Tonight: Vees will battle Merritt in a Game 7 at SOEC

Vees need our support in tonight’s Game 7

Game 7. Those two small words are mythical to any sports fan. Tonight, the Penticton Vees host a seventh-and-deciding game when the Merritt Centennial return to the South Okanagan Events Centre.

For the Penticton Vees, it’s a position they’d rather not be in. The Vees won the regular season and had the better record in head-tohead play. In this series — the Interior division semi-final — the Vees once enjoyed a 3-1 advantage before the Centennials pulled off two one-goal victories.

Vees’ coach Fred Harbinson isn’t panicking, in fact, he’s coined a phrase: “Embrace the moment.”

If there’s ever been a time this year that the Vees have needed fan support, it’s tonight.

The Vees have lived up to their end of the bargain giving us another exciting and entertaining team to watch. Now, as fans, it’s up to us to help support the hometown team.

If you don’t have tickets yet, pick them up during the day or online to avoid missing even one second of the action.

Wear a blue jersey, die your hair, bring a cowbell. Come early, dance in the aisles, and chant “Go Vees Go!” This is what playoff hockey is all about. One of the reasons the current March Madness (go Gonzaga!) tournament or a well-played Super Bowl or Grey Cup are so exciting is because it’s a one-game showdown.

(Never mind that the Vees are guaranteed a spot in the Western Canada Cup. They want to go there as a No. 1 seed, not as the host entry.)

So let’s pull out all the cliches — win, or go home; do or die; get our the golf clubs; live to see another day; for all the marbles, leave it all on the ice. Tonight is Game 7. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

—James Miller, Managing Editor