vees:blog

No kegs or beer-pong here. Just 16 of the top college hockey teams in the States doing battle in the opening weekend of the ‘Frozen Four’.

Of the 7 NCAA (Div I) grads from last year’s 2007/2008 Championship Vees, all three players who qualified for the National Championship are active in the Northeast Bracket. Ohio State earned the final ‘at large’ bid to the tournament and will face Boston University Terriers - the top seed in the Bracket. The Ohio State Buckeyes have 5 BCHL alumni in their youthful line-up: Former Vernon Viper sniper Hunter Bishop, Nanaimo defender Erick Belanger and skilled Langley forward Taylor Stefishan are joined by Penticton Vees Zac Dalpe and Cory Schneider.

The other match-up of the Northeast Bracket being played in Manchester, New Hampshire sees former Vees Captain Brett Hextall and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux facing a lower ranked, but heavily supported New Hampshire Wildcats team playing in their home State. Hextall and former Vees forward Evan Trupp are just two parts of a team that was the hottest in the WCHA from Fall on, and actually closed out the regular season as the top team in the conference. Quite a feat considering the after the Fighting Sioux won just 5 of their first 14 games.

A win for the Buckeyes and Sioux on Saturday would make for quite a game on Sunday for Dalpe, Schneider and Hextall. Hextall and Dalpe were inseparable on the ice last year, while Schneider and Hextall not only played in Penticton together, but also at Northwood School. In fact, last season the trio were all on the same line for nearly half a season for the Vees last year.

AJHL

The Spruce Grove Saints are into the Enerflex Cup. 4 games in 5 nights was all the top ranked Saints needed to move on to the AJHL Final. The Saints lost just 7 games in a 62 game regular season schedule and are now 8 & 1 against playoff foes.

Former Vees enforcer Elias Grossmann’s Grande Prairie Storm are leading Brooks 2 games to 1 in the other AJHL semi-final. Game 3 in Brooks went to triple OT before the Bandits pulled out their first win of the series. Game 4 is tomorrow in stinky Brooks, Game 5 is Saturday back in traffic congested Grande Prairie. (Can you sense the jealousy?)

BCHL

The Powell River Kings have a firm grip on the Coastal Conference Finals leading the RBC Cup hosts (Victoria Grizzlies) 3 games to 1. The Powell River PP has been a force of nature this season and the second season has been no different with the extra-man success rate at over 34% (wow). Not to be overlooked is their PK which is 34/39. Victoria is in trouble… if they want to come to the RBC Cup through the front door. The Grizzlies will be at Bear Mountain in May either way.

In the Interior the Salmon Arm Silverbacks earned a big win last night to square off the series at 2 games apiece. The two Interior foes have played each other tight all year. No surprise this will go at least 6 games.

The NCAA National Championship Tournament was announced today (selection Sunday hockey style).

3 Vees from last year’s Fred Page Cup Champions will be active in the tournament of the top 16 teams in the States.

Zac Dalpe and Cory Schneider will see tournament play in their rookie seasons as the Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked #4 (of 4) in the Northeast Bracket. Schneider has to overcome a mid-season injury and fight his way back into the line-up (2 points in 16 games) while Dalpe was 5th in team scoring with 13 goals and 12 assists in 36 games. Former Vernon Viper Hunter Bishop has 29 points in 41 games for the Buckeyes.

Last year’s captain Brett Hextall and former Vees teammate of 2006/2007 Evan Trupp have got the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota a #2 seed and also happen to play in the Northeast bracket.

Brad Thiessen has been backstopped the Northeastern Huskies to a tournament bid, and looks like a strong candidate for the Hobey Baker. Thiessen was named the Hockey East Player of the Year and has his own site lobbying for more hardware. The Huskies are a 2nd seed in the Midwest Bracket.

Other Notables:

Pentictonite and former Panther Brian Lebler’s Michigan squad will be at the big dance too, the Wolverines have the top spot in the East Bracket.

Euro Justin Krueger - a former Vees D-man - is in with Cornell. The Big Red are #3 in the Midwest Bracket.

I sat down with Vees Head Coach and General Manager Fred Harbinson for a mid-day bite on Main Street in Penticton. A windy but warm Friday proved a good opportunity for a final Coach’s Show for Ironman City Subaru in Penticton.

Glenn Hauptman, Flush Photo. No copies or reproduction without permission. FlushPhoto(at)Gmail.com

No better way to celebrate the 1st day of Spring… Well, aside from playing in the Interior Conference Final tonight.

P.S. I’ll take the Vipers in 7

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The second round is done in the AJHL & BCHL. The elite 8 remain.

AJHL (reseeded regardless of division)

Spruce Grove Saints (4-1 Fort McMurray Oil Barons*)

vs. Olds Grizzlies (4-2 Okotoks Oilers)

&

Grande Prairie Storm (4-2 Sherwood Park Crusaders)

vs. Brooks Bandits (4-3 Camrose Kodiaks*^+)

BCHL

INTERIOR CONFERENCE

Vernon Vipers (4-1 Penticton Vees*^)

vs. Salmon Arm Silverbacks (4-1 Westside Warriors)

COASTAL CONFERENCE

Victoria Grizzlies (4-3 Cowichan Valley Capitals)

vs. Powell River Kings (4-1 Surrey Eagles)

* 2008 League Finalist

+ 2008 Doyle Cup Champion

Stalls empty. Season over.

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Al Formo is our in-studio guest on tonight’s final episode of Boston Pizza Vees This Week. The long-time colour commentator of the Vees will have some historical context on the season that was.

Also we’ll turn an eye to the Interior Conference Finals as Patrick Haas of the Silverbacks joins us on the phone line.

Finally, you’ll hear from each member of the 08/09 Vees as they cleaned out their lockers to close another season of hockey.

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****Mammoth Post Warning****

Please take a seat, pour yourself a few fingers of brandy, and make sure your laptop battery is full. This posting could get lengthy as I’m feeling yappy. That’s a scary thought coming from a play-by-play hack that fills three hour radio time slots talking about ice, pucks, hits and whistles on a regular basis. See your physician if you feel dizzy or nauseous.

VERNON PREVAILS

No shame in losing to a better team. The feel abound in Vernon was palpably different than that following last season’s 5 game defeat at the hands of the Camrose Kodiaks. Vees fans are still trying to sort out how the Kodiaks beat the Vees last season, yet have accepted last night’s loss to the Vernon Vipers. The difference is a decided edge in play held by Vernon in the best-of-seven. When the Vees were at their best the games were close, when the Vipers were at their best the games were one sided.

The Vipers outscored the Vees 25-10 in the series, and the Vees were stymied repeatedly at even strength, notching just 4 5-on-5 goals in the series.

After back-to-back shots drew ringing posts in a scoreless first period one got the sense this would not be their night. Not even Don Cherry’s presence was enough for the Vees to force a Game 6 in Penticton.

Roger Tepper, Edge Photography, No copies or reproduction without permission. EdgePhoto(at)telus.net

Tough to say goodbye to the 2008/2009 season with the calendar not yet even March 15th, especially since the Vees were alive until the end of April last year.

EYE ON DOYLE

Two other BCHL clubs were eliminated last night in Game 5 of their respective Conference Semi-Finals.

The injury plagued Westside Warriors tied their game with Salmon Arm at 4’s with 1:14 to play in the third late but had their season ended by Bobby Lipsett 3:28 into the extra frame. The result is a Salmon Arm vs. Vernon Interior Final… I’ll take the deeper, grittier Vipers.

Also booking tee times today are the Surrey Eagles. The Powell River Kings dismantled the Mainland Division 3rd seeds losing just one game as Tommy Tartaglione made 40+ saves in an OT shutout win in Surrey in Game 3.

Cowichan hosts Victoria tonight down 3-2 in the Island Final. A home win would force a Tuesday elimination game at Bear Mountain.

BCHL Playoff Bracket

In Alberta the Spruce Grove Saints have advanced to the Northern Division Final where they’ll host the winner of the Grande Prairie Strom and the Sherwood Park Crusaders (GP leads 3-2).

In the South Division the Camrose Kodiaks are tied at 2 games apiece with the Brooks Bandits after a pair of lopsided loses on the road to open the series (the home team has won each tilt). Elsewhere the Olds Grizzlies are tied with the Okotoks Oilers at 2 wins each.

AJHL PLAYOFF LOOKSIE

Just 12 remain in the hunt for the Doyle Cup… that number will be whittled down to 8 in by mid-week.

VEES OFF SEASON

Roger Tepper, Edge Photography, No copies or reproduction without permission. EdgePhoto(at)telus.net

Between today and August’s training camp Fred Harbinson will be hunting for parts to mix in with his skilled young group of returnees. Size and grit will be on the menu as the Vees seemed to be man-handled at times in their series loss to Vernon.

Gone for sure are 20-year-olds White, Grassi and Josepher. Safe bets graduating to NCAA hockey include Krogh (OSU), Ouellette (Ferris State) & Brodie Reid (Northeastern). While 18-year-olds Slemp and Odegard have a big decision regarding their pending scholarships to Alaska Fairbanks as does super sophomore forward Curtis McKenzie. C-Mac’s decision will be the most influential on the make-up of the club. An 18-year-old C-Mac would be a force of nature next year in the BCHL, how he would fit in the Miami Ohio line-up is much more of an unknown.

As for the rest? They’ll be hitting the gym this summer, getting ready for Vees training camp in August. There’s always a defection or two you don’t see coming, let’s hope the core of this green club stays united for what is shaping up to be a stellar 2009/2010 season.

WHAT’S NEXT

As for the Vees Blog? Well, the final ‘Boston Pizza Vees This Week’ runs Monday at 6PM. We’ll have feedback from the Vees as they empty their lockers Monday morning. We’ll take it from there in a few days.

I appreciate you stopping by the Vees Blog. Over 30,000 hits this season! I hope you’ve enjoyed the content as much as I have enjoyed gathering it!

Enjoy the off-season,

Ryan Pinder

This is the end

(why not go out on The Doors)

Glenn Hauptman, Flush Photo. No copies or reproduction without permission. FlushPhoto(at)Gmail.com

Good News: Garrett Milan is a man-child. 8 goals in 9 games, and a team leading 6 points agaisnst Vernon… WOW!

Bad News: Milan has outscored the rest of the Vees this series, accounting for 5 of the 9 goals they’ve tallied.

Good News: The Vees finally beat Vernon in Vernon in Game 1.

Bad News: Vernon hasn’t lost 3 games in a row all season.

Good News: The Vees are being led by their 6 players under the age of 18

Bad News: Vees Veterans have yet to make an serious impact in this series.

Good News: Vees Power Play has been clicking at 37.5%.

Bad News: Vees have scored just 3 goals at even strength in 4 games.

Game 5 in Vernon starts @ 7PM, pre-game @ 6:45 on EZ ROCK AM 800.