Vees welcome home-ice advantage for final
It’s shaping up to be an epic finale as the Penticton Vees and Nanaimo Clippers, both riding 12-game playoff winning streaks, get set to open the B.C. Hockey League championship series this Friday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
“You’ve got two historic programs that have done battle in the finals six times in the past and each winning three (series) going back to the 1970s. What more do you want? It should be a great series,” said Vees coach Fred Harbinson in an interview Monday.
“It’s two teams that are on 12-game winning streaks – that’s never happened before – and there are so many interesting side stories that go into this, and the biggest one is both teams want that championship trophy.”
The Vees haven’t lost since Game 1 of their first-round series against the Trail Smoke Eaters, who eventually fell 4-1 in that best-ofseven. Four-game sweeps of the Prince George Spruce Kings and West Kelowna Warriors followed that.
Through 13 playoff games, the Vees have scored 58 goals and surrendered just 21.
The only team with fewer goals-against is the Clippers, who gave up just 19 while scoring 48 times in four-game sweeps over the Surrey Eagles, Chilliwack Chiefs and Langley Rivermen.
Kaeden Lane has played all 13 games in net for Penticton and compiled a stingy 1.54 goalsagainst average equal to Clippers counterpart Cooper Black, who is also riding a 12-game winning streak.
Up front, Vees forwards Josh Nadeau and Luc Wilson are part of a four-way tie – which also includes Clippers sniper Sean Donaldson – atop the BCHL playoff scoring race with 19 points each.
The Vees and Clippers met just once during the regular season, with Penticton prevailing 7-3 in that November contest in Nanaimo.
Harbinson isn’t putting any stock in that game, given how much time has passed, and has his players ready for whatever the Clippers throw at them in their best-of-seven final: a defensive chess match or a run-andgun shootout.
“We can play either which way. We’ve showed we can open a game up and score or we can win 2-1,” said Harbison, also the club’s general manager and president.
“We’ve got a plan for Friday night and we know how we’re going to play, and as in any heavyweight fight, the adjustments that go on throughout the series are going to be important.”
While the clubs are evenly matched on paper, the Vees do hold an important edge with home-ice advantage.
Harbinson said his team has fed off the hometown crowds, which averaged 3,700 in the West Kelowna series, “and then to have the big crowd go on the road and support us in West Kelowna was massive, and there’s no reason we can’t get 4,000 both nights this weekend.”
Games 1 and 2 go Friday and Saturday at the SOEC, with puck drops at 7 p.m., before the series shifts back to Nanaimo for Games 3 and 4 on May 17 and 18, respectively. Game 5 and 7, if necessary, would be in Penticton on Friday, May 20, and Tuesday, May 24, respectively.
Tickets are available at the SOEC box office or online at www.ValleyFirstTix.com.
Unlike in past years, the winner of the BCHL championship series will not move on to play for a national title as a result of the BCHL last year withdrawing from the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
“We know we’ve got as little as four games and as many as seven games left to go,” said Harbinson. “We’re down to our last two weeks of the season.”
ICE CHIPS
West Kelowna Warriors defenceman Tyson Jugnauth was rated 66th overall among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting ahead of the NHL draft in June. Vees defenceman Ryan Hopkins was listed at 101. A total of 10 current and future BCHL players made the list…. Vees backup netminder Carter Serhyenko has committed to York University for the 2022-23 campaign. He compiled a 10-21 record with the Vees after joining the club in December following three seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL.
3 STARS
Nanaimo Clippers forwards Brody Waters and Sean Donaldson and Penticton Vees goaltender Kaeden Lane have been named the BCHL Stars of the Week.
Lane’s stellar play last week helped the Vees stymie the potent West Kelowna Warriors offence.
The second-year BCHL goaltender stopped 46 of the 49 shots he saw over two contests, winning both and posting a .939 save percentage and a 1.50 goals-against average.