Vees excited for big games this weekend

Penticton finally getting healthy at perfect time; captain expected to make season debut

The Penticton Vees are relieved to be drawing closer to full strength with two key divisional matchups on tap this weekend.

Forward Luke Loheit returns tonight after an eight-game absence due to mononucleosis as the Vees take on the Interior Division-leading Merritt Centennials in a 7 p.m. puck-drop at the Nicola Valley Arena.

Captain/centre Massimo Rizzo (lower-body) makes his season debut and defenceman Kenny Johnson returns from a three-game suspension as the Vees host West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday, 6 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre. “It should give us a bit more jump,” said Vees GM/head coach Fred Harbinson, whose team again played three skaters short in a 3-2 shootout loss to the visiting Coquitlam Express on Wednesday. “I’m proud of the way the guys played, but it gets difficult to play the style we like to employ with the number of bodies we’ve been missing lately.”

After a 65-minute (plus shootout) midweek game with only 10 forwards and five defencemen available, Harbinson kept the players off the ice Thursday, electing to just gather the troops for a video session.

“We had guys in mid-20s minutes up front, and on defence (James) Miller played over 30 minutes,” said Harbinson.

Part of the reason for the added workload on the defence was due to Mason Snell being given a 10-minute misconduct early in the second period for shooting the puck a splitsecond after the whistle blew — a call the coach was not the least bit impressed with.

“We’re up 1-0 with a bunch of chances to increase the lead, but after losing Snell our defence got gassed with just the four guys, we get hemmed in our end and they end up tying the game,” said Harbinson. “It was a call that really cost us.”

He credited Coquitlam for displaying a lot of skill in the offensive end.

“It was a good hockey game . . . I felt if we could have cashed in one of those chances and got a 2-0 lead, we would have been golden,” said Harbinson.

Now the Vees (8-5-2) face a tough Merritt (11-7-0) team that figures to be hungry for the win after losing both meetings to Penticton this season, including a 6-3 decision on Sept. 28 in Merritt.

“Both games we were able to get off to good starts, so we need to continue that and put them on their heels a bit,” said Harbinson. “I’m sure they’ll see this as a redemption game and there was a bit of bad blood at the end last time (a 6-2 Vees win on Oct. 11 at the SOEC).”

The Vees will be seeking redemption themselves as they face a West Kelowna team that prevailed 3-2 last Friday at Royal LePage Place despite a one-sided, 52-shot barrage by Penticton.

“We felt we had two points stolen from us and now we get them in our building,” said Harbinson.

While Merritt is on top with 22 points, only two points separate the other six teams in the Interior. The Vees are currently tied with Wenatchee and Trail at 18, though Penticton has games in hand on both.

“Every night it seems you can go from first to last or vice-versa, and that’s what makes our division so great,” said Harbinson.

“Obviously, these divisional games are critical,” he added.

Jack LaFontaine will be back between the pipes tonight, though Harbinson praised Derek Krall for a “terrific” performance in the shootout defeat to the Express that spoiled Penticton’s perfect home record.

Looking ahead, the Vees have a whopping 13 games in November as they make up games in hand on the other teams in the Interior. Seven are on the road, including trips to Prince George and Wenatchee.

“It’s going to be a crazy month, with a lot of three-game weeks and a fair bit of travel,” said Harbinson.

The Vees figure to have a full complement of 18 skaters for Saturday’s home game, but then lose rookie forward Cole Shepard for five games. Shepard and Langley Rivermen defencemen Ryan Helliwell are the only two players from the BCHL suiting up for Team Canada at the World Under-17 Challenge from Nov. 1-10 in New Brunswick. Shepard will leave Penticton on Sunday.

The Vees are still without forwards Drew Elser (broken jaw, concussion symptoms) and Lukas Sillinger (broken finger), though both could be back by mid-November.