Vees Head Coach and General Manager Fred Harbinson has traded Adam Zamec to the Wellington Dukes of the CCHL (Central Canadian Hockey League) for future considerations.
The second year, 20-year-old forward had a goal and two assists in 11 games this season after a late start due to off season surgery. Named an alternate captain last year, Zamec’s best year of junior was in ‘07/’08 when he scored 17 goals for the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL after being traded from Kitchener.
TRUPP TERIFFIC
Evan Trupp has been named a WCHA Player of the Week after recording three goals in two weekend games.
SMITH NAMED TOP RAIDER
Austin Smith was named the Colgate Raiders Male Athlete of the Week after a three goal weekend. Smith was a member of the ‘07/’08 BCHL Champions, and is the only Dallas born hockey player to be drafted by the Stars.
Highlights from the weekend that was include a massive explosion of goals from Vees Alumni. Steve Cameron (Mercyhurst) , Travis Ouellette (Ferris State), and Evan Trupp (North Dakota) all had three goal weekends, while Austin Smith (Colgate) led the way with four points. Notching the first goals of their NCAA careers were former line-mates Eric Kroshus (Harvard) and Cory Schneider (Ohio State) from the 2008 Fred Page Champion Vees.
Vees Alums combined for 16 goals this weekend! Not too shabby.
Cory Schneider who is shown here jockeying for position with former member of the Vees TJ Miller.
Brennan Barker D (SR, Alabama-Huntsville) - 8GP 0-3-3 8PIM
Anthony Borelli G (FR, Brown) - Has Not Played
Steve Cameron F (JR, Mercyhurst) - 10GP 7-3-10 6PIM
Cody Collins F (SR, Mercyhurst) - 10GP 2-2-4 0PIM
Deron Cousens D (JR, Michigan Tech) - 8GP 1-1-2 6PIM
Zac Dalpe F (SO, Ohio State) - 9GP 3-4-7 0PIM
Alex Evin G (SO, Colgate) - 5GP (1-1-2) 3.45 .883
Brett Hextall F (SO, North Dakota) - 7GP 2-0-2 18PIM
Tanner House F (JR, Maine) - 4GP 2-1-3 2PIM
Zack Josepher D (FR, Michigan State) - 8GP 2-2-4 10PIM
Devon Krogh D (FR, Ohio State) - 7GP 0-2-2 2PIM
Eric Kroshus F (SO, Harvard) - 1 Goal - Stats unavailable?!
Justin Krueger D (SR, Cornell) - 3GP 0-0-0 4PIM
Brian Lebler F (SR, Michigan) - 8GP 1-3-4 10PIM
Alex MacLeod F (SO, Michigan Tech) - 7GP 2-2-4 10PIM
Bryant Molle D (JR, Alaska-Fairbanks) - 8GP 0-1-1 4PIM
Curtis McKenzie F (FR, Miami-Ohio) - 10GP 3-5-8 24PIM
Cory Milan G (JR, Union) - 8GP (3-2-3) 2.63 .903
TJ Miller D (SR, Northern Michigan) - 6GP 0-1-1 4PIM
Trevor Nill F (SO, Michigan State) - 6GP 0-0-0 8PIM
Bryan Mountain G (FR, Northeastern) - Has Not Played
Kaare Odegard D (FR, Alaska-Fairbanks) - 7GP 0-2-2 2PIM
Travis Ouellette F (FR, Ferris State) - 9GP 5-1-6 4PIM
* Randy Sexton (father of Ben) has finally had the interim tag dropped and been named the new GM of the Florida Panthers. Here’s the press conference from earlier today in Helsinki.
* The Ohio State Buckeyes are a team full of Vees Alumni. Zac Dalpe & Cory Schneider are entering their sophomore season, Devon Krogh is a freshman this year, and down the road current Vees Forward Alex Szczechura will be attending OSU. Other BCHL grads on the Buckeyes include Juniors Hunter Bishop (Vernon) & Erick Belanger (Nanaimo), as well as Sophomore Taylor Stephishen (Langley).
Here’s Zac on the expectation for the Buckeyes this season:
* Another NCAA team laden with BCHLers is the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Junior Evan Trupp (older brother of current Vees forward Hayden) and Sophomore Brett Hextall - the captain of the 2007/2008 Fred Page Cup Champions - play with Seniors Chay Genoway (Vernon) and Darcy Zajac (Salmon Arm).
* Trail is not a team to be taken lightly by the Vees tonight. The Smokies offense has finally woken up after scoring just 10 goals in their first six games of the year. The Orange & Black beat Williams Lake on Sunday and tied Salmon Arm on Tuesday Night and scored 12 goals in the two games.
* Adam Zamec appears to be close to a return in the Vees line-up. Though I doubt he’ll hit the ice this weekend, I wouldn’t be shocked if he made his debut on Wednesday at home against Cowichan.
* Al Formo is back on the broadcast tonight, and we’ll be joined by Chad Campbell in the pre-game show and 2nd intermission. Puck hits ice at 7:05 and the pre-game show on EZ Rock starts at 6:45 (PST… for you long distance fans). If you aren’t listening on EZ Rock in the South Okanagan or Similkameen, you can hop online to MyEZRock.com or swing by the BCHL’s audio scoreboard at BCHL.ca. Finally, if you are in the SOEC at the game you can tune into 105.5 FM to catch the braodcast.
What do the Boston Bruins and the Penticton Vees have in common?
Aside from stops in Andy Moog and Chuck Kobasew’s hockey careers, and having two of the best looking hockey jerseys on earth, both the Vees and the Bruins have Ben Sexton in common.
Last season Sexton recorded 35 points in 38 games, amassing over half of his point on the man-advantage. Of note, Sexton grew up watching Vees Alumni Zac Dalpe and even received a phone call from the current Ohio State Buckeye to discus Zac’s time in the Okanagan.
Ben is the son of Randy Sexton the recently anointed GM (the interim tag was dropped) of the Florida Panthers, and former Ottawa Senators executive.
The Vees and Silverbacks close out their 8 games season series tonight at the SOEC. The Silverbacks have won 4 of the previous 7, including the second of a two game set in Salmon Arm last weekend.
The Vees will insert ‘AP’ Jimmy Geerin and give Colton Jobke a breather, while Jordan White should get the nod between the pipes.
The home team has won 5 of the 7 games between the two clubs this season. The Vees need just one win to surpass last season’s total for home wins (wow).
CONOR MORRISON… DAS IST GOOD
Connor Morrison is an integral part of the deadly top line of the Silverbacks that has compiled 243 points coming into tonight’s action.
The duel citizen grew up in Germany where his dad, Dave, played pro hockey and married. Connor represented Germany at the World Jr A Challenge in Camrose, and at the IIHF World Juniors in Ottawa.
Last season the slight forward had just 26 points in 54 games, while this season he has already notched a team high 37 goals to go with 45 assists in just 48 games.
I had my eyebrows raised a few times last night at the Awards Banquet. Most Award went right where I thought they would, but a few just seemed a touch odd.
UNSUNG HERO… CURTIS McKENZIE - Unsung? Curtis has been in the spotlight all season, and leads the team in Goals and Points! Curtis’s Mom and I laughed about that last night as she knows that I’ve been pumping C-Mac’s tires all season. I look at a guy like Adam Zamec, Logan Johnston or Matt Paltridge who could have been recognized instead!
HUMANITARIAN… JOEY HOLKA - If ever there was a time to go back-to-back on an award… Devon Krogh would have been my pick here. While Joey has been a staple of the community events, Devon spearheads most of the events.
MVP… DENVER MANDERSON - No questioning the value of Captain Mandy to the team, but 35 games played (58%) is too small a number in my opinion.
CHASE FOR 3RD
Salmon Arm and Vernon will visit the Vees and the Warriors this weekend and will help determine who is the third seed in the Interior. Should the Vees glean more points off the top 2 teams than the Warriors they’ll earn 3rd spot, while a tie or an edge in points for the Warriors will mean they grab the higher seed.
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.
With the curtain set to close on 2008 why not take a look back at last season’s 2008 Fred Page Cup Champion Alumni. We’ve been keeping tabs throughout the year on the weekly Radio Show, but here is a full blog update.
NCAA DIVISION I
Brett Hextall, F - North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA) 20GP (6-5-11) 43 PIM
Zac Dalpe, F - Ohio State Buckeyes (CCHA) 18GP (9-4-13) 6 PIM
Alex Evin, G - Colgate Raiders (ECAC) 5GP (1-2-0) 2.87 GAA, .892 SP
Fresh off his first BCHL shutout, and third straight stellar start, Sean Bonar has announced he is committed to Princeton for the 2010-2011 season.
The Tsawwassen, BC (Greater Vancouver) native had narrowed down his choice to 3 NCAA programs and opted for the lone Ivy League school of the bunch. As long as their are no games scheduled immediately following Newman’s Day, he won’t regret the decision!
Labeled ‘Bones’ in the locker-room, the 17 year old rookie puck-stopper has found a new level in his past 3 starts carrying a shutout into the final minute of play in each contest, finally closing the deal Wednesday against Merritt.
The Vees lead the BCHL in NCAA commitments with 8 (and surely more to come).
