vees:blog

Vees Head Coach Fred Harbinson following Monday’s practice.

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On a dark and wet Wednesday in the Okanagan, the Penticton Vees hit the ice for day one of the 2008-2009 Training Camp in normally desert-like Osoyoos, BC (home to Canada’s hottest climate).

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The 43 players vying for a roster spot are divided into two teams (black and white) who will scrimmage once today, twice Thursday and twice Friday (among other on and off-ice activities) before returning back to Penticton on Saturday and heading into the Mountains for team building on Sunday (bear hunting?!).

The Vees open their four game exhibition schedule Tuesday in Merritt, and open the regular season on September 5th in Westside.

The Vees playing roster must be widdled down from 43 to 23 by the beginning of the regular season.

Here’s a look at Central Scouting’s Final Rankings for the 2008 NHL Draft. Both Zac Dalpe and Joe Colborne are slated as first rounders among North American Skaters.

There should be a few scouts in Memorial Arena tonight!

Here’s the BCHL’s piece on ranked players in BC

Here are the results of the Vees Playoff Picks from the 1st Round of the NHL Playoffs.

1 point for each series winner picked. A bonus point for also selecting the number of games in the series.

Example: 1 point for picking Montreal in 4 Games, 2 Points for picking Montreal in 7 Games, No points for picking Boston in 7 Games

Points Total - Name (bonus points)

9 - Pond (3), Smith (2), Perdicaro (2), Evin (3)

8 - Knudsen (2), Pinder (2)

7 - Maxwell (1), Lebreche (1), Muchalla (1), Hengen (1)

6 - Nill (1), Mountain (0), Manderson (1), Dalpe (1), Kroshus (0), Josepher (1), Westover (1), Hextall (0), Guzzo (1)

5 - Johnston (1), Schneider (1), Krogh (0), McMurphy (0), McKenzie (1), Bettauer (0)

4 - Grossmann (0)

3 - Wagner (0)

Jonathan Huntington reports the success achieved off the ice by Alberta’s Jr. ‘A’ Heavyweight.

That means the Kodiaks will continue to be a hockey force moving forward.

The Penticton Vees are now up to 3rd spot in the Nation.

Here is the list.

Apparently the Brain Surgeons at CJAHL Control think the Kodiaks will prevail at home tonight!

I asked you “Which Vees player has impressed you the most in the playoffs?”

Here are the results of the 77 votes placed:

Austin Smith 18 (23%)

Kyle McMurphy 12 (16%)

Denver Manderson 10 (13%)

Michael Guzzo (write in votes) 9 (12%)

Brett Hextall 8 (10%)

Nobody else got 5 votes, lots got sinlge votes… Including Fred Harbinson!

Surprisingly, the “Other” Option won the Poll with Guzzo written in for about half of those votes.

Global Spectrum and the Penticton Valley First Vees have announced a partnership involving the team and the South Okanagan Event Centre.

Here is Scott Carter the President and GM of the Vees on the agreement at today’s press conference.

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Here are the new CJAHL National Rankings.

The Vees and Clippers are both ranked in the top ten, and are set to clash Friday Night for Game 1 in Penticton.

The Clippers are ranked 4th while the Vees are ranked 7th, making the BCHL the only league with two teams in the top 7. The Maritime Junior ‘A’ Hockey League has 2 teams in the top 8.

The Vees move up to #9.

Those other 8 teams must be really good.