vees:blog

It’s shaping up to be fire against fire tonight as the two of the league’s most powerful offenses square off at the SOEC.

Tonight’s match pits the 5th ranked Penticton Vees against the 6th ranked Salmon Arm Silverbacks, in the Vees first game against a nationally ranked team in the country. Both teams have been getting it done with offense, as the Vees have scored 30 goals in six games, while the Silverbacks have 24 goals in five games played.

Sean Bonar Will Attempt to Slow the Silverbacks Snipers

Heading into tonight’s action, the Vees and Silverbacks can lay claim to seven of the league’s top thirteen scorers. F - Denver Manderson (89), F - Beau Bennett (91) and F - Mark Zengerle (89) are 1-2-3 in the scoring race with 16, 14 and 11 points respectively, while F - Travis Statchuk (90) and D - Joey LaLeggia (92) have 9 points each, while F - David Killip (91) has 8 points and F - Garrett Milan (91) has 7.

Mark Zengerle was named the BCHL’s ‘Player of the Week’ on Monday after a monster 9 point weekend in the Caribou, while Vees Captain Denver Manderson was named the P.O.W. after the opening weekend of the season.

On top of the obvious stakes of facing a Conference foe, some Vees will also be looking to impress Salmon Arm GM Rylan Ferster who is part of the Team Canada West brass for the upcoming 2009 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge. Milan, LaLeggia and Bonar were named to the evaluation camp roster set for next week in Okotoks.

The Silverbacks are (3-1-0-1) with both loses coming at the hands of the Vernon Vipers, while the Vees are (5-1-0-0), suffering their lone loss in West Kelowna last weekend.