vees:blog

A big thanks to Jeff Hook for continuing to throw these together.

Seach ROCKtheSOEC on YouTube for more Video of SOEC Events.

VEES vs. CENTENNIALS

Another short-staffed two clubs will hit the ice at the SOEC this weekend. The Vees will be without the aforementioned 3 WJAC competitors as well as Bruins pick Ben Sexton. Merritt meanwhile have been ravaged by the flu bug (not H1N1) to the point where Friday’s game vs. Vernon was in question earlier in the week. The Cents aren’t the only club who have been hit by the flu bug as Burnaby was missing 5 regulars in last night’s 8-0 loss in Penticton, and tonight’s tilt between the Clippers and Grizzlies has been canceled (speculation has the flu as the culprit).

The EVIL Flu Bug

The Cents are running through goalies like I run through clean socks on a road trip… after adding another young tender in Cameron Dagg (the Cents third 17 or younger), the club has finally brought in an veteran guy in the form of 20-year-old Riley Wall who is a Jr. B journeyman. The Cents have allowed more goals against than any other team in the Milky Way… check that, just the BCHL.

For more on all things red, white and black head to Making Cents: The Centennials Blog.

Meanwhile, you can look for Billy Faust to make his first BCHL regulation start tonight. Faust is an L.A. kid who was teammates with Beau Bennett last year on the LA Jr. Kings (Midget) and has posted great numbers in Nelson (KIJHL, Jr. ‘B’) thus far this season. The Cali-kid has a tough act to follow as Joel Rumpel hung a zero on the Burnaby Express last night for his first BCHL shutout.

Tonight’s broadcast will start at 6:45 on EZ Rock in the South Okanagan and Similkameen, at BCHL.ca at the audio scoreboad, and at MyEZRock.com. I’ll be flying solo as Al Formo is dressing up for Halloween as the invisible man.

WJAC UPDATE

Though the tournament has yet to begin with the games that actually matter, Team Canada West has suited up for a pair of exhibition games in the Maritimes. On Thursday the Western Canadians beat Belarus 3-2 in a shootout, while they dropped a 5-2 decision to the defending gold medalists from USA last night.

As for the Vees in the competition, Beau Bennett has recorded an assist in his only game for the Yankees, while Sean Bonar has a win in his only appearance and stopped all three shots in the shootout, while Joey LaLeggia (who’s name is spelled ‘LaLegea’ in the boxscore) has a single assist in his two games played.

The real action gets underway on Sunday when the Canada West crew face the Russians, and the Americans clash with the Swedes. Elimination games begin on Thursday.

For more on the WJAC go HERE.

Yes. Seriously! No kidding.

It may not feel like it, but a fourth of 60 is still 15.

Al Formo and I sat down in the Lobby of the hotel in Victoria to reflect on the first quarter of the Vees season.

‘12-2-0-1′ looks nice, though that Merritt loss still stinks.

Listen Now:

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With the Vees out of action this week (they don’t play again until the 21st of October) this weekend provides an opportunity to get a better look at some of the other story lines around the BCHL.

The Vernon Vipers will make their first Northern road trip as the head to the Caribou for 3 games in four nights. It’s tough to foresee Vernon leaving any points on the table against PG, Quesnel or Williams Lake, though they did lose once in PG last year (it was a full moon and the Vees lost in Quesnel that night too).

The Westside Warrriors and Merritt Centennials have a home-and-home series this weekend with the defensively inept Merritt Centennials. Warriors snipers Cam Reid and Trevor Bailey will have an opportunity to climb the BCHL’s list of points leaders, but will have to play better than they did a few Sunday’s ago where they needed a late rally to win in OT against Merritt at home. A safe bet would be placing money on the Warriors scoring on the man advantage… Lots. The Warriors have the top PP in the league, while the Cents are the worst at killing penalties.

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks head to the Island in the first visit of an Interior team across the Salish Sea (more commonly known as the Straight of Georgia). The Silverbacks will be a good barometer of the quality of the Island opponents the that the Vees will face next week. Saturday features the two Conference runner-up teams when the Gorillas are in Victoria to face the Grizzlies. YouTube says the Silverbacks will win!!!

Trail makes a curious trip to the coast with 2 games on the island and two games in the lower mainland. Did BC Ferries draw up this trip for the Smokies?! The Smokies play Burnaby on Wednesday, then head to the island to play Nanaimo and Cowichan before hitting up Surrey on the way home. This trip nessesitates a second trip to the Island (read: more expen$$$ive ferry trips) than if they were to play all the Island teams in a single visit. Maybe Jim Ingram really likes the Ferry Clam Chowder.

Prince George, Williams Lake (coming off a undefeated bye week!!) and Quesnel get some home action with Langley and Powell River visiting from the coast as well as the aforementioned Vipers. No easy prey for the home teams on this visit.

A rare Monday game sees the Powell River Kings in Billy’s Pond (home of the T-wolves), and Salmon Arm will host the Kings 4th Interior game on Tuesday after returning from the Island… that will be the lactic acid/cement legs game of the week… Take the under!

In the foam noodle fight of the week, fans in Duncan will witness two of the league’s wimpiest offenses as the Cowichan Valley Capitals host the Trail Smoke Eaters on Sunday… Take the under!

Round II of the Bestwick/Graham (Professor/Student) match-up goes Saturday from the Dog Pound in Alberni where the Alberni is (5-1-0-0) and beat Nanaimo two weeks ago. Round III comes a week from Friday!

Denver Manderson’s four-point night and Garrett Milan’s hat trick helped the Vees blow out Merritt 9-1 on Saturday night in Penticton. The Vees earned their 10th win of the year and a slight measure of revenge on the Centennials, who beat the Vees in their only previous meeting of the season.

Beau Bennett had a goal and two helpers and Matt Paltrigdge, Joey LaLeggia, Eric Filiou and Jake Johnson each had two point nights as the Vees offense had an explosive outing in front of 1200 delighted fans.

It was 5-0 Vees after a single period, there were four fights in the second frame and Merritt Centennial Derek Hills finally spoiled Joel Rumpel’s shutout bid in the third period on a breakaway deke.

The shot clock was also tilted the Vees way on this night as the home side mustered 52 shots as compared to the Cents 24. 17-year-old net-minder Keith Hamilton was yanked from the game 7:22 into the first period as he surrendered three goals on ten shots. Next in net for the Cents was Penticton product Cole Holowenko who stopped 36 of 42 guided his way.

Joel Rumpel’s 23 saves got him his third win in four games this year. The only loss Rumpel has suffered was against the Centennials in Merritt.

The Vees went 2/6 on the power play and killed of the lone minor they were assessed.

Manderson and Bennett are now sitting 1-2 in league scoring with the pair each having double digit goal and assist totals just 14 games into the season. Garrett Milan now sits 6th in league scoring with 17 points in just 11 games.

The Vees are now (6-0-0-1) on home ice, and sit atop the Interior Conference with the Vernon Vipers holding 3 games in hand while sitting 3 points back.

The Vees now have 10 days without a game and will break for two days before resuming practice. October 21st the Vees hit the ice again as they open an island road swing with a game in Bear Mountain Arena against the Victoria Grizzlies.

VEES vs. VIPERS

Great to see over 2000 fans at the SOEC last night. Though the game was certainly not ‘wide-open’ (it never is with Vernon’s emphasis on defense), you could see that the skill level was very high on both sides of the ice. Both teams had a fair amount of quality chances (the Vees hit two posts and Trupp missed a yawning cage, and Bonar made multiple big stops on redirected Vernon shots) and those in attendance weren’t disappointed with the quality of hockey and were treated to an extra period.

Denver Manderson’s season long point streak was halted at 12 games. The Vees captain had a glorious chance to stretch his productive run to 13 games in the first period, but could not convert.

Dylan Walchuk impressed me immensely last night. Just 17-years-old and in his first year of Jr. ‘A’, Dylan was noticeable every time he stepped on the ice. Northern Michigan has found a good one in Walchuk.

A note on the three star selection process - we in the broadcast booth (Chad Campbell, Al Formo and myself) are given a sheet to fill out with 3 minutes left in the game. Last night it was tied 1-1 when we had to select the stars. Certainly if we had named the stars following the game’s finish Rob Short would have been on the list and the Vipers would have had two of three stars. It’s not an easy thing to do while you are trying to broadcast a game, never mind when the game’s outcome hasn’t been determined yet, and we probably look a touch silly today because of it.

We called Rob Short a ‘Vees killer’ in the pre-game show last night and in his first game back from injury he certainly lived up to the billing as his OT shot bounced in off a sprawling Vees defender in front of Bonar. ‘Bones’ has allowed just 3 goals in his last 3 games (182 minutes and 30 seconds) and two have banked in off defenders.

Jake Johnson had a heck of a debut for the Vees, as he was full speed all night long and looked very comfy in his new surroundings. His shot off the crossbar in the third period was a laser!

These two clubs won’t meet again until December, I can’t wait!

CENTENNIALS VISIT VEES TONIGHT

Expect a change of pace with the Merritt Centennials in town tonight. While the Vipers have surrendered less than two points a game to their opponents the Cents haven’t been nearly as stingy. Merritt has allowed over 5 goals a game and are tied with Trail as the easiest team to score against in the BCHL.

The Vees lost 5-4 in Merritt two weeks ago with Ben Sexton, Sean Bonar, Garrett Milan, and Joey LaLeggia absent from the contest.

The Vees have killed off 18 consecutive penalties taken heading into tonight’s action and are up to 78% on the year.

Joel Rumpel gets the nod tonight for the Vees. The rookie net-minder’s only loss came in Merritt on the 29th of September, where Joel had a less than stellar outing.

The Vees have ten days with no hockey after tonight’s home game. The Vees next action is on the 21st of October in Victoria, as they make their trip only to Vancouver Island all season. Anything but two points tonight would leave a bitter taste in the mouth and too much time to look in the mirror… Not the best use of a break in the schedule.

THANKSGIVING

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all who have stopped by the Vees Blog. While I’ll miss the big bird with the family in Calgary this weekend, I’m heading back to the City of Cow on Tuesday for some quality time with the fam.

All the best to you and yours on Thanksgiving, as Vees fans we certainly have been treated to quite an opening of the season. Be with the ones you love and enjoy the stuffing, gravy and pumpkin pie!

For the Vees Thanksgiving traditions be sure to tune into ‘Boston Pizza Vees This Week’ on Monday night, as we find out what’s on the dinner table around across the country at the homes of the Vees. It’s mouthwatering radio!

In a battle of the top two teams in Canada, the Vees and Vipers needed overtime to determine a winner on Saturday night.

Two and half minutes into 4-on-4 play, Rob Short’s shot that bounced off a defender and between Sean Bonar legs stood as the winner, as the Vipers prevailed 2-1.

The Vees were undefeated at home in their previous five games, but still managed to earn a point against their dreaded rivals from Vernon.

Alex Szczechura scored the lone goal for the Vees in a fantastic individual effort down the left wing. Joey Holka had an assist on that goal, which was scored with 4:49 remaining in the third period and forced overtime.

Mike Collins opened the scoring for the Vipers in the second period with Jonathan Milhouse and Braden Pimm adding assists.

Sean Bonar was true on 25 of 27 Shots. Graeme Gordon earned his first win against the Vees with 24 Stops and allowed just one goal.

Both teams played a disciplined brand of hockey with each team killing off two penalties in the game.

Up next for the Vees is a Saturday affair with the Merritt Centennials – a team that beat a short-staffed Vees club last Tuesday.

The national rankings had the Vipers and Vees ranked 1 and 2 respectively coming into tonight’s games. Next week’s CJHL rankings come out on Monday.

After the Vees game on Saturday with the Centennials, the club will have 10 days between games before they resume regular season action in Victoria on the 21st of October.

* The Vees and the Vipers are 1-2 in today’s release of the CJHL national rankings. Vernon has been sitting in top spot all season (and beyond), while the Vees got an honourable mention in week one, were moved up to 6th in week two, continued to rise to 3rd in week 3 and now are one back of their hated rivals. The Okanagan rivals will play on Friday in Penticton at the SOEC. If you like hockey, I trust you’ll be in attendance. This is an early candidate for game of the year. ValleyFirstTix.com or the SOEC box office for tickets.

* Goaltender Josh Watson (90) of the Powell River Kings has been named the BCHL ‘Player of the Week. The import net-minder was spectacular this week going (4-0-0) with two clean sheets, helping the Kings claim sole possession of first place in the Coastal Conference.

Week two ‘P.O.W.’ F - Mark Zengerle (89) had another monster weekend, this time posting 4 goals, 9 assists, and 13 points in 3 games played. That’s over 4 points a game! Zengerle now sits just 2 points back of Denver Manderson in the BCHL scoring race.

* The Nanaimo Clippers aren’t the power house they once were. After four consecutive seasons with the BCHL’s best record in the regular season (from 04/05 until 07/08) the Clippers finished ninth overall last year and are struggling early this year in a wide open Coastal Conference. The Clippers were shutout on Friday and Saturday and now sit in the basement of the Coastal Conference. To add salt to the wound on Friday Night former Clippers assistant Nolan Graham bested Bill Bestwick’s Clippers in a classic case of the student beating his professor.

The Clippers have not won at home yet this year, they are the only BCHL team that hasn’t. It’s not that Nanaimo is a bad club, it’s just that they haven’t been able to win close games. The Clippers have lost six one goal games this year, three of those in OT. The Clippers goal differential is just minus - 4.

* The Penticton Vees accomplished something that hadn’t been done since April 10th on Saturday, as the Blue Black and White handed Vernon their first loss in 22 games. The Vipers were previously unbeaten in seven regular season contests, four pre-season matches, didn’t lose at the RBC Cup (National Championship round robin and playoffs) in Victoria, swept the AJHL champion Grande Prairie Storm, and then of course won game six of the BCHL final against Powell River (wow).

The Vipers were not shutout once last year. Sean Bonar is the first net-minder to hold Vernon off the score sheet since former Vees puckstopper Alex Evin (seen above facing Vernon in Memorial Arena) did it on March 8th of 2008, in the second round of the playoffs (the Vees won the Fred Page Cup that season).

For more game reaction from Saturday’s game as well as all other Vipers news head to the Vipers Die Hard Fan Blog.

* The Merritt Centennials suffered a late heart break on Sunday in West Kelowna as the team watched the Warriors bury two goals in the last five minutes of play to the the game, and then another in OT to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Musical goalies continue in Merritt as well as they’ve added a WHL cut to their squad. Also the club shipped Tyler Miller to his home town of Prince George after being dropped by the WHL’s Cougars ($10 say he never even left town). Brian Wiebe has the latest and thinks there’s more in the works as well.

* After opening the season undefeated in regulation through their first six games, the Burnaby Express have found out how difficult wins are to earn in the Interior. After a 7-2 spanking in Salmon Arm on Friday, the pain train’s next stop was Trail were the Smokies earned just their second win of the year in a 5-4 OT triumph. Making matters worse was a 4-2 Sunday loss in Vernon for the club’s third defeat in 48 hours. With just a single point earned from a possible six, the Express have been dumped off their throne and are now right back in the pack in the Coastal Conference.

Burnaby broadcaster and blogger Eddie Gregory may have seen this this coming.

* A couple great games with ramifications on Interior Conference standings go down Tuesday night in the BCHL. In the Caribou the Quesnel Millionaires visit the Prince George Spruce Kings for the second time this year. Quesnel won round one by a 4-1 score, and are a single point up on their rivals from PG for fifth in the Interior Conference.

Also, Trail visits Merritt for the second time this year (the sight of their season-opening loss), with both clubs playing much better hockey than they were just two weeks ago. The Smokies have points in 3 of 4 games, while the Cents beat Penticton last week and nearly beat Westside on Sunday. Seeds five through nine are looking pretty jumbled right now in the Interior, but we may have a clearer picture come Wednesday.

The Penticton Vees bought themselves some breathing room atop the Interior Conference standings on Saturday with a 2-0 win over the Vernon Vipers in Vernon.

For the Vipers it was their first loss since the month of April as the club finished the 2009 post-season with eleven straight wins, added four more in the preseason, and were undefeated in seven regular season contests. The defending national champions were shutout by Sean Bonar who turned aside all 35 shots he faced.

Denver Manderson opened the scoring with a short-handed marker late in the second period after stealing a puck at the Vernon blue-line. Manderson leads the league with eleven goals and 28 points in eleven games.

Alex Szczechura made a fantastic play on the second goal of the game out muscling a Vernon defender and getting a shot on net from in close. While Szczechura didn’t score, Joey Holka was there to pot his sixth of the season on the rebound. Holka has now tripled his 2008/2009 goal total of two.

Graeme Gordon made 13 saves on 15 shots in the loss - his first of the season. Gordon came into the game with the top goals against average and save percentage in the BCHL.

Sean Bonar’s shutout was his first of the season, the Princeton bound net-minder is now (7-1-0) in his sophomore season.

Neither team scored on the power play as the Vees made it two games in a row without allowing a goal while down a man. The Vees allowed a power play goal against in their first nine games, but have killed eleven straight.

The Vees power play couldn’t find the net in five opportunities. It’s the first time all year Penticton hasn’t scored a power play goal.

The Vees lead the Interior Conference at (9-2-0-0) while Vernon sits four points behind at (7-1-0-0). The Vipers host the Burnaby Express Sunday afternoon to close out their weekend. The Vees are in action on Wednesday as they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals for their only visit to Penticton this season.

The Vees and Vipers will meet again on Friday night at the SOEC in Penticton. For tickets head to the SOEC box office or log onto ValleyFirstTix.com.