Best BCHL team ever?
“I think our team knows we're going to go down in the record books as possibly the best team to play in this city and this league,” says Vees captain Frank Djurasevic ahead of Cup final.
It took until the final round of the B.C. Hockey League playoffs for Penticton Vees starting goalie Luca Di Pasquo to finally meet his match.
Di Pasquo has a 12-1 record through the first three rounds of the playoffs, boasts a league-best 1.83 goals-against average, and is in a two-way tie atop the leader board with a 0.928 save percentage.
The co-leader is Alberni Valley Bulldogs netminder Campbell Arnold, whose club is in Penticton tonight vying for the Fred Page Cup in Game 1 of the BCHL playoff championship series.
“Definitely going into this round it’ll be a goalie battle,” predicted Di Pasquo in an interview this week.
Arnold “didn’t play a ton this year but he’s been really good in the playoffs. I’m looking forward to it. You’ve got to use this as motivation, right? It's me versus him at the end of the day and the guy who lets in less goals wins.”
The 21-year-old Arnold posted a 3-6 record in the regular season and got his first start in the playoffs on April 19 in Game 5 of the second round after Bulldogs starter Hobie Hedquist went down with an injury. Arnold has lost just once in eight starts since then.
Di Pasquo, who’s committed to play for Michigan State next year, won both games against the Bulldogs in the regular season: a 7-4 victory in October and a 7-1 win in November.
“I wouldn’t say they’re super-fast, but they're a big, skilled team. They definitely have some offensive capabilities, which is exciting for me because that puts me to the test,” said Di Pasquo, a 19-year-old Minnesota native.
Vees captain Frank Djurasevic, who’s among 12 veterans on the roster from last season’s championship team and is looking to lead the club to its first back-to-back titles since 1985-86, is expecting the same.
“They're probably going to try to out-hit us and be extremely physical and all that type of thing.
“So, we just want to worry about playing our own game over here. We’ve got a fast group, we can be physical – we can do anything,” said Djurasevic, a 21-year-old New York product, whose mom, Adine, will be in the stands for Games 1 and 2.
“That’s one of the biggest strengths of our team. We can do so many different things when need be and I think we’re going to be ready for anything that comes our way here.”
Alberni Valley finished third in the Coastal Conference standings with a 31-19-31 record following a post-Christmas push that saw the Bulldogs win 11 of their final 13 games.
Once into the playoffs, Alberni Valley swept Victoria in the first round, needed seven games to win the second round against Surrey, then swept Chilliwack in the conference final.
Penticton finished the regular season first overall with a 50-3-0-1 mark and record-setting 0.935 winning percentage.
“I think our team knows we're going to go down in the record books as possibly the best team to play in this city and this league,” said Djurasevic, “so we’re all really focused on this last little bit here and spending our last time together and trying to finish it off for the city.”
Tickets for the Fred Page Cup final cost $19 for seniors, $21 for adults and kids 18 and under get in free courtesy of Peters Bros. Construction.
Tickets are available at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC or online at www.valleyfirsttix.com.