Vees without captain, Rizzo, top centres to start the season
Strength down the middle is widely considered to be a vital component for most hockey teams.
For the Penticton Vees — opening the BCHL season without two key players they project to be offensive centres — there are going to be some challenges.
Captain Massimo Rizzo was expected to slot in as the No. 1 centre. When healthy, he certainly has the tools and talent to handle that role, but Rizzo will not be ready for Friday’s opener in Langley due to an upper-body injury.
The Vees remain optimistic he could be back for a two-game road trip to Cowichan Valley and Victoria on Sept. 14-15, but it could be a few more weeks before the 17-year-old star shakes off the rust after not playing for a few months.
Cassidy Bowes, who had shoulder surgery in the off-season, will be back for the home opener Sept. 29 at the earliest. Bowes, 19, is being counted on as a centre on one of the top lines.
Vees president, GM and head coach Fred Harbinson noted he is currently utilizing players at centre who are probably better fitted to playing the wing.
Generally speaking, it’s easier to convert a centre to the wing than vice-versa. A centre is usually the primary puckhandler and playmaker on a line, and also has to deal more with faceoffs and defensive-zone responsibilities.
“We’ve got (Jack) Barnes at centre and he has and can play there,” said Harbinson. “(Matthew) Byrne is in the middle (on the fourth line), though he’s not really a centre.
“We’re going to have to play things a lot smarter until we get things sorted out.”
Ryan Miotto and David Silye — acquired in off-season trades from Chilliwack and Nanaimo, respectively — saw plenty of time as the top two centres in the three preseason games.
Silye, who scored twice, looked comfortable as a pivot on one of the top two lines and on the power play. Miotto looked good and scored against West Kelowna but was one of many Vees who struggled at times in the back-to-back losses to Wenatchee on the weekend.
With only 12 forwards on the roster and two extra defencemen, the Vees mixed and matched against Wenatchee and the results were — not surprisingly — somewhat fragmented.
“We’ll go with the 12 forwards when the season starts,” said Harbinson. “At this stage of the season, it just gets things discombobulated. We need to work on getting chemistry with our forward lines.”
It is also worth noting that Wenatchee had 12 players ages 19 and 20, while the Vees dressed only seven.
The Vees, in fact, have just three 20-yearolds on the roster and one of them is new goaltender Jack LaFontaine (the other two are defencemen James Miller and Kenny Johnson). So if Harbinson decides a few more veterans are needed, he has three 20-year-old spots open.
But he may just stand pat — at least until Rizzo and Bowes return. Even without them, the Vees still have some talented forwards, a deep and mobile defence corps and two quality goalies in the veteran LaFontaine and the rookie Derek Krall.
Losing two exhibition games to a veteran Wild team doesn’t change that.
“It’s a young group that is going to take some teaching and endure some growing pains,” admitted Harbinson. “Developing good habits, learning what it takes to play and be effective in this league . . . and I’m really excited about working with them. Our entire coaching staff is excited. We really like the makeup of this team.”
The Vees will certainly be tested early as they play their first six games away from the friendly confines of the South Okanagan Events Centre. Two of the six games will be at a neutral site in Chilliwack as they play Surrey and Prince George on Sept. 20-21 in the annual Bauer BCHL Showcase.
I expect the Vees to be totally fine in the first month, though a 6-0 record going into the Sept. 29 home opener against Alberni is probably unrealistic.
What will be interesting will be to see how far the Vees progress by the time they see Wenatchee — the defending BCHL champion — for the first time in the regular season. That won’t be until Nov. 28 in Wenatchee.
SCHOOL’S IN: Hard to believe that summer is nearly over and students and teachers have returned to the classroom.
It also means that autumn school sports such as cross country, field hockey and volleyball get going again.
And with that, a friendly reminder to teachers/coaches that the Herald will, as always, be delighted to run scores and reports from all games and competitions. Ditto for the other local non-school sports organizations.
Please feel free to email david.crompton@pentictonherald.ca or call 250-492-4002, ext. 306. I’m in the office from Sunday through Thursday.