Wake me up when September ends. Sorry Green Day, but the Vees are back in action!
This month saw the Vees hit the ice in the Okanagan cup while also doing some wheeling and dealing.
Before the current Vees hit the ice, a few former Vees were in the National Hockey League bubble. Troy Stecher and Tyson Jost both played game sevens in hopes of advancing to the Western Conference finals. Both teams came back from 3-1 down in the series forced a game seven, which they both lost.
September 8 saw the Vees hit the ice for practice in preparation for the Peaches and Okanagan Cup. It was the first time the entire team was together in nearly six months since everything shut down due to the coronavirus.
The first of two intrasquad games took place on Friday the 11th while the other was on the 19th. However, before Team Blue and Team White hit the ice, the Vees had some letters to handout.
The organization announced the 2020-21 leadership group. Leading the way wearing the “C’ is Fin Williams, who makes his Vees debut this season. Joining Williams is Tyler Ho, Jackson Niedermayer, Ethan Martini, and Matteo Costantini, who all will don the “A.”
Newly-appointed captain Williams led the Blue team in the first game of the intrasquad while Costantini (who has committed to the University of North Dakota) and Yaniv Perets lead Team White. However, it was Quinn Hutson who scored twice as team white took home the Peaches Cup crown 4-0.
The second of the intrasquad games saw the same lineups, and Team White took it 3-0. Stefano Bottini, Luc Wilson, and Hutson all found the back of the net while playing sound defense and earning a second straight shutout.
Okanagan Cup
On September 22, the Vees announced the Okanagan Cup. It’s a 12 game per team competition which includes the Vees, Salmon Arm Silverbacks, Vernon Vipers, and West Kelowna Warriors. The tournament takes place now through November 14.
Before the start of the tournament, the Vees announced that they traded defenceman Peter Muzyka to the Powell River Kings in exchange for future considerations.
The first game of the Okanagan Cup saw the Vees cruise to a 7-0 victory. Tristan Amonte scored a pair in the opening 20, which was more than enough for Perets, who earned his first shutout of the tournament.
In game two, the Vees stormed out to a three-goal lead before the Silverbacks cut the deficit by two, which was short-lived as Devlin O’Brien scored a minute later. The Vees kept on buzzing and added another four in the final 40 minutes to finish the game 8-2.
It was a busy month for the Peach City team, playing competitive games for the first time in over six months while making one transaction and adding a leadership group. However, we all can agree that it is a beautiful day when the BCHL is on the ice.
