Vees win conference, Warriors and Vipers clinch playoff spots
All three B.C. Hockey League teams based in the Okanagan have now clinched playoff berths.
And with their conference title now secure, the Penticton Vees are now just two points away from winning the B.C. Hockey League’s regular season championship.
The Vees clinched the Interior Conference pennant on Friday night with a 6-2 win at home against the Wenatchee Wild. They then moved within striking distance of the league pennant – dubbed the Ron Boileau Trophy – with a 4-1 win on Saturday night in Prince George.
Friday night’s tilt started with Josh Nadeau recording a natural hat trick in the first 11 minutes of the game. Nadeau also scored in the third period, while Brett Moravec and Jackson Nieuwendyk had the other Vees’ goals. Bradly Nadeau had four assists.
Luca Di Pasquo turned aside 32 of 24 shots to pick up the win in Penticton’s net.
Josh Nadeau had another pair on Saturday night in Prince George, as did Aydar Suniev. Vees’ backup netminder Hank Levy earned the win with a 24-save performance.
Besides running away with the team titles, the Vees also lead the league’s top individual player statistical categories.
Bradly Nadeau leads all BCHL scorers with 88 points, followed by Josh Nadeau (87) and Suniev (71).
Di Pasquo leads all BCHL goalies with a 1.66 goals-against average.
Penticton (41-3-0-1) has nine games left in the regular season and returns to action Saturday night in Merritt against the last-place Centennials (11-30-3-2).
WEST KELOWNA 6, TRAIL 5 (OT)
Not to be outdone by their rivals to the south, the West Kelowna Warriors also picked up four points on the weekend, first in a 6-5 overtime win against the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters.
The Warriors were up 3-0 after the first period, but surrendered four straight in the second period and the clubs finished regulation time in a 5-5 draw.
Jaiden Moriello needed just nine seconds of the extra frame to secure the win for West Kelowna. It was his second goal of the game. Christopher Duclair and Isaiah Norlin also tallied for the Warriors, while Cayden Hamming and Angelo Zol shared goaltending duties.
WEST KELOWNA 7, MERRITT 1
Duclair had a pair and five other members of the West Kelowna Warriors also lit the lamp in a 7-1 drubbing of the Merritt Centennials on Sunday.
Duclair opened the scoring just 2:25 into the match and Nic Porchetta scored the eventual winner just over halfway through the opening frame.
Brennan Nelson, Ben MacDonald, Michael Salandra and Rylee Hlusiak were the Warriors’ other goal scorers, while Hamming had to make just 13 saves to pick up the win.
West Kelowna (26-16-4-0) sits third in the Interior Conference standings, seven points behind the Cranbrook Bucks (30-13-1-2) with eight games left in the regular season.
The Warriors return to action Friday night when they host the Bucks at Royal LePage Place at 7 p.m.
CRANBROOK 6, VERNON 5
An early three-goal deficit was too much to overcome as the Vernon Vipers fell 6-5 on Friday night to the host Cranbrook Bucks.
Lee Parks gave the Vipers an early 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game, but the Bucks scored the next four to take control.
Parks and Thomas Thien both scored twice, while Anson McMaster had the Vipers’ other goal, and Ethan David and Roan Clarke split the loss in net.
VERNON 3, TRAIL 1
Hank Cleaves scored twice in the first period as his Vernon Vipers carved out a 3-1 win Saturday night against the host Trail Smoke Eaters.
Water Erickson added the insurance goal for the Vipers, who got a 34-save performance from Clarke.
Vernon (21-19-2-4) is seventh in the Interior Conference standings, one point back of sixth-place Wenatchee and eight points up on eight-place Trail.
The Vipers, who have eight games left on their regular season docket, hit the road this coming weekend for a pair of dates in Prince George against the fifth-place Spruce Kings (23-18-4-1).