on the first night of BCHL regular season play. The second year puck-stopper who backed up Sean Bonar last season made multiple spectacular saves, many in the late stages of the game with the Warriors pushing for a equalizer with an empty net behind them.
Joey Holka scored the lone goal of the game when he converted a Brendan O?Donnell pass at the goalmouth. Kyle Beaulieu also had an assist on the winner that hit the back of the net at 19:19 of the second period. O?Donnell made a great play at the goal line to squeak a pass through to Holka who made no mistake.
Holka seems to have picked up where he left off in the pre-season ? the 20-year-old forward scored twice in the third period of the Vees final pre-season game in Trail to win the Mountain FM Ashes Tournament. The Phoenix area product will suit up for the St. Cloud State for his NCAA career.
With the shutout, Rumpel was the game?s obvious choice for first star. Second star went to Westside net-minder Kevin Boyle who made 27 saves on 28 shots in his first BCHL game. Rounding out the trio of stars in the building was defender Tom Kroshus who was all over the ice in his first game as a Warrior.
Tom Kroshus is the younger brother of Vees Alum Eric Kroshus who was part of the Vees 2008 Fred Page Cup Championship team, and now plays at Harvard.
On the Vees radio broadcast third star was presented to Vees captain Derik Johnson who blocked numerous shots and played a key role in preserving the win for the Vees.
One area of concern for the Vees is the health of off-season acquisition and local talent Mark MacMillan who didn?t see the ice for the majority of the third frame. The nature and severity of his injury won?t be known until Saturday.
The Vees now return home where they?ll play their home opener at the South Okanagan Events Centre against these very same Warriors. The opening face-off on Saturday is 7:00PM and you can catch all the action on EZ Rock AM 800 in Penticton, in the SOEC at 105.5FM, and online at MyEZRock.com or BCHL.ca.
Saturday?s game theme at the SOEC is ?for the love of the game? and all fans wearing a hockey jersey on Saturday will be able to enter in a draw for a Vees 10-game Flexpack for the 2010/2011 season.
Vees Game Tickets can be purchased at the SOEC box office during business hours, and online at ValleyFirstTix.com
CONTACT: RYAN PINDER
Director of Broadcasting, Media Relations
Penticton Vees Hockey Club
VeesVoice@gmail.com
(250) 488-5426
