Vees can clinch Interior title tonight in Trail

The Penticton Vees could be celebrating a sixth straight Interior Division pennant on their long bus ride home from Trail tonight.

Penticton (35-12-2-1) can clinch the division with a victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters in the back end of a home-and-home series at the Cominco Arena. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

The Vees could also clinch with one more loss by the Vernon Vipers, who welcome the league-leading Wenatchee Wild to Kal Tire Place tonight at 7 p.m.

Penticton is also home on Saturday to the Wild, who make their much-anticipated first and only visit to the South Okanagan Events Centre this season in a 6 p.m. puck-drop. Vernon hosts West Kelowna on Saturday, also at 6 p.m.

The Vees lead the Vipers by 10 points, with the Vees having eight games left and Vernon only six.

The Vees also hold the tiebreaker (most wins) in the unlikely event the teams end up even on points after 58 games.

Both teams will have byes in the first round of the playoffs that commence March 3.

The Vees put themselves in position to clinch by tying Wednesday’s game in the last minute and scoring 23 seconds into overtime on a goal by defenceman Gabe Bast to beat the Smoke Eaters 4-3 at the SOEC.

The teams will meet for the seventh and final time tonight. The Vees have beaten the Smokies three times in overtime, while the Smokies won three times in regulation to garner nine points in the six games versus Penticton.

Trail (24-22-5-1) is in third place in the Interior, four points ahead of both West Kelowna and Merritt. Both those teams have played two fewer games than Trail.

Finishing either third or fourth is important for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The game against Wenatchee on Saturday is the start of the final four-game homestand of the regular season for the Vees, who will close it out with three road games.

As of Thursday, the game was already close to a sellout with Vees fans anxious to get a look at the league’s top team.

The Wild (38-8-4) still have a fight to win the Mainland Division pennant, though, as the surging Chilliwack Chiefs are just three points behind at 36-10-5.

The Vees are tied with the Victoria Grizzlies for third overall in the BCHL, with the Vees holding a game in hand. Victoria makes its only visit of the season to Penticton next Sunday afternoon (Feb. 19).

ICE CHIPS: The Vees will once again be without F Taylor Sanheim, who sustained an upper-body injury in last Saturday’s game at Victoria.