vees:blog

Twice this season the Penticton Vees have gone to overtime and twice they they’ve been defeated. Friday Night in Powell River the Vees lost 2-1 with the eventual OT winner bouncing in off a skate to spoil a comeback bid.

Bo Dolan was injured in the OT Loss to Powell River

Alex Szczechura score the game tying goal in the third period, tapping in a puck that Denver Manderson had blasted through Josh Watson, but the Vees could only come up with one point on the night.

Andrew Pettitt’s winner in extra time caromed in off a Powell River skate, but after conferring with his linesman, the referee call the play a goal, which likely indicated no kicking motion, and a legal goal.

Another tough bounce put the Vees down 1-0 late in the second period as Ben Schmidt notched his 7th goal of the season short handed. Denver Manderson won a draw in the offensive zone back to the point, where the puck hopped over the stick of a Vees point-man setting up Schmidt on a short handed break.

While the Vees get a point on the night in an OT loss, their biggest setback may be the loss of Bo Dolan who was taken to hospital after a lower body injury sidelined him in the second period. Dolan is out indefinitely but is in good spirits. His service may be lost for the season.

Josh Watson was spectacular in net for Powell River, setting aside 32 of 33 shots he faced from the Vees. In the crease for the Vees, Joel Rumpel was solid in his second straight start stopping 29 of 31.

Sean Bonar is still out with the swine flu and doesn’t yet have a timetable for a return to the line-up.

Neither team could take advantage of nine power plays on Friday. The Vees finished 0/5 on the man advantage and were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill.

Next up for the Vees is a trip to Burnaby to face the Express at Bill Copland Arena on Saturday. Opening faceoff is slated for 7:30 with the pre-game show starting at 7:15 on EZ Rock. The Vees defeated the Express 8-0 in their first meeting of the season in Penticton.

The Penticton Vees are back to their winning ways after a emphatic 6-1 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday Night at the SOEC.

Ben Sexton was back in the Vees line-up on Wednesday

Eric Filiou and Beau Bennett each had a goal and two assists and Joel Rumpel allowed just a single goal on 21 shots as the Vees recorded their 21st win in their 26th game.

Alex Szczechura scored the only goal in the opening period and then spurred a strong second frame for the Vees that saw them head to the locker room up 5-0 after 40 minutes. After the Silverbacks lone goal in the third period Jake Johnson netted the final goal of the game beating netminder Kurt Williams who played the third period in relief of Tony Ierfino.

Other Vees with multi-point nights were Denver Manderson, Joey Holka and Matt Paltridge. Holka’s 13th of the season was a sight to see as it hit the crossbar, the back of the Silverback net-minder Tony Ierfino and then into the net.

The Vees netted a pair of power play goals in eight opportunities and killed off each of the two minors they were assessed.

Ben Sexton made his return to the line-up in front of 1,500 fans and was deployed as a pivot for Joey Holka and Garrett Milan. Sexton had been out of action since getting injured on the 25th of October in Port Alberni.

Sean Bonar was not with the team on Wednesday as he has caught the swine flu and is in Vancouver recovering away from the team.

The Vees hit the road on Thursday morning to travel up the Sunshine coast to face the Powell River Kings on Friday Night. Saturday the club will face the Burnaby Express before returning back to Penticton early Sunday morning.

You can catch all the upcoming Vees action live on EZ Rock AM 800 in Penticton and on MyEZRock.com with our pre-game show starting at 7:15 on Friday and Saturday.

Make it ten in a row for the Penticton Vees, as they crushed the visiting Victoria Grizzlies 6-2 on Wednesday.

Beau Bennett had a pair of goals and Joey LaLeggia had two assists in their return from the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge. Ryan Viselli, Eric Filiou, Garrett Milan and Denver Manderson also had two point nights as the Vees scored 5 straight after the Grizzlies opened the scoring.

Captain Manderson now has 50 points on the season and has recorded a point in each of his last 10 games. Denver is four points behind Salmon Arm Silverback Mark Zengerle in the BCHL scoring race, with two games in hand.

Americans Luke Curadi and Joey Holka also scored for the Vees who haven’t lost since the 9th of October when Vernon beat them at home in overtime. The Vees remain 3 points back of the Vipers for top spot in the league.

1600 fans saw rookie Joel Rumpel earn his eighth win of the season stopping 26 of 28 shots, as Sean Bonar got a night off after being named the MVP of the World Jr. ‘A’ Challenge on Sunday. At the other end of the ice Colin Fernandes faced 39 shots and suffered the loss.

The Grizzlies got goals from Gregory Simpson and Nick Buchanan in a losing cause with Alex Allan, Dustin Mowrey, Brad Pawlowski and Joel Lowry adding assists.

The Vees power play went 2/4 with all four man-advantages coming in the third period. In the second the Vees took their only two penalties, and killed them both.

Earlier in the day Adam Zamec was traded to the Wellington Dukes of the CCHL in Ontario for future considerations. Pentictonite Logan Johnston has been named an alternate captain of the club with his departure.

Next action for the blue, black and white is a home-and-home series with the Westside Warriors, which kicks off on Friday night at the SOEC in Penticton. Both games start at 7:00 PM with the pre-game show starting at 6:45 on EZ Rock.

The Penticton Vees needed a late goal on the power play but have won their ninth game in a row with a tight 2-1 decision in Langley on Saturday Night.

After trading goals in the first period of play the Vees and Chiefs were deadlocked at one apiece for over half the game before Alex Szczechura put the Vees ahead on the power play with just 2:44 remaining in the game.

Bo Dolan registered a pair of assist and Logan Johnston wacked in his 6th of the season in low scoring second meeting between these teams in as many days. Denver Manderson stretched his point streak to 9 games with an assist on the winner and Isaac MacLeod also had a helper in the Vees 19th win of the season.

Joel Rumpel set aside 24 of 25 shots to earn his third win since Sean Bonar departed for the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge. Andrew Walsh was much improved for the Chiefs on Saturday, as he stopped 27 of 29 shots a night after allowing seven goals.

The Vees power play ended up 1/9 on the night, while they killed every penalty they took.

The Vees are now 19-2-0-1 to start the season, but haven’t been able to gain any ground on the Vernon Vipers who beat Quesnel on Saturday night and haven’t lost since September.

Next action for the Vees comes on Wednesday as they host the Victoria Grizzlies at 7:05 at the SOEC.

The Penticton Vees have now won 8 games in a row after beating the Langley Chiefs 7-2 at home on Friday night. The Vees remain undefeated in regulation at the SOEC and will look to improve their road record on Saturday as they close out their home-and-home and two games season series with the Chiefs in Langley.

The Vees took advantage of an undisciplined Langley squad in the first period going 3 for 4 on the man advantage, outshooting the Chiefs 26-6 as they went to the locker room up 4-0. While the game wasn’t over after 20 minutes, it certainly appeared out of reach for an overmatched Langley team that struggled to create scoring chances against a quicker and more skilled Vees club.

Garrett Milan potted a pair of goals and was named the first star of the game. While Denver Manderson chipped in with 3 points and Jake Johnson added a pair of goals as both Vees stretched their league leading point streaks to 8 games.

Other Vees with multi-point nights included Bo Dolan and Alex Szczechura. Joey Holka potted his 11th of the year and Byron Sorensen and Eric Filiou had lone assists in the Vees 18th victory of the season.

The Langley Chiefs got goals from defenders Matt Cronin and Ryan Bakken, while Vees net-minder Joel Rumpel set aside the other 22 of 24 directed his way. Andrew Walsh was lit up for seven goals on 45 shots before getting the hook in the third period to make way for Wyatt Waselenchuk who stopped all five shots he saw.

The Vees killed both Langley power plays, while going 5 of 11 on the night with the man-advantage. The Vees have killed 49 of 51 penalties since the end of September.

Tomorrow the Vees will make their first visit to the Langley Events Centre with the opening faceoff set for 7PM. You can catch the pre-game show at 6:45 on EZ Rock, BCHL Pay-Per-View, MyEZRock.com, and at the BCHL.ca Audio Scoreboard.

Friday was also a victorious day for the Vees participating at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. Beau Bennett scored his third goal of the tournament in a 6-3 Team USA win over Russia, while Joey LaLeggia and Sean Bonar were part of a 9-1 Canada West beat down of Team Canada East in front of their own fans.

The World Junior A Challenge gold medal game is Sunday at 1PM (PST) and can be seen on TSN2.

The Penticton Vees are sad to see the month of October end after a 4-1 win over the Merritt Centennials that moved the club to 10-0-0-1 in the second month of the BCHL season.

Billy Faust earned his first career BCHL win and the Vees vaulted over Vernon and into first place in the Interior Conference with their seventh consecutive win on Saturday. The Vees have earned 21 of 22 points in October while outscoring their opponents 55-12 over the eleven game streak.

Saturday saw the Vees pepper the Cents with 42 shots while allowing just 18. A flu shortened Centennials bench was no match for the Vees short bench with three players at the World Jr. ‘A’ Challenge in Prince Edward Island and another gone to injury.

Logan Johnston was the games first star and only player to record a multi-point night as he rifled in his fifth of the year on a wicked wrister and set up Eric Filiou’s sixth of the season. Garrett Milan added his twelfth of the year on a shot from in close and Ryan Viselli’s sixth of the year opened the scoring as he tucked home a back-hand in the first period.

Denver Manderson and Jake Johnson bumped their point streaks to seven games as each added an assist in the win.

The Centennials lone goal came at the 16:35 mark of the third period that spoiled Billy Faust’s shutout bid. Alex Valenti whacked in a puck in the slot and Colton Sobchek and Derek Hills drew assists. Riley Wall made 38 saves on 42 shots in his first BCHL game of the season, playing as an AP for the Centennials.

The Vees did not score a goal over the weekend, but were perfect on the penalty kill. On Friday the Vees ended up 0/4 on the man-advantage, but were perfect in killing all three minors assessed to the club.

Next up for the Vees are the Langley Chiefs who will visit Penticton on Friday then host the Vees on Saturday from the brand new Langley Events Centre.

Not much rust on the Vees. That’s the consensus after a 3-1 Vees victory over the Victoria Grizzlies in Penticton’s first game since October 10th.

The Vees opened their four-game Island road swing with a win in the provincial capital on Wednesday and in the process closed out the first quarter of the season with a sparkling record of 12-2-0-1.

Denver Manderson recorded his 13th goal of the season, set up by a nifty play from Beau Bennett as the Vees opened the scoring 4-on-4. Just eight seconds later, still 4-on-4, Garrett Milan made it 2-0 with his tenth of the season, when Jake Johnson spotted him alone in front. Johnson now has 3 points in as many games for the Vees since arriving from the USHL.

Alex Szczechura continues his strong rookie campaign as the 19-year-old added his eighth goal of the year to put the Vees up 3-1. Beau Bennett, Byron Sorensen, Joey Holka, Jake Johnson and Isaac MacLeod all had an assist in the game.

Sean Bonar allowed a single goal as the Vees continued their stingy defensive play in October. The team has allowed just six goals in six games in the Halloween month. Bonar now has nine wins on the year and lowered his goals against average to 2.11 while boosting his save percentage to .930

Brandon Fagerheim and Wesley Myron had assists on captain Jordan Heywood’s goal in the loss for the hosts. Richard Virtanen made 28 saves on 31 shots, and absorbed his fifth loss of the season.

Neither team scored on the power play as the Vees killed three penalties and the Grizzlies killed four. The Vees haven’t allowed a power play goal against since September 29th in Merritt.

The Vees now sit in second in the Interior Conference five points behind the Vernon Vipers with a game in hand. The two Okanagan teams have the top two records in The BCHL and are both ranked in the top 4 in the country.

Next Vees action comes from Cowichan Valley on Friday night at 7:30 when they face Capitals in the first of three games in 24 hours. The Pre-game show starts at 7:15 on EZ Rock AM 800, and myezrock.com

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.

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.

It was another game at the South Okanagan Events Centre, and another win for the Interior Conference leading Penticton Vees on Wednesday.

The Vees now have five wins in as many attempts on home ice after a 6-1 defeat of the Cowichan Valley Capitals.

Denver Manderson added 3 assists to move his league-leading total to 31 points and stretch his streak to twelve games with at least a point. Fifteen Vees recorded a point on Wednesday as the Vees got goals from 6 different scorers, included Adam Zamec who made his season debut after off-season surgery.

Sean Bonar was stellar in the crease for the Vees allowing just a single goal to Shaun Mueller, which caromed in off a defender’s skate. Bonar stopped 27 of 28 shots for his league leading eighth victory of the season.

Newly acquired goalie Alexandre Peck allowed four goals on 23 shots in 40 minutes of work, while 15-year-old rookie Laurent Brossoit allowed two goals in a relief stint in the third period.

Beau Bennett notched his ninth of the year, but his first of the season at even strength. Bennett is tied for second spot in BCHL goal scoring. Other Vees snipers on the night included Logan Johnston, Matt Paltridge, and Ben Sexton each getting their second goals of the year and Garrett Milan deflecting in his 6th of the year.

The Vees power play was back at it tonight going 3/6 with the man advantage, while the penalty kill negated all five minor penalties. The Vees have now killed off sixteen consecutive advantages for their opponents over four games.

The Vees now sit at 10-2-0-0 on the year, while the Capitals are dropped to 3-6-0-1 with games against Trail, Westside, and Vernon in the next 3 days.

Penticton hosts Vernon on Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre after stopping the Vipers 22 game run of consecutive victories last weekend. The Vipers are the top ranked team in Canada, while the Vees are listed in second slot.

Vees tickets can be purchased at the SOEC box office or at ‘ValleyFirstTix.com’. EZ Rock Broadcasts starts at 6:45.