vees:blog

The Penticton Valley First Vees find themselves in the driver’s seat of the Interior Conference race for home ice after collecting 4 points last weekend. The Vees now have a magic number of 4, meaning 4 wins guarantees top spot in the Interior, while top seed in the league should go down to the wire with Nanaimo.

This weekend the Vees get a double shot of Merritt Centennials with Friday’s game in the Nichola Valley Arena and Saturday’s game at Pen Memorial. The Vees have beaten the Centenials in each of the four meetings thus far this season and can sweep the season series with a pair of wins this weekend.

The Vees have won back-to-back regular season Interior Conference titles and barring a collapse down the stretch, ‘07-‘08 will make three consecutive; quite the accomplishment for the Vees brass that took over the Panthers just 4 years ago.

Another historical feat that is within the grasp of the Vees is the BCHL goals against record set by the ‘05-’06 Vees. Currently the Vees are on pace to allow 140 goals against this season, with the record set three years ago sitting at 137. With two games against Merritt this weekend and Alberni on the schedule as well, the Vees certainly could re-write the history books. With 8 games remaining, the club needs to allow less than 15 goals to set the BCHL record.

The Merritt Centennials roster has been plagued with defections and trades this season. Gone are Erik Ruud, Johnny Mahovolich, Jordan Zalba, Kevin Koopman, Nicholas Kang, Scott Jow and Kyle McConnell while Shane Mainprize is under ‘team suspension’ leaving the Cents with a single goalie. It’s been a tough year for the historic franchise and next year will be another challenge to change the culture around the club.