Vees open 2018-19 BCHL season with series of road games
The Penticton Vees have announced their schedule for the 2018-19 regular season.
The Vees will open the season on the road Friday, Sept. 7 at the George Preston Arena against the Langley Rivermen. The home opener will be Saturday, Sept. 29 against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
“We always like to start on the road,” said Vees president, GM and head coach Fred Harbinson. “Getting in that Island trip early in great, too, to give the guys a chance to bond together.”
The schedule features 11 Friday home games, 11 Saturday home games and six “Wicked Wednesday” games.
The Friday and Wednesday games are 7 p.m. starts and the Saturday games are at 6 p.m. except for the regular season finale Feb. 23 against Salmon Arm that starts at 5 p.m.
The Vees will play the Surrey Eagles and Prince George Spruce Kings at the Bauer BCHL Showcase Sept. 20-21. Penticton is 10-0 since the inception of the showcase five years ago.
The most consecutive home games for the Vees is three, which takes place Feb. 15-20, whereas the Vees open the season with six straight games away from the South Okanagan Events Centre (though one of the showcase games is considered a home game).
There are two other occasions where the Vees play four straight on the road — Nov. 23-30 and Jan. 20-27.
“It’s a nicely balanced schedule,” said Harbinson. “We’re always mindful of not overloading a bunch of home games in a row from both a competitive and financial standpoint.”
Other notable dates include the first rematch of the Interior Division semifinal Nov. 10 when the Trail Smoke Eaters are in town.
Penticton has two home-andhome series against their long-time rival Vernon Vipers, Oct. 5-6 and Feb. 8-9.
The Vees open training camp Aug. 20 at the SOEC and again will have a pre-season “rookie” game a few days later (Aug. 22) against the West Kelowna Warriors at Royal LePage Place.
The Vees will also play a home pre-season game against the Warriors Wed., Aug. 29, and a home-and-home exhibition series against the defending-champion Wenatchee Wild Aug. 31 (in Wenatchee) and Sept 1 (at the SOEC).
Meanwhile, all BCHL regularseason and playoff games will once again be carried on the BCHL’s HockeyTV pay-per-view site (http://bchl.hockeytv.com). Fans can also follow games on their mobile devices by getting the HockeyTV app by HockeyTech Inc. in the app store.