Strong crew of returning defenders anticipated to take leadership roles
On Wednesday, The Penticton Herald provided its readers with a review of the group of forwards who will be again wearing Penticton Vees blue this season in BCHL junior hockey.
Today, we feature the five returning defencemen:
THE DEFENDERS
Frank Djurasevic returns to Penticton as the Vees’ captain.
A natural leader, Djurasevic’s simple, steady, and physical game provides the team stability. As well, surprisingly, his offensive production at even strength (27 points) tied him for third amongst all BCHL defencemen.
“I knew Frank was going to be special leader for us right after Christmas 2020,” Vees head coach Fred Harbinson said.
“COVID restrictions were creating all sorts of uncertainty, but Frank came to practice every single day with the drive to get better. At the end of the year, he was named the team’s most improved player. Last season, Frank’s determination was an important reason why I don’t recall our team having one poor practice. Frank will push our team to get better every day again this season, and that is an important reason why he will wear the ‘C’ on his jersey.”
When you face the opposition’s top forwards virtually every shift, you’d expect them to have some success, but don’t tell defender Josh Niedermayer that. Through the Vees’ 17 playoff games last season, Niedermayer was only on the ice for one even strength goal against.
Harbinson has been very impressed with Niedermayer’s development, “He has always been so physically strong for his age, but he adopted a much more determined, confident personality during the playoffs. He was just so hard to play against. I think he has the potential to be the best defensive defencemen in the BCHL this season. Once he applies that confidence to the offensive part of his game, watch out.”
Ryan Hopkins’ game matured considerably over the course of last season, but injuries tripped up the young Maritimer just as he appeared to be taking off.
Despite the injuries, Hopkins still finished last season with an impressive 31 points in 47 games. Harbinson sees considerable growth potential in Hopkins.
“Ryan matured so much over the course of the year. The adjustment to a new league and home took some getting used to, but he absolutely started taking off around Christmas time.
“Ryan began to apply himself more physically, and his shot from the blueline is a cannon. He will be relied upon in all situations this season,” noted the Vees’ bench boss.
To twist a popular expression, “if he beats you, get him to join you,” the Vees traded for Owen Simpson last season after a Vees’ loss to Cowichan Valley.
“I remember Owen skating past our bench and challenging us. That game was like Cowichan winning the Stanley Cup, and he was a big reason why they won,” said Harbinson.
Simpson progressed throughout the year, but really accelerated in the playoffs.
Harbinson agrees, “His best four games of the season were his last four. His confidence really took off, and he got harder and harder to play against.”
Simpson has all the makings of being a go-to defender for the Vees this season.
With two older brothers playing professional hockey as defencemen, perhaps it was inevitable that Mason Poolman would convert from forward to defence.
In his first season on the backend, Poolman looked like he’d been playing that position his entire life.
“The entire staff was pleasantly surprised. His fitness and work ethic are so good that perhaps we shouldn’t have been. Now, going into this year, we expect Mason to be in the lineup every game, making a strong contribution to the success of the team,” said Harbinson.