Vees/Chilliwack meet tonight in W. Canada Cup
The Penticton Vees played one of their best games of the season against the No. 1 ranked team in the country on Sunday night, according to general manager and head coach Fred Harbinson.
Though the Vees surrendered two late goals and ultimately lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Brooks Bandits, Harbinson said the performance was a great sign going forward at the Sun Life Financial Western Canada Cup competition that Penticton is hosting this week.
“If we keep playing that type of hockey we’ll be a handful for anyone,” Harbinson said. “It was comparable to the way we played in those big (league) wins over Wenatchee, Victoria and Chilliwack near the end of the season.”
The Vees, who have an overtime win over Battlefords and the shootout loss for a total of three points through two games, take on the Chilliwack Chiefs tonight at 7 p.m.
Penticton, of course, beat the Chiefs in overtime in Game 7 of a thrilling BCHL championship series last week.
The Chiefs lost their first game 5-2 to Brooks and played the Portage Terriers in the lone WCC game on Monday night.
Harbinson and his staff attended the game to see who the Chiefs utilized in their injurydepleted lineup.
“We took a lot out of them physically in the finals,” said Harbinson. “We’ve got to keep coming at them (tonight), keep playing with the kind of pace we did against Brooks.”
The Vees led Brooks 3-1 before the Bandits scored with 2:22 to go and then tied the game with 31 seconds left to force a 10-minute 4-on-4 overtime period.
When that decided nothing, a shootout determined the outcome with Brooks winning 2-1 in the fourth round.
The shootout isn’t used in the BCHL, with games not decided in 10 minutes of overtime declared ties. Brooks, however, participates in shootouts regularly in the Alberta league.
“Everybody knew the rules going in so we’re not going to dwell on it,” Harbinson said, adding the Bandits got a fortunate bounce on the 3-2 goal and took advantage of a misread defensively by the Vees to tie it on the 6-on-5 in the last minute.
“We miss an empty-netter by three inches and, to their credit, they come down and tie it,” said Harbinson. “We haven’t done things the easy way all season. We got a point and we just go on from here.”
Harbinson said the Vees are still in good position to possibly play in the championship game (1st vs. 2nd) on Saturday.
On Sunday, the loser of the championship game plays the winner of the 3rd vs. 4th place game for the second RBC Cup berth.
“We can still get one of the two berths to the RBC (May 13-21 in Cobourg, Ont.) and that remains our goal,” said Harbinson.
The Vees’ final round-robin game is Thursday night against the Portage Terriers. Former Penticton junior stars Paul Kariya and Brendan Morrison will be inducted into the Vees Ring of Honour in a ceremony prior to the game.
Harbinson said he’s looking for the fans to come out in numbers to support the Vees. Against Brooks, the No. 1 team in Canada, attendance was 2,900 — well below the crowds the Vees attracted during the BCHL playoff run.
“I understand it was a Sunday night and I’m not calling people out or anything,” said Harbinson. “Our guys have battled hard for the city all season. We’ve got a minimum of two and a maximum of four home games left here this season. We really need everyone to get behind us.”
Harbinson reiterated his earlier sentiment that the level of support at the WCC will dictate whether the Vees decide to table a bid to host the RBC Cup in the near future. Chilliwack is hosting the 2018 RBC.
As for the WCC, there is wide speculation this could be the fifth and final one. That would mean a return to a regional format with the BCHL and Alberta champs meeting in a best-of-seven series, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba doing likewise, with the two regional champs advancing to the RBC Cup.
“I have no idea what the plan is right now but it’s possible we could return to the Doyle Cup format (with Alberta),” said Harbinson. “Right now I am focused solely on this week and doing everything we can to get a berth to the RBC Cup.”
Ironically, the Vees beat Brooks 4-1 in the Doyle Cup the last time it was played in 2012.
ICE CHIPS: In the early game today, Brooks plays Battlefords at 2 p.m. On Wednesday, Brooks plays Portage in the lone game at 7 p.m . . . . Vees G Mat Robson, who had a 26-save shutout in Game 7 of the Fred Page Cup final against Chilliwack, was named BCHL Player of the Week . . . . Chilliwack beat Portage 2-1 last night.