Penticton Vees ‘refresh the brains’ on day off at RBC Cup
The Penticton Vees took a deep breath on Tuesday.
Day 4 of the RBC Cup in Cobourg, Ont., saw the Vees as the idle team among the five squads competing for the national Junior A hockey championship. Penticton general manager/coach Fred Harbinson ran a practice and held a team meeting before giving his charges the remainder of the day “to refresh the brains.”
Penticton’s road to the RBC Cup has been a difficult journey. The Vees went the maximum seven games in three BCHL playoff series and then had to win three straight elimination games at the Western Canada Cup in Penticton to advance to Cobourg, some 100 kilometres east of Toronto.
Harbinson downplays the idea his team is worn out, but did admit he’s not happy with how they’ve played in the opponent’s zone so far this week.
Penticton lost 2-1 in overtime to Alberta champion Brooks Bandits on Sunday, managing just 21 shots on goal. The Vees then beat the host Cobourg Cougars 3-2 in overtime on Monday, thanks to Taylor Sanheim converting a cheeky, no-look feed from Nicholas Jones at 6:29 of the extra session.
Brooks (2-0-0), who outlasted the Vees 4-3 in a shootout in pool play at the Westerns and went on to win the event, played the Central champion Trenton Golden Hawks (0-1-1) on Tuesday, while Cobourg (1-0-1) faced the East titleholders, the Quebec League’s Cobras de Terrebonne (1-1-0).
The Vees face the OJHL’s Golden Hawks at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and the Cobras at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday to wind up pool play, and they’re in good shape to land a spot in one of Saturday’s semifinals.
The championship is set for Sunday at 2 p.m.
“The guys understand that we need to find a way to create more offence,” Harbinson said via text message on Tuesday. “At the same time, we’re not going to compromise our play away from the puck to score more goals.
“Our goal has always been to win a national championship and, as of today, we still have that opportunity in front of us.”
This is Penticton’s third trip to the RBC tournament in six years. The Vees lost 2-1 in double overtime to the Eastern champion Carleton Place Canadians in the 2015 semifinals in Portage la Prairie, Man.
Penticton won the 2012 tournament in Humboldt, Sask., rallying from a 3-2 deficit to beat the East’s Woodstock Slammers 4-3.
That Penticton team featured Vancouver Canucks’ defenceman Troy Stecher as well as Minnesota Wild defence farmhand Mike Reilly and Canucks’ farmhand goalie Michael Garteig.
The West Kelowna Warriors won the RBC Cup last year in Lloydminster, Sask. The Warriors beat Brooks in the semifinals.
Penticton (41-13-3-1) finished third this season in the 17-team BCHL and then went the distance in seven-game sets against the Merritt Centennials, Vernon Vipers and Chilliwack Chiefs to claim the playoff crown.
Since Penticton was hosting the Westerns, the Chiefs also advanced to the five-team tourney. Penticton needed to win three straight games to advance to Cobourg after losing 4-2 to Chilliwack in pool play.
The Vees pulled it off, beating the Portage Terriers 5-3, the Battlefords North Stars 4-0 and the Chiefs 3-2.
Chilliwack lost 6-1 to Brooks in the title game at Westerns.
— Steve Ewen