vees:blog

The Vees and Warriors meet tonight in Westside for the 10th and final meeting of the season. The Vees come in short handed as a result of the Quesnel/Penticton Wrestlemania Event at the SOEC last night (see below).

Stakes are high as the Warriors lead the Vees by a single point in the race for 3rd spot in the Interior. The Vees have played one fewer game!

Here’s a look a the tale of the tape!

Season Series Team Stats

Record: Vees (6-2-0-1) Warriors (3-4-0-2)

Power Play: Vees (8/59) 13.6% Warriors (4/36) 11.1%

Shots For: Vees (262) 29.1/Game Warriors (270) 30.0/Game

LEADING SCORERS

WS F - Jordan Gagne 9GP (7-2-9)

PEN F Curtis McKenzie 8GP (5-3-8)

WS D - Justin Schultz 8GP (1-6-7)

WS F - Garrett Watson 9GP (1-6-7)

PEN F - Garrett Milan 9GP (3-3-6)

WS F - Trevor Bailey 9GP (2-4-6)

PEN D - Devon Krogh 9GP (0-6-6)

PEN F - Ryan Viselli 8GP (3-2-5)

WS D - Brad Plumpton 9GP (1-4-5)

PEN D - Zack Josepher 9GP (1-4-5)

PEN F - Denver Manderson 5GP (1-3-4)

LEADING GOALIES

PEN - Jordan White (3-3-0) 2.26 GAA, 408:41 TOI

WS - Kevin Jebson (3-5-0) 2.65 GAA, 497:56 TOI

WS - Devon Murtagh (0-1-0) 4.04 GAA, .833 S%, 59:23 TOI

Five members of the Vees have been handed single game suspensions as a result of last night’s line brawl in Penticton.

Gone for tonight’s final regular season game with the Westside Warriors are D - Derek Johnson, D - Matt Paltridge, F - Joey Holka, F - Ryan Johansen, and Head Coach and GM Fred Harbinson.

Also missing due to injury are Vees Captain Denver Manderson (see posting below), Centreman Mitch Lebreche (lower body), and Rearguard Matt Ridley (upper body).

Zack Josepher returns to the line-up tonight after being given Friday’s affair off, he’ll be leaned on tonight with the Vees top defensive pairing watching from the stands (Paltridge & Johnson).

While the Vees picked up 2 points in last night’s game with the Quesnel Millionaires, the 30th of January may go down as the night the Vees lost their Captain, leading scorer and most talented play-maker.

After a line-brawl at the 40:00 minute mark, the game took on an edgy and physical tone in the 3rd period. After watching his teammate narrowly escape a dangerous hit from behind in the 3rd period, Manderson dropped the mitts in an effort to stick up for his teammate, only to leave to the locker room moments later with an upper body ailment.

Scariest for Vees fans is that the injury sustained looked eerily similar to last year’s affliction that kept Manderson out of the regular season line up for nearly half the BCHL season and led to Manderson playing through pain for the final segment of the regular season and most of the playoffs.

Manderson’s return to the Vees this season is certainly in doubt. The loss of the Captain would be a huge blow to this club that hasn’t looked out of place playing the top teams in this league most of the season.

Head Coach and GM Fred Harbinson was visably heated as he joined the broadcast for the coach’s show following the game. Fred was critical of the Millionaires coaching staff, the success of their program and combative tactics used in last night’s 5-1 loss to the Vees.

You can understand Fred’s sentiments, as his top player was injured in a game against a club that will miss the playoffs for a 6th straight season, has shown a history of inciting line brawls, and has contributed little to the league in the way of winning, or graduating players to college.

It’s been another tough season for the Millionaires as they appear destined to miss the playoffs for the 6th straight season.

After a quick(ish) start to the season, the Mills have been battered by the injury bug. The club never gained traction in the Standings since G - Jeff Malcolm’s injury, and more recently unloaded 2 of their top 3 forwards and best active goaltender at the Jan 10 trade deadline for future considerations and F - Brett Howe.

The Vees have lost just once to Quesnel this season, in a game where they out shot the Mills by an eye-popping 43-20 margin. The final match-up between the Vees and the Mills (after tonight) is on Feb 7th in Quesnel.

SEASON SERIES TEAM STATS

Record: Penticton 3-1-0-0 Quesnel 1-3-0-0

Goals For: Penticton 17 Quesnel 8

Average Shots: Penticton 35.5 Quesnel 23.3

Power Play: Penticton 4/18 (22.2%) Quesnel 2/20 (10.0%)

SCORING LEADERS

PEN - F Travis Ouellette 2-4-6

PEN - F Ryan Viselli 1-5-6

PEN - F Garrett Milan 2-3-5

PEN - D Zack Josepher 1-4-5

PEN - F Curtis McKenzie 3-1-4

PEN - F Denver Manderson 0-4-4

QUE - F Eric Galbraith 2-1-3

QUE - F Joshua Fersovitch 0-2-2

GOALTENDERS

PEN - Sean Bonar 2GP (2-0-0) 2.00 GAA .931 S%

QUE - Evan Karambelas 1 GP (0-0-0) 0.00 GAA 1.000 S%

QUE - Jeff Malcolm 1 GP (0-1-0) 3.00 GAA .909 S%

PEN - Jordan White 1GP (0-1-0) 3.05 GAA .850 S%

Already the youngest team in the league, the Vees will add 16-year-old ‘AP’ defender Isaac MacLoed to the line-up on Friday Night.

The younger brother of former Vees Forward Alex MacLoed (who is playing at Michigan Tech this year), has suited up once with the Vees earlier this year and recorded an assist on November 21st in an 8-2 beating of the Trail Smoke Eaters.

MacLoed’s KIJHL team - the Nelson Leafs - has been running away from the field in the regular season. The Leafs have just 6 losses in 44 games… Impressive!

Isaac could be a big (6′4 and 185 lbs!) part of the Vees future should he choose to play Junior ‘A’ in Penticton next season.

Here’s a look at the remaining games for the 6 teams in playoff position in the Interior Conference.

A quick glance shows the Penticton Vees [YELLOW HIGHLIGHT] have the most hockey to play before the end of the season (in fact they’ll play their last 10 games over just 18 days) with a dozen remaining - including 8 road games (yikes), but they do have 6 tilts against teams under .500 (most).

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks [BLUE HIGHLIGHT] have the toughest remaining schedule with just 3 left a home (fewest), 9 of 10 against teams over .500, and an average opponent winning percentage of .600 (toughest). The Primates will have to be ‘lights out’ on their 4-game road trip through the Lower Mainland Division to beat the Vipers for home ice in the Interior.

The Vipers Schedule is tough with just 4 of 11 left at home, but they have slightly weaker average opponent than the Silverbacks, and currently are just a point back with a game in hand of the Conference leaders. The Vipers and the Silverbacks have just one game remaining in the regular season.

Westside [RED HIGHLIGHT] has a ton games remaining at home (9), but do have the 2nd toughest strength of schedule. The Warriors currently hold a single point lead on the Vees for 3rd in the Conference, but have played once more than the Vees.

The Smokies have have returned from their 4 game Coastal Roadie with 3 of 8 possible points, and now have the benefit of 6 of their last 10 in Trail. 7 of their 10 remaining games are against teams over .500 including a whopping 4 with the Vernon Vipers (cringe).

The Prince George Spruce Kings [GREEN HIGHLIGHT] have the weakest strength of opponent in their final 10 games as they face Merritt and Quesnel twice each. If the Spruce Kings can get hot they could surpass the Smokies for 5th in the Interior, but the club has just 2 wins since December 12th.

Freshman Harvard Crimson Forward and member of the 2008 Fred Page Cup Champion Penticton Vees - Eric Kroshus - is starting to put up some points in NCAA action.

In Sunday’s conference game with Dartmouth, Kroshus recorded his first ever two-point game in his brief NCAA career, recording a pair of assists in a 5-5 tie. After being held off the score sheet in his first 11 games, the Calgarian has recorded 3 points in his last 4 games.

Kroshus was the winner of the 2007/2008 Academic Award and was a member of the Vees shutdown line, alongside Cory Schneider (Ohio State) and Kyle McMurphy (Not Playing), put out against the top lines of other BCHL foes.

This week we get up close and personal with the 2008/2009 Penticton Vees to find out who the best players they’ve ever skated with or against are. You’ll recognize a lot of NHL names, hear a few superstars of the sport mentioned and of course there’s a few obscure names of ‘flash in the pan’ talents.

Also on the show we take a look at the schedule, tee up next weekend’s games for the Blue Black and White, and spin some highlights of last weekend’s Okanagan scraps with the Warriors and the Vipers.

Boston Pizza Vees This Week airs every Monday during the hockey season On EZ Rock AM 800, The BCHL’s Fanzone and MyEZRock.com

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [55:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

The Vernon Vipers have slithered their way into the top 5 in today’s release of the weekly CJHL Rankings.

The Vipers join the Silverbacks as the only BCHL content in the top 15, both are ranked in the top 5.

The Cowichan Valley Capitals are getting some love as they crack the honorable mentions category this week, while the Vees were not mentioned after two weeks of acknowledgment.

After a 9 game stretch of hockey without a regulation loss, the Vees now have scored just 9 goals in their last 4 games, winning twice in OT while losing to both Salmon Arm and Vernon in regulation.