vees:blog

The ‘55 Vees honoured in Vancouver, a book on the 2010 Canadian Hockey team, Highlights, Hammer and More!

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Vees Press Realease:

The Penticton Vees organization is excited to announce the commitment of Curtis Loik for the 2010/2011 season.

Curtis is a 16-year-old forward who plays for the Vancouver Northwest Giants of the BC Major Midget Hockey League. Curtis has recorded 25 goals and 17 assists in just 24 games this season. The six foot 190 pound forward is currently fifth in the province in scoring, and has helped the Giants to 19 wins in their first 30 games.

Curtis and the Northwest Giants earned one of midget hockey’s highest honours on January 1st as they won the Mac’s Midget Tournament in Calgary after losing in the final in the previous two seasons.

“Cutis posses a combination of skill and size that is coveted by teams at all levels. We are excited to attract another quality play from the Vancouver Northwest Giant organization, which is one of the finest Midget programs in the country.” – Vees Head Coach and GM Fred Harbinson

Curtis represents the fourth member of the Vancouver Northwest Giants to commit to the Penticton Vees in the last 3 years, joining current Vees forward Garrett Milan – last season’s Interior Conference Rookie of the Year, Joey LaLeggia who leads BCHL rookie defenders in scoring, and Steve Iacobellis who committed to the Vees in the Fall and is the current captain of the Northwest Giants.

I caught up with the 16 year old on the phone today…

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The Penticton Vees are riding a six game winning streak after a 4-1 victory over the Quesnel Millionaires on Saturday night.

Photo Credit: Jayson Moonie

Joey Holka had a goal, two assists, and a fight to lead the Vees to their 42 win of the season in front of 1821 fans at the SOEC. Holka – who is committed to St. Cloud State University – now has 24 goals and 44 points in this his second BCHL season.

The Vees punished an undisciplined Quesnel team that took a dozen penalties, scoring all four goals on the power play. The Vees have the top ranked power play in the BCHL converting at 29%.

Early on Holka set up Andrew Pickering for a tap in that had the Vees up 1-0 after twenty minutes. Pickering also had an assist and now has eight points as many games as a member of the Vees.

In the second period Beau Bennett rifled home his 33rd goal of the season on a gorgeous set up from Joey LaLeggia and Bo Dolan. Later in the middle stanza, Holka buried from the slot on a 5-on-3 advantage that put the Vees ahead 3-0 after forty minutes.

In the third period Matt Paltridge netted his eleventh of the season through a screen to put the Vees up by four. Paltridge was named the game’s ‘3rd Star’ with a goal, and an assist, on top of a handful of blocked shots.

Sean Bonar nearly had his 3rd shutout of the season, stopping 14 of 15 shots. Bonar has allowed just 5 goals in his last three starts. ‘Bones’ has 25 wins in this his second season in the BCHL.

Taylor Holst burst Bonar’s shut out bid with a power play goal at 18:27 of the third period. The Mills finished one-for-four on the man advantage.

Vees Alex Szczechura and Denver Manderson did not play after both suffering injuries last night in Merritt. Still out with Mono is Eric Filliou, though he has resumed skating without contact. Manderson took warm up on Saturday, and will likely play on Wednesday against Alberni Valley.

Kirby Halcrow was the surprise starter for the Mills, and was great early. The 18-year-old net-minder stopped 35 of 39 shots but lost his 21st game of the season.

Beau Bennett’s point streak is now stretched to 11 games, while Joey LaLeggia has points in his last twelve. Beau leads all rookies with 95 points, while Joey is the top scoring rookie defender with 49 points on the season.

The Vees remain a single point back of the Vernon Vipers in the race for top spot in the Interior Conference. Vernon beat Langley 5-1 at the Wesbild Centre on Saturday night.

Next up for the Vees is a Wednesday hosting of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The Vees beat the dogs 4-3 way back on October 25th in the only previous meeting of the season.

With 23 days until the conclusion of the BCHL regular season, it’s crunch time.

Here’s a closer look at the schedules of the ‘Big4′ of the Interior Conference.

VERNON VIPERS

vs.LNG, @PR (re-scheduled from Nov 18), @MRT, vs.MRT, vs.PEN, vs.PG, @PEN, @SA, @WS, vs.SRY

Games Remaining - 10 (5 home, 5 away)

Strength of Schedule (average winning percentage of opponants) - .594

Noteworthy - Powell River game to be made up on Feb 4 (Thursday). The Vipers face Penticton, Salmon Arm and Westside on the road over four days in late February.

PENTICTON VEES

vs.QUE, vs.AV, @SA, @TRL, @VRN, vs.MRT, vs.PG, vs.VRN, vs.WS, vs.TRL

Games Remaining - 10 (7 home, 3 away)

Strength of Schedule - .457

Noteworthy - The Vees have 5 home games to close out the regular season, and the league’s top home record.

WESTSIDE WARRIORS

vs.PR, vs.VIC, vs.AV, @TRL, @TRL, vs.TRL, @PEN, vs.VRN

Games Remaining - 8 (5 home, 3 away)

Strength of Schedule - .604

Noteworthy - The Warriors will play three consecutive games against Trail over 5 days.

SALMON ARM SILVERBACKS

vs.WL, @MRT, @TRL, vs.PEN, vs.COW, vs.MRT, @LNG, @MRT, vs.VRN, vs.SRY

Games Remaining - 10 (6 home, 4 away)

Strength of Schedule - .504

Noteworthy - The Silverbacks play 3 games against Merritt, which could be a first round match-up should Merritt finish 5th. Mark Zengerle has 6 of his final 10 games against teams in the bottom six for goals allowed. Translation: He’ll have the opportunity to pile up some points in the scoring race with Denver Manderson.

The Penticton Vees remain a point back of Vernon in the battle for top spot in the Interior, following an 8-2 pounding of the Merritt Centennials on Friday.

Beau Bennett had two goals and two assists to lead the Vees to their 41st win of the season and 21st on the road. Bennett now has 94 points and sits in third spot in the scoring race – leading his nearest competitor of the BCHL rookie class by more than 25 points.

2009 Interior Conference Rookie of the Year - Garrett Milan – had four assists in the win; Milan now has 47 points in as many games.

Denver Manderson also added a goal and two assists in the win before leaving the game in the third period. The Vees captain exited with the game out of reach for precautionary measures regarding a lower body injury. Manderson is probable to play Saturday at home against Quesnel.

Joel Rumpel was solid in the Vees net stopping 37 of 39 Merritt shots. The 18-year-old rookie has 16 wins in 19 starts this season. Penticton product Cole Holowenko was yanked from the Merritt crease late in the second period after allowing 5 goals. Cole Buckley (another Pentictonite) allowed 3 goals in his first game with the Centennials as an affiliate player.

Bruins draft pick, Ben Sexton, continues his stellar second half of the season as he buried two goals in the win. Andrew Pickering had an assist assist against his old former club. The 20-year-old was acquired from the Centennials on the 10th of January and has seven points in seven games with Penticton.

Jake Johnson and Bo Dolan also each added goals in a game that saw a dozen Vees get on the score-sheet. Alex Szczechura had two assists early but left the game after suffering an upper body injury. There isn’t yet a timetable for his return to the line-up.

Trailing 3-0 in the second period, the Centennials got a quick pair of goals from Silvan Harper and Jeff Jones, but the Vees would score the next five to hand Merritt their 30th loss of the season.

The game got physical in the third period and saw fights between Logan Johnston and Steve Tresierra, as well as Bo Dolan and Silvan Harper.

The Vees would finish with a pair of power play goals on five opportunities, while killing off all three Merritt advantages. Just one meeting between these clubs remains; Merritt visits Penticton on the 13th of February.

Saturday night the Vees host Quesnel in the final regular season meeting between the two clubs. Penticton has won all three clashes this season, the latest a 3-2 win in Quesnel a week ago.

Opening face-off is set for 7:05 at the SOEC, while you can catch the Underwriters Pre-Game Show at 6:40.

VEES @ CENTS

The Vees are in Merritt tonight, where they are (1-1-0-0) this season. With Vernon hosting Powell River in a rematch of last season’s BCHL Championships, if the Vees take care of their business in the Nicola Valley Arena it is conceivable they could wake up tomorrow sitting in first place.

Merritt net-minder Keith Hamilton has been recalled by the Portland Winterhawks, meaning Pentictonite Cole Holowenko will get the start for the Cents. Holowenko beat the Vees way back on September 29th in a game that saw the Cents come back to win 5-4.

Another Penticton puck-stopper named Cole has been called up for tonight’s game. Cole Buckley (an affiliate from Revelstoke of the KIJHL) will team up with Holoweko to form an all Penticton goal-tending duo.

One more local boy the Vees will face tonight is Dustin Johnson, who has 2 goals in 3 games against the Vees this season. Johnson leads the Cents with 28 goals and 47 points in 42 games, but has yet to secure an NCAA Scholarship.

Brian Wiebe has the view from the other side including a look at the battle for the last three playoff spots in the Interior Conference.

For the Vees, Joey LaLeggia comes in with a team and league high 10 game point streak (3-12-15), whie Beau Bennett has all kinds of friends in the locker-room with his 9 game ‘helper’ streak (7-19-26). Denver Manderson hasn’t been soft either - the leading scorer in the BCHL has 13 goals and 25 points in his last 8 games. Impressive.

The Vees own the top ranked power play in the BCHL. PP has converted at 33.9% in their last 20 games. Merritt’s penalty kill is ranked 15th in the BCHL.

Opening faceoff is at 7:30. The Underwriters Insurance Pre-Game Show starts at 7:10 on EZ Rock, MyEZRock.com, and at BCHL.ca

THE WESTERN SALUTES MURRAY MAXWELL

Emanuel Sequeira put together a great story in today’s Penticton Western News on Murray Maxwell - who has been with The Vees/Panthers since 1990.

Murray checks a map of Victoria on the Vees visit to the capital back in October

Murray is an absolute pleasure to have around the rink and on the road. I can’t imagine Junior ‘A’ Hockey in Penticton without him. In all 17 rinks around the BCHL Murray is a pseudo celebrity, getting high-fives and hugs from the Kootenays in Trail, North to Prince George, down to the Lower Mainland, over to Vancouver Island and everywhere in between.

Evan Hammond who calls the Alberni Valley Bulldogs games on the radio has labeled Murray the biggest beauty in the BCHL!

WAY TO GO BIG MURR!

VEES BANQUET

The 2009-2010 Vees Awards Banquet & Celebration is a go for Saturday February 20th at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre.

Cocktails at 5:00, Buffett at 6:00, Ceremonies at 7:00. Come shmooze with the Vees! I’ll be MCing and promise to not rap on the mic.

Tickets are $30 and are limited in numbers. All tickets must be purchased in advance. Call Bruce Judd at (250) 488-8695 or email him at BruceJudd(at)Shaw(dot)ca.

Room rates at the Penticton Lakeside Resort are available for you out-of-towners.