GAME PREVIEW: Vees Make Trek North In First Place Showdown Against Spruce Kings
PHOTO: Cherie Morgan/Cherie Morgan Photography
The Penticton Vees (5-0-0-0) make the trip North for the first time this season in a first-place matchup in the Interior Conference as they take on the Prince George Spruce Kings (5-1-0-0) on Wednesday night from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE VS. PRINCE GEORGE
Wednesday, October 26th @ Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (7:00 PM)
Friday, October 29th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
Wednesday, December 1st @ Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (7:00 PM)
Saturday, February 19th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (6:00 PM)
Friday, March 4th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (7:00 PM)
The Vees will look to extend their win streak to six games after a 6-2 victory over the Surrey Eagles on Wednesday night at the BC Hockey League Showcase in Chilliwack. Casey McDonald scored twice in the game while Thomas Pichette, Bradley Nadeau, Josh Nadeau and Luc Wilson added singles in the victory. Kaeden Lane turned aside 13 of the 15 shots thrown his way in his 3rd win of the season.
The Vees and Spruce Kings last met in the regular season during the 2019/20 campaign with both teams splitting the set with a win a piece during their two games. Penticton earned a 4-3 overtime win in Prince George in mid-September while the Spruce Kings came back and won in the Vees home rink, picking up a 5-3 victory.
Vees Leading Scorers:
Josh Nadeau (4-3-7)
Fin Williams (2-5-7)
Luc Wilson (4-2-6)
Bradley Nadeau (3-3-6)
Casey McDonald (3-2-5)
The start to the BCHL career for forward Josh Nadeau has been a terrific one with the University of Maine commit leading the Vees in scoring with 4 goals and 7 points. Nadeau has points in each of his last four games, including three of those contests being multi-point games as well as four goals in his last three games.
Second year defender Grayson Arnott joined four of his teammates as he committed to the University of Maine for the 2022/23 season. The Toronto, Ontario native has posted three assists in four games thus far this season as well as being tied for the lead in points from the blue line last season with 4 goals and 11 points over the course of the 20-game Penticton Pod season.
It’s the first game back in Prince George for former Spruce King Fin Williams as the Vees captain played for one season in the North during the 2018/19 season. The North Vancouver, BC native won the Fred Page Cup and Doyle Cup with the Spruce Kings before being acquired by the Vees in the summer of 2020. The 18-year-old forward is in his second season with Penticton, sitting with 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points to tie for the team lead in scoring.
The Prince George Spruce Kings will look for their fifth win in a row after earning a 3-2 victory over the Victoria Grizzlies on Thursday night at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack. Kolton Cousins, Jimmy Doyle and Nick Rheaume each scored in the game for Prince George while Jordan Fairlie turned aside 19 of the 21 shots thrown his way in his 2nd win of the season.
Spruce Kings Scoring Leaders:
Nick Rheaume (4-6-10)
John Herrington (5-4-9)
Kilian McGregor-Bennett (1-7-8)
Rowan Miller (3-3-6)
Simon Labelle (1-5-6)
The Spruce Kings have brought back 15 players from last season, including team captain and forward Kolton Cousins. Max Borovinskiy, Rowan Miller, Linden Makow, Kilian McGregor-Bennett, Nick Rheaume, John Herrington and Simon Labelle join Cousins up front while Josh Wright, Colton Cameron, Amran Bhabra, Connor Elliott and Ben LeFranc return on the back end. Both goaltenders are back in between the pipes for the Spruce Kings as Aaron Trotter and Jordan Fairlie are both are back in the blue paint.
Spruce Kings leading scorer and second year forward Nick Rheaume is enjoying a nice start to his sophomore season with the club, leading the team in points with 10 through the teams’ first six games. The University of Massachusetts-Lowell commit posted 6 goals and 8 assists for 14 points during the 20-game Pod Season last year in Chilliwack and has earned a pair of three-point efforts for his season so far while collecting a point in every game but one this season.
One of the areas of strength for this Spruce Kings team stems from their power play, operating at a league-leading 39.1% and have scored the most goals of any man advantage in the BCHL this season with 9 tallies coming from the power play. At home, the power play has been even better, going 4-for-10 (40.0%) while at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena and are led in power play points by Kilian McGregor-Bennett, who has four points while up a man.
The Vees and Spruce Kings play the first of their five-game series beginning on Wednesday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena in Prince George. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with the game available to listen to on Bounce 800 Radio or streamed online on BCHLTV.ca beginning with the pre-game show at 6:40 PM.