Vees start tough stretch of games in Prince George
Challenging pair of three-game weekends ahead for Penticton
Adifficult stretch of six games over the next two weekends could make or break the Penticton Vees’ chances of winning a seventh straight Interior Division pennant.
The Vees (26-9-2-3) start it off with a long trip to play the Prince George Spruce Kings tonight at 7 p.m., and the quick turnaround for home games against the Merritt Centennials Friday at 7 p.m. and Trail Smoke Eaters at 6 p.m. at the SOEC.
Another set of back-to-back-to-backs awaits the Vees next weekend as they make the long trek to Powell River Jan. 26, followed by visits to Cowichan Valley Jan. 27 and an afternoon tilt against the Victoria Grizzlies — the BCHL’s hottest team — on Jan. 28.
“If we can win some games here and stay in the same position by the end of January, I like our chances,” said Harbinson. “Obviously it’s a lot of travel and a lot of games.”
The Vees, who have won four and tied one so far in 2018, are in the middle of a heated four-team race in the Interior Division. They didn’t get any help Tuesday night as Wenatchee Wild won 4-3 in Merritt and Vernon Vipers won 5-0 in West Kelowna.
The Vees slipped to third place in the Interior, six points behind Vernon, one point behind Wenatchee, while remaining one point ahead of Trail.
The Vees, however, have four games in hand on Vernon and three in hand on Wenatchee and Trail.
Penticton will be bolstered tonight by the return of top-six forward Cassidy Bowes, who missed six games with an upper-body injury.
But forward Taylor Ward and defenceman Michael Campoli – both out with upper-body ailments – won’t return until the following weekend. Defenceman Nicky Leivermann (upper-body) is out at least a few more weeks.
Harbinson said Leivermann – who had surgery last week — is flying back to Penticton Friday. He’s making good progress and could return shortly after the upcoming six-game stretch.
Throw in the fact standout rookie forward Massimo Rizzo will miss tonight’s game due to an illness, and the Vees will be patching things together once again.
“We’ve got enough forwards if we can through practice unscathed,” quipped Harbinson. “We’ll have to play short one on defence (tonight) but we’ll hopefully be able to get an AP (affiliated player) for the two home games.”
The coach said if the Vees can get some bodies back, he likes the upside of the team going down the stretch and into the post-season.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys we’ve brought in recent weeks that are only going to get better,” Harbinson said.
He pointed to forward Wyatt Sloboshan, the former WHL veteran who was off the ice for three weeks, who was terrific in the 6-2 win over Chilliwack on Saturday.
Campoli and fellow blueliner James Miller hardly played at all this season before joining the Vees from the college ranks. Veteran forward Chris Klack looked back near the top of his game on the weekend after missing 26 games due to injury.
“It’s going to be a process with Bowes, too,” said Harbinson. “We’ve got 18 games here to piece it all together. I’m really excited where we can go with this.”
The coach expects a tough test against Prince George, which has one of the best home records in the BCHL. The Vees edged the Spruce Kings 2-1 in overtime when the teams met Jan. 5 in Penticton.
“They (the Spruce Kings) are a real good story,” said Harbinson. “They’re an extremely hard-working team that is right there battling for first place (in the Mainland Division).”
The Kings (21-13-4-4) are tied for first place with Langley and Surrey, with PG having played one fewer game.
Vipers 5 Warriors 0: First-period goals by Keyvan Mokhtari, Brett Stapley and Connor Marritt sparked Vernon to a 5-0 victory over West Kelowna Tuesday at Royal LePage Place.
Jagger Williamson in the second period and Alex Swetlikoff in the third also scored and Ty Taylor made 26 saves for his second straight shutout.
Vernon (29-10-1-4) leads Wenatchee by five points for first place in the Interior.
Nik Amundrud made 37 saves for the Warriors (21-20-1-1).
On Friday, Vernon visits Prince George while West Kelowna travels to Trail. West Kelowna hosts Salmon Arm Saturday at 7 p.m. while Vernon visits Coquitlam on Sunday afternoon.