Wicked Wednesday offers Mexico vacation, chance for Vees to take over 1st place

Penticton set to host Coquitlam in potential playoff preview tonight

The Penticton Vees will be sending a lucky fan on a vacation to Mexico and hopefully themselves into sole possession of first place in the Interior Division and BCHL overall standings tonight.

The Vees take on the lowly Coquitlam Express in the final “Wicked Wednesday” game of the season, the start of a home-and-home series, and a potential first-round playoff preview at 7 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

As part of the festivities on Valentine’s Day at the SOEC, there will be an in-game raffle for a trip for two to Mexico, including flights and accommodation. Donated by Neil Jamieson of Underwriters Insurance, the package is valued at $2,400.

On the ice, the Vees (35-11-2-3) are looking to bounce back from a rare loss — a 5-2 home-ice defeat to the Vernon Vipers on Saturday.

The result left the Valley arch-rivals tied for first place in the Interior, though the Vees are still in control with seven games left, while Vernon has just five.

If the Vees do win a seventh straight Interior pennant, they will almost certainly be facing Coquitlam (14-25-1-3) in the first round of the playoffs.

The Express are seven points ahead of the reeling Cowichan Valley Capitals for the crossover berth to the Interior playoffs, with each team having only five games left.

The Express have lost five straight but still haven’t given up any ground to the Capitals. On the weekend, the Express lost two games in Prince George by a combined score of 9-1.

Coquitlam was languishing in last place overall earlier in the season but gained some traction after Jason Fortier replaced Barry Wolff as GM and head coach in lateNovember.

Erin Linell leads the Express in goals with 28 and points with 45. Joshua Wildauer leads in assists with 22 and is second in points with 31. Owen Sillinger leads the Vees with 27 goals and 53 points, while defenceman Jonny Tychonick is next with 41 points and a team-leading 32 helpers.

The Vees could get forward Dakota Boutin and defenceman Nicky Leivermann (both out with upperbody injuries) back either tonight or during a three-game weekend road trip to the Lower Mainland.

Penticton makes the return visit to Coquitlam on Friday and continues on to visit the Langley Rivermen on Saturday and the Surrey Eagles on Sunday.

The Vees end the regular season by visiting Salmon Arm next Wednesday (Feb. 21) followed by home games against Wenatchee on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. and Salmon Arm on Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.

Wenatchee is in third place, two points behind the Vees and Vipers with five games remaining.

Meanwhile, there will be two other prizes drawn for tonight. Jim Cressman of Invictus Entertainment has donated six tickets to the upcoming “Slayer” concert in his luxury suite at the SOEC, while the third prize is a one-day Hornet car rental for a race day event at the Penticton Speedway this spring.

Only 5,000 draw tickets will be printed, offering good odds to those who participate.

Proceeds from the raffles will benefit the Penticton school breakfast programs.