GM #53 Vees vs. Trail Smoke Eaters
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Game Time: 6:00 pm PDT
Location: SOEC, Penticton
Radio: Bounce 800 AM
Webcast: Flo Hockey
Season Series
October 6 – Trail 2 at Penticton 3
October 7 – Penticton 3 at Trail 4 (OT)
October 14 – Penticton 6 at Trail 3
November 11 – Trail 1 at Penticton 6
November 29 – Trail 0 at Penticton 5
February 25 – Penticton 3 at Trail 2
March 29 – Trail at Penticton – 7:00 pm PDT
Penticton Vees
GM & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson
Record: GP 52 38-8-3-3, 82 PTS (Clinched 1st, Interior)
Last Game: 2-1 shootout loss vs. Salmon Arm (Mar. 23)
Home: 21-3-0-1
Away: 17-5-3-2
GF: 199
GA: 104
Power Play: (52/177) 29.4% 2nd
Penalty Kill: (31/149) 79.2% 9th
Scoring Leader: Callum Arnott (26-25-51)
The final weekend of the BCHL season begins tonight as the Vees take on the Trail Smoke Eaters The Vees arrive looking to bounce back after a 2-1 setback at the hands of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in a shootout last Saturday night. Max Heise scored his sixth of the season in the loss while Andrew Ness made 32 saves.
Tonight, Penticton faces the Smoke Eaters for the seventh and final time this season. They’re 5-0-1-0 against the Smokies in their previous six meetings this season, the last coming on February 25th at Cominco Arena. That game was the second half of a Kootenay road trip for the Vees, who found themselves down 2-0 early in the third period. They would get goals from James Fisher, Anselmo Rego and Simon Meier to stage a furious third period comeback and win 3-2 over the Smokies.
Fisher is a player to watch for the Vees in tonight’s contest. The Burlington, MA, native and Northeastern commit has recorded seven points (3-4-7) in the six previous meetings with the Smoke Eaters.
Will Ingemann is the projected starter for tonight’s contest. Ingemann sits just one shutout away from tying the league record of seven in a single season. That record is one currently held by Vees alumni Michael Garteig and Brad Thiessen, along with former Viper Ty Taylor.
Trail Smoke Eaters
GM & Head Coach: Tim Fragle
2023-24: GP 52 26-20-6-0, 58 PTS (5th, Interior)
Last Game: 5-1 win vs. Cranbrook (Mar. 24th)
Home: 16-8-3-0
Away: 10-12-3-0
GF: 177
GA: 183
Power Play: (39/184) 21.2% 9th
Penalty Kill: (40/159) 74.8% 14th
Scoring Leader: Mathieu Cobetto-Roy (25-24-49)
The Smoke Eaters enters the final weekend of the BCHL Regular Season with their playoff matchup already solidified. They cannot be caught by the sixth place Merritt Centennials, nor can they catch the Vernon Vipers for fourth place in the Interior Conference. This means they’ll begin the BCHL Playoffs. on the road either against Salmon Arm or Vernon.
Tim Fragle’s group has had their struggles while away from the friendly confines of Cominco Arena this season, with their last road win coming March 2nd, against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at the Shaw Centre. As they come in to play the Vees for the final time during the regular season, they face the task of winning at the SOEC. The last time they did so was Game One of the 2022 BCHL Playoffs back on March 31, 2022. The last time they were victorious in a regular season game at the SOEC was November 6, 2019, that 1605 days ago.
The Smokies did snap a three-game losing streak in their last contest, winning 5-1 over the Cranbrook Bucks at Cominco Arena on March 24th. They’re 5-3-0-0 in the month of March and look to finish their regular season on a positive as they play the Vees tonight, before travelling to Salmon Arm to close out the regular season on Saturday.
Trail has had to deal with injuries to key pieces, as 20-year-old forwards Mathieu Cobetto-Roy, Ethan Mann, and Adam Parsons did not play in their last game. All three have missed time in March.