Harbinson welcomes fans back
“I’ve lived here for almost 15 years now – this is home. I think the Vees can help Penticton and its people return to feeling normal, and positive about the future.” Penticton Vees Head Coach & GM Fred Harbinson
“I can’t wait until September.” Never without determination and motivation, Penticton Vees president and head coach, Fred Harbinson is thinking about more than just his hockey team this upcoming season,
“I know of too many local businesses that have suffered through the pandemic, or people that have found the last 17 or so months emotionally draining. It’s been tough for everyone,” Harbinson said.
“Knowing how important this team is to our community, I now think we can be a spark to get our population back together, inside the SOEC, at local restaurants, pubs and other places where we gather. I’ve been so excited to see people getting vaccinated, because I know that means we’re getting close to the end of this. I tell everyone I can to get fully vaccinated, to look at full hockey arenas in Las Vegas, Tampa Bay and Boston — that can be us, waving towels, screaming...normal, again.”
It’s been two seasons of unfulfilled potential for the Vees.
“Our 2019-2020 team was so deep; a great mixture of talent, grit and experience. We had won all but one regular season game in February, and despite not having our captain, David Silye, against West Kelowna in Round 1 of the playoffs, we cruised to a five-game series win,” the coach said.
“Having to tell our players that COVID had ended our playoffs, our season — that had to be one of the hardest moments of my coaching career — sending the kids home without accomplishing what we set out to do, bring another championship to Penticton.”
Harbinson was optimistic to start the 2020 season.
“We had some outstanding character players returning to us, like Tyler Ho, Tristan Amonte and Ethan Martini and we added some great pieces in Finlay Williams, Brennan Wilson, Jacob Quillan, and Ryan McGuire. We had so much offense, toughness and great goaltending. It was a bit of a sputtering start due to COVID, so we played in the Okanagan Cup, winning it with a 13-1 record. We did that without fans, and we were hopeful we could drive forward, but COVID had other plans.”
When asked what the hardest part of dealing with the pandemic was, Harbinson answered, “It was the constant uncertainty — I'm a very structured person — but COVID wasn’t something I could control or organize. And then, when we had to admit to ourselves that there was a chance, we’d never play games again, deciding to move some of our players to the U.S. so that they could play games was hard to stomach.”
That said, Harbinson was extremely proud of his team’s accomplishments to finish the 2020-21 season.
“We were able to add some great players, like D-men Grayson Arnott and Phillippe Chapleau, and our entire group of remaining guys really stepped up.”
With a “Penticton pod” record of 18-1-0-1 (the best record in the entire BCHL) versus Trail and Cranbrook, Harbinson was particularly proud of the team’s commitment to structure and defence, and overall consistent effort
“I couldn’t have asked more from those kids; they had to deal with so much adversity, all season. They made Penticton very proud, as far as I’m concerned.”
So, what does Penticton have to look forward to for the 2021-22 season?
“Well, most importantly, getting people back into the SOEC; restoring that sense of community pride that we enjoyed for so long, to win together, as a city. We’re beating COVID by getting vaxed, and by September we can all appreciate the sacrifices we made to get to this point. We are going to have an exciting, great team, and we can’t wait to show Vees Nation our new recruits, and returning players.”