Vees fans hyped for tonight’s game
Expect Vees Super Fan Jon Race at Penticton’s playoff opener against Merritt tonight; he hasn’t missed a game in 11 years
He’s often called Slash or Howard Stern because of his long, curly black hair.
A moniker Jon Race much prefers is “Penticton Vees Super Fan.”
The longtime Penticton resident will be among the — hopefully — thousands of fans wearing blue tonight at the South Okanagan Events Centre when his beloved Vees open their BCHL junior A hockey playoffs against the Merritt Centennials.
Race, a painter and auto-body worker, has been a season-ticket holder for the past 11 years. During that time he hasn’t missed a single regular season or playoff game in Penticton.
“I’ve had to say no to a lot of Christmas parties over the years, and there have been nights when I haven’t felt the best, but I’m here. It’s hockey season and I love to support this team,” he said.
Race and his friend, Keith Hodgins, share three tickets between them in Section 110, always having a spare in case a family member wants to join them. (Hodgins’ attendance is also stellar, but he has missed the occasional game.)
Race lives only a block from the arena and walks to the games.
He wears a trademark black top hat — but usually only to home games. His assigned seat at the SOEC is in the back row where his hat doesn’t block anyone’s view.
He travels to some road games, either on a fan bus or in his own car. He’s such a fan of junior A hockey in general that if the Vees happen to be off he will drive to West Kelowna to watch the Warriors play a team other than the Vees.
Years ago he bought a cheap hat because, with his long hair, he thinks he looks clownish in a ball cap. His top hat gimmick stuck, and he’s since upgraded to an expensive one with the brim adorned by hockey pins — including one for the Centennials.
His house resembles a sports bar with all kinds of Penticton Vees’ memorabilia, including 21 different jerseys. His favourite Vee of all-time? “That’s a tough one,” he said, picking Brad McClure and Wade Murphy as two of his favourites.
Twenty-one days. It’s been that long since the Penticton Vees have played a competitive game, an eternity in junior hockey. Hometown fans will be reintroduced to their team when the Vees battle Merritt Centennials tonight in what will be their playoff debut.
Game time is 7 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre. It will be the first game in a best-of-seven quarter-final series, which continues on Saturday at 6 p.m., again at the SOEC. The series will then shift to Merritt for back-to-back games.
“It’s good in that we’re all healthy and we’ve had a chance to work on our game,” Vees coach Fred Harbinson said prior to Thursday morning’s practice.
“The only reason it was bad is if we let it be bad. If we want it to be an excuse — we’re rusty, our timing’s off — then there’s the excuse. There’s nothing we can do about the (playoff) set-up. We can use it to our advantage and we have.”
The Vees sat out the first round of playoffs on a bye. Meanwhile the Centennials beat the defending Canadian champion West Kelowna Warriors in four straight.
Harbinson said the team tweaked its practice format. The first week was spent on skills testing where players were able to draw comparisons with the top junior players in Canada.
“The second week we broke up every aspect of our game, zone by zone, working on drills that would help every element of our game,” the coach explained.
“The past week has been a regular week, which the guys are used to. They’re excited knowing playoffs are right around the corner. Let’s go beat on someone else other than ourselves.”
The Vees won six of seven regularseason games against Merritt, including two which were decided in overtime. Harbinson and his staff scouted all four games of the Merritt-West Kelowna series in person. Two of the four victories by the Centennials were in overtime.
“They’re a deep team,” he said of tonight’s opponent. “They have one line that puts up a lot of points. After that, their two, three and four lines are all exactly the same. There’s not a weak line on their team. It makes it challenging because none of our lines can take the night off because they will have someone who will expose them.”
The Vees are healthy and have no scratches due to injury. They’ve also added several affiliate players for the remainder of the season, including highly-touted 15-year-old Massimo Rizzo.
“We’ve played 58 tight games this year, if we’re not ready now, I don’t know when we will be ready,” Harbinson said.
Fans are encouraged to wear blue to all home games in support of the local team.
Single-game tickets are $16 (adults) and $14 (seniors). Students ages 18-and-under are free courtesy of Peters Bros. Construction. For tickets, visit the SOEC box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., log on to ValleyFirstTix.com or phone 1-877-763-2849.