Vees And Vipers On Friday The 13th

This is in today's Penticton Herald newspaper:

Vees and Vipers on Friday the 13th 

David Crompton/Penticton Herald

Dec 13 2019

It will be a Friday the 13th in Vernon as the Penticton Vees make their first visit to Kal Tire Place this season.

Valley rivals Penticton and the Vernon Vipers come in playing well as they clash in a home-and-home series Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

“There was some extra jump in practice (Thursday) … the guys are really excited,” said Vees GM/head coach Fred Harbinson. “I’m sure both teams are pumped to rekindle the rivalry.”

Vernon (18-12-1-1) has won four straight to claw within two points of third-place Salmon Arm Silverbacks, while the Vees (25-9-1) have won four of five to sit seven points ahead of the second-place Trail Smoke Eaters in the Interior Division.

“There is lots of urgency for these and our other two games before the (Christmas) break,” said Harbinson. “At the end of the season, it’s usually just a few points that decides who finishes on top. These points count just as much as they do a month or two from now.”

Friday’s game is the third of seven meetings between the teams. The Vees won 1-0 on Oct. 4 and Vernon triumphed 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 18, both at the SOEC.

The Vees will be without leading scorer Jay O’Brien (broken toe) and defenceman Steve Holtz (upper-body) until after the holiday break, while the status of defenceman Cade Webber – who has missed 12 games with a lower-body injury - remains unclear.

“We’re not going to have (Webber) for a while … if at all,” said Harbinson, of the towering Carolina Hurricanes draft pick.

Harbinson said the acquisition of veteran Nico Somerville from the Victoria Grizzlies in November is “critical” now.

“We get Holtz back and we still have six (defencemen),” said Harbinson.

The Vees could conceivably add another blueliner before the Jan. 10 trading deadline.

“We lose an asset there and it’s hard to add someone without giving something up,” said Harbinson.

The Vees are also down to 11 forwards with O’Brien sidelined, but Harbinson said there is a good chance Drew Elser will be returning to the team after the break.

The 19-year-old from Hopewell, Junction, NY had four goals and six points in 14 games for the Vees last season before being sidelined with concussion issues. He has since been cleared to play and Harbinson granted him permission to practice with a team back east.

“He brings a lot of grit and energy and he can chip in offensively,” said Harbinson. “It was a big loss for us when he went down last year.”

Harbinson said he has the option of putting Elser on a junior-B card.

“We’ve still got plenty of cards left either way,” said Harbinson.

In addition, 19-year-old Penticton products forward Matthew Byrne and defenceman Ethan McLaughlin have returned home to play with the Summerland Steam of the KIJHL, and both signed as affiliated players with the Vees.

Both have Junior-A experience and both played briefly with the Vees.

“Byrne is under the weather a bit but we’ll likely have McLaughlin playing with us this weekend to give us six defencemen,” said Harbinson. “Both are veteran guys who are from here and know what we’re about.”

Byrne played four games for Powell River Kings this season while McLaughlin played 21 games with Drayton Valley of the Alberta league. McLaughlin played in 51 games for Salmon Arm and Alberni Valley of the BCHL in 2018-19.

ICE CHIPS: Tim Hortons is on board as the presenting sponsor of the Centennial Cup, Canada’s National Junior ‘A’ Championship, beginning with the 50th edition of the event May 9-17, 2020 in Portage la Prairie, Man., and including the 2021 Centennial Cup, which will be held in Penticton… Canada West needed a win over Czech Republic Thursday night to have a chance to reach the semifinals of the World Junior-A Challenge in Dawson Creek. Canada West was fifth in round-robin play in the five-team event going into Thursday’s game, having lost to U.S. and Canada East before beating Russia 1-0 in overtime. The semifinals are Saturday at 1 and 6 p.m. and the final Sunday at 4 p.m. and will be televised on TSN.