Penticton teammates rehearsing for future rivalries in NCAA

Taking aim at NCAA Frozen Four bragging rights in his team’s dressing room has probably been a welcome distraction for Penticton Vees forward Riley Alferd as the BCHL playoffs have played out.

The top-seeded Vees open the best-of-seven league championship against the No. 2 Nanaimo Clippers Friday in Penticton. The Vees are in the Junior A loop’s final series for the third time in four years in large part because they have a league-high 16 players with college commitments.

Alferd is one of two Vees who have teams remaining in the NCAA postseason. His Nebraska-Omaha squad takes on Providence Thursday (2 p.m., TSN 2) in the Frozen Four semifinals in Boston.

The other game sees North Dakota, which is the future squad of Penticton rearguard Gabe Bast, facing Boston University (5:30 p.m., TSN 2). The championship game goes Saturday (4:30 p.m. TSN 2) in Boston.

Nebraska-Omaha ousted Harvard in the opening round. Penticton forward Lewis Zerter-Gossage, who billets at the same home as Alferd, heads to Harvard next season.

“We had a friendly little bet on the game,” said Alferd, 20. “Both teams are very good. Harvard had a heck of a season.

“It’s been something. Almost all of us on the team had their school in the tournament to start with. We’ve talked about it, but it’s not been too bad. We’re all good buddies. Of course, that will be different when we’re all playing at our universities.”

Alferd, a 5-foot-10, 170 pounder, tied for second in team scoring in the regular season, supplying 46 points, including 18 goals, in 58 games.

He was one of 11 players in double digit goals for Penticton (44-9-3-2), who won the Interior Division regular-season crown and had the league’s top record, 14 points ahead of their closest competitor, Island Division champion Nanaimo (37-16-0-5).

Penticton and Nanaimo advanced from the three-team, five-game semifinals, leaving the Mainland champion Chilliwack Chiefs behind. Along the way, Penticton beat Nanaimo 4-1 at home on March 25, while Nanaimo secured their spot in the finals with a 2-0 home win over Penticton last Thursday.

Alferd has four goals and one assist in 16 playoff encounters so far.

He’s originally from Vancouver, Wash., and grew up a fan of the WHL team just across the Columbia River, the Portland Winterhawks.

He went on to play his year of bantam and two seasons of midget with the Los Angeles Selects, and their tournament travels put the min North Dakota at the same time as an NCAA showdown between Minnesota and North Dakota was going on.

Sitting in the stands at that game, he decided he wanted to go the college route. Alferd was a fan of the Mighty Ducks cartoon growing up, which led to him be a fan of the Anaheim Ducks and Paul Kariya.

Kariya, of course, played in the BCHL with Penticton.

“I just always liked the way he played. He was so fast and small and had a great shot,” said Alferd.