vees:blog

The Penticton Vees have returned home with three of four points from a two game, three-day coastal road swing.

After suffering a 2-1 overtime setback in Powell River on Friday, the Vees beat Burnaby 3-1 in the lower mainland on Saturday to sweep their season series with the Express.

Rookie sensation Beau Bennett recorded his first BCHL hat trick, striking twice on the power play in the second period and once into an empty net to ice the game late in the third. Bennett now has 20 goals in just 24 games and trails just 20-year-olds Trevor Bailey (Westside) and Mitch MacMillan (Alberni Valley) in goals scored this season.

Denver Manderson had a pair of assists in the win, and now sits just 3 points back of Mark Zengerle with a game in hand for the BCHL lead in points.

The Vees penalty kill stood tall early in Burnaby as Luke Curadi was given a two-minute and five-minute penalty as well as a ten-minute misconduct for an altercation with former Vees pest Luke Challier in the first period. The Vees were short handed for seven minutes straight including two minutes down two-men when Matt Paltridge took a minor. The Vees ended up surrendering just a single goal on six Burnaby opportunities.

The Vees power play finished 2 for 8 with Bennett notching both goals scored while up a man. Burnaby got their lone goal on the power play in the first period as former Vees defender James Bettauer popped in his first of the season in just his second game of the year.

Joel Rumpel earned his tenth victory of the season on Saturday as he stopped 21 of 22 shots. The rookie net-minder has ten win and just two losses, a 2.01 GAA, and a .922 Save Percentage.

Absent from the line-up for the Vees was Bo Dolan, who will be out until the New Year with a lower body injury, and Sean Bonar who is recovering from the Swine Flu.

Next up for the Vees is a three game weekend that kicks off Friday with the Williams Lake Timberwolves in town. Saturday Prince George makes their first visit to the SOEC this season, and Sunday afternoon the Vees play in Trail in their maiden trip to Cominco Arena this season.

You can catch all the Vees action on Penticton’s Hockey Home EZ Rock AM 800, on MyEZRock.com or at the BCHL.ca Audio Scoreboard.

I caught up with Vees Assistant Coach David Small on Saturday on the Queen of Surrey to talk travel planning for the trip up to the Sunshine Coast.

It’s not a cheap venture to head up to Powell River for a single game, Dave explains why.

Ben Sexton, Jake Johnson and Vees Athletic Therapist Geoff Carter enjoy some ‘deck talk’ on the Island Sky (a new member of the BC Ferries fleet)

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Twice this season the Penticton Vees have gone to overtime and twice they they’ve been defeated. Friday Night in Powell River the Vees lost 2-1 with the eventual OT winner bouncing in off a skate to spoil a comeback bid.

Bo Dolan was injured in the OT Loss to Powell River

Alex Szczechura score the game tying goal in the third period, tapping in a puck that Denver Manderson had blasted through Josh Watson, but the Vees could only come up with one point on the night.

Andrew Pettitt’s winner in extra time caromed in off a Powell River skate, but after conferring with his linesman, the referee call the play a goal, which likely indicated no kicking motion, and a legal goal.

Another tough bounce put the Vees down 1-0 late in the second period as Ben Schmidt notched his 7th goal of the season short handed. Denver Manderson won a draw in the offensive zone back to the point, where the puck hopped over the stick of a Vees point-man setting up Schmidt on a short handed break.

While the Vees get a point on the night in an OT loss, their biggest setback may be the loss of Bo Dolan who was taken to hospital after a lower body injury sidelined him in the second period. Dolan is out indefinitely but is in good spirits. His service may be lost for the season.

Josh Watson was spectacular in net for Powell River, setting aside 32 of 33 shots he faced from the Vees. In the crease for the Vees, Joel Rumpel was solid in his second straight start stopping 29 of 31.

Sean Bonar is still out with the swine flu and doesn’t yet have a timetable for a return to the line-up.

Neither team could take advantage of nine power plays on Friday. The Vees finished 0/5 on the man advantage and were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill.

Next up for the Vees is a trip to Burnaby to face the Express at Bill Copland Arena on Saturday. Opening faceoff is slated for 7:30 with the pre-game show starting at 7:15 on EZ Rock. The Vees defeated the Express 8-0 in their first meeting of the season in Penticton.

WEATHER

Rain, rain, rain, power outage, rain, power outage, rain, rain.

Welcome to Powell River, ironically located on the ‘Sunshine Coast’ of BC, where candles line the hallways of the Powell River Town Centre Hotel.

The weather report is pretty soggy here. Unlike most places North of the 49th parallel you might trade in a block heater and a snow shovel for an umbrella and a pair of rain boots in the winter.

Getting games played here in Powell River has been a nightmare in the last week. The locals are getting antsy here after the last two home games have been cancelled due to nutso weather. On Sunday high winds suspended ferry sailings that kept the Nanaimo Clippers on Vancouver Island. On Wednesday the Vipers were in town only to have the game cancelled due to a 3.5 hour power outage.

Hopefully tonight we’ll see hockey in PR.

The song getting love on my iPod is appropriately named ‘The Rain’ by Calvin Harris.

KINGS NOTES

As for the hockey here - the Kings are on a bit of a skid after leading the Coastal Conference for the lion’s share of September and October. With just 2 wins in their last 12 games the Kings have slid to fourth in the Coastal Conference.

The King’s strength is from the net out as the tandem of Josh Watson and Michael Garteig have kept opponents well under 3 goals a game.The Powell River defense has four returning cogs that played a bunch in last season’s run to a Coastal Conference Championship.

The glaring weakness for this club is their lack of skilled players upfront. The Kings used all six 20-year-olds slots on forwards last season, which leaves them without most of their firepower from last season.

Lebreche in Training Camp

Mitch Lebreche will play his first game against his former club tonight. Lebreche was part of the 07/08 Fred Page Champion Vees and was moved from Penticton in the pre-season. Mitch is enjoying his most productive season of his BCHL career as he sits on career highs in goals, assists, and points as a 19-year-old.

Last season, the Vees were shellacked in Powell River in Jordan White’s first game of the season. The much older Kings dismantled the Vees as league leading scorer Darcy Oakes buried a pair of goals including one on the first shot of the game. The Kings would win 8-4 with ease.

The Kings have been very solid on home ice this year (like last year) having lost just 2 games in regulation in eleven games at the Rec Centre.

Here’s more from a Vees perspective courtesy Emanuel Sequiera of the Penticton Western News.

TRAVEL ITINERARY

It took the Vees 10 hours to get to Powell River yesterday. Two ferries and a lot of time on the bus was need to finally arrive in the isolated community.

The Queen of Surrey

The Vees were on the bus at 10 AM, at Horseshoe Bay (Vancouver) by 2:30, On the Queen of Surrey at 3:30, back on the bus to drive from Langdale to Earl’s Cove, onto the Island Sky at 6:30, and finally pulled into to Powell River at 8PM. That’s a long way for a single hockey game (you could get to Calgary with less hassle, lower cost, and in less time).

Tomorrow the Vees will need two ferries to get back to Burnaby for their 7:30 game with the struggling Express.

Check out Denver Manderson’s player profile with Bernie Pascall.

Denver - in his 3rd year with the Vees - has been in the spotlight after a sensational start to his 20-year-old season. The captain is on pace for 129 points and is in the thick of the scoring race with Salmon Arm’s Mark Zengerle.

The Penticton Vees are back to their winning ways after a emphatic 6-1 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday Night at the SOEC.

Ben Sexton was back in the Vees line-up on Wednesday

Eric Filiou and Beau Bennett each had a goal and two assists and Joel Rumpel allowed just a single goal on 21 shots as the Vees recorded their 21st win in their 26th game.

Alex Szczechura scored the only goal in the opening period and then spurred a strong second frame for the Vees that saw them head to the locker room up 5-0 after 40 minutes. After the Silverbacks lone goal in the third period Jake Johnson netted the final goal of the game beating netminder Kurt Williams who played the third period in relief of Tony Ierfino.

Other Vees with multi-point nights were Denver Manderson, Joey Holka and Matt Paltridge. Holka’s 13th of the season was a sight to see as it hit the crossbar, the back of the Silverback net-minder Tony Ierfino and then into the net.

The Vees netted a pair of power play goals in eight opportunities and killed off each of the two minors they were assessed.

Ben Sexton made his return to the line-up in front of 1,500 fans and was deployed as a pivot for Joey Holka and Garrett Milan. Sexton had been out of action since getting injured on the 25th of October in Port Alberni.

Sean Bonar was not with the team on Wednesday as he has caught the swine flu and is in Vancouver recovering away from the team.

The Vees hit the road on Thursday morning to travel up the Sunshine coast to face the Powell River Kings on Friday Night. Saturday the club will face the Burnaby Express before returning back to Penticton early Sunday morning.

You can catch all the upcoming Vees action live on EZ Rock AM 800 in Penticton and on MyEZRock.com with our pre-game show starting at 7:15 on Friday and Saturday.

Crazy news around the team in the last 24 hours.

The Vees line-up will reflect a few changes from sick-bay. Bonar is out with SWINE FLU while Ben Sexton will return to the line-up tonight after getting injured on October 25th in Port Alberni.

These are turbulent times!

Let’s wish Sean Bonar the speediest of recoveries from the swine flu, and hope that nobody else (he billets with Logan Johnston’s family) catches the extra vicious bug.

I caught up with Fred Harbinson prior to Wednesday’s morning skate to discuss the news and the ramifications on the team for the remainder of the week.

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Weekend NCAA highlights include a 4-point (2G-2A) weekend for Ohio State forward Zac Dalpe that earned him a CCHA player of the week nod, Mercyhurst forward Cody Collins doubling his goal total on the year with a pair of bingos, three points for Austin Smith of the Colgate Raiders, and the first NCAA action for Bryan Mountain (he played 9:22, didn’t factor into the decision, and didn’t face a shot).

Here are former rivals Hunter Bishop and Zac Dalpe and Hunter Bishop (Vernon) talking about a big 4-point Buckeye weekend

Brennan Barker D (SR, Alabama-Huntsville) - 10GP 0-3-3 10PIM

Anthony Borelli G (FR, Brown) - Has Not Played

Steve Cameron F (JR, Mercyhurst) - 12GP 7-3-10 6PIM

Cody Collins F (SR, Mercyhurst) - 12GP 4-2-6 0PIM

Deron Cousens D (JR, Michigan Tech) - 10GP 1-1-2 6PIM

Zac Dalpe F (SO, Ohio State) - 11GP 5-6-11 0PIM

Alex Evin G (SO, Colgate) - 5GP (1-1-2) 3.45 .883

Brett Hextall F (SO, North Dakota) - 9GP 2-0-2 28PIM

Tanner House F (JR, Maine) - 6GP 2-1-3 4PIM

Zack Josepher D (FR, Michigan State) - 11GP 2-2-4 12PIM

Devon Krogh D (FR, Ohio State) - 9GP 0-2-2 2PIM

Eric Kroshus F (SO, Harvard) - 2GP 1-0-1 0PIM

Justin Krueger D (SR, Cornell) - 5GP 0-0-0 4PIM

Brian Lebler F (SR, Michigan) - 9GP 1-3-4 10PIM

Alex MacLeod F (SO, Michigan Tech) - 9GP 2-2-4 12PIM

Bryant Molle D (JR, Alaska-Fairbanks) - 10GP 0-1-1 6PIM

Curtis McKenzie F (FR, Miami-Ohio) - 12GP 4-5-9 26PIM

Cory Milan G (JR, Union) - 8GP (3-2-3) 2.63 .903

TJ Miller D (SR, Northern Michigan) - 8GP 0-1-1 6PIM

Bryan Mountain G (FR, Northeastern) - 1GP (0-0-0) 0.00 1.000

Trevor Nill F (SO, Michigan State) - 6GP 0-0-0 8PIM

Kaare Odegard D (FR, Alaska-Fairbanks) - 8GP 0-2-2 2PIM

Travis Ouellette F (FR, Ferris State) - 11GP 5-2-7 4PIM

Cory Schneider F (SO, Ohio State)- 10GP 1-2-3 0PIM

Austin Smith F (SO, Colgate) - 11GP 7-8-15 8PIM

Evan Trupp F (JR, North Dakota) - 10GP 4-5-9 2PIM

Brent Vandenberg F (FR, Niagara) - 8GP 2-2-4 2PIM

Murray is back in studio as we are posed with the dilemma of what to do on the heels of two losses to the Westside Warriors. The Vees had won 10-in-a-row heading into Friday’s action and have now lost two straight for the first time this season.

Baseball enthusiast and Salmon Arm Silverback voice Patrick Haas helps us tee up Wednesday’s tilt between the Vees and ‘backs, and pumps the tires of Jason Bay.

Also on the program we hear from Westside Warriors Prez/GM/Managing Partner (read: CZAR) Gary Gelinas on desparity between rich and poor in the BCHL, a new chapter in the history of the Warriors, and the growing South Okanagan rivalry.

The staples (Interior Conference Power Rankings, Murray’s Answering Machine & Highlights) are also in the mix, as well as some great news for Joey Holka and Logan Johnston and the usual tomfoolery.

It’s our last show for a couple weeks, so get your fill of Vees chatter before a brief hiatus.

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