vees:blog

The Penticton Valley First Vees close out their 60 game regular season with a home-and-home with the Vernon Vipers this weekend. The Okanagan rivals are both playoff bound and know a meeting in the playoffs is a distinct possibility. A big crowd is expected Friday in Vernon and in Saturday season finale, here in the Penticton.

Currently the Vees need just a single point or a Westside loss or tie to claim top spot in the Interior Conference, while Vernon can’t finish lower than 4th, and are a long shot for a bye with Salmon Arm and Westside above them in the standings.

The last time the Vees and Vipers met was December 2nd, here in Penticton, with the home side winning 7-2 in a game that saw 8 fights and the unveiling of the Vees 3rd Jerseys. The Vees have tweaked their roster since that game, but the Vipers have changed their team more drastically, acquiring Andrew Hammond (from Surrey to replace ‘number one’ goalie Bryce Christianson who jumped early to college), two big Western League defensemen (Justin Palazzo and Kevin Kraus), college drop-out Greg Beller, and Justin Thomas – a Merritt ‘clearance sale’ pick-up.

What an incredible season Hunter Bishop is having with the Vipers. The 20-year-old sniper currently has 57 goals in 57 games (Wednesday’s hosting of Salmon Arm not included), an incredible feat in todays BCHL. In fact Bishop and Burnaby’s Brodie Reid (who has 51) are the only two players who have eclipsed the 40-goal mark this season. While Bishop missed 50 in 50 by one game (he got 50 in 51), he may indeed get 60 in 60. By contrast the Vees leading sniper is rookie Austin Smith who has 32 goals in 58 games.

Both games start at 7:00 with our pre-game show starting at 6:30 on EZ Rock.