When the Penticton Vees returned to the South Okanagan Events Centre for the first time in three weeks, they moved one step closer to solidifying their place in a familiar spot: atop the Interior Conference.
Thomas Pitchette scored two goals, Andrew Ness made 29 saves and the Vees topped the Merritt Centennials 5-2 on March 9, claiming their sixth straight victory and moving within one win of clinching the conference for the third season in a row.
Penticton is nine points ahead of the second-place West Kelowna Warriors and would clinch the conference with a win against their Central Okanagan foes on Friday night, March 15.
The Vees have six games remaining in the
Here’s what you need to know as Penticton prepares to once again defend its Fred Page Cup title:
Home sweet home
After the Vees battle the Warriors at Royal LePage Place on March 15, they’ll spend the rest of their regular season at the SOEC.
Penticton welcomes Alberni Valley, Merritt, Salmon Arm and Trail before wrapping up its schedule against West Kelowna on March 31.
The Vees haven’t lost on home ice since Jan. 26.
Red-hot rookies
The South Okanagan squad is 12-0-1-0 in its last 13 games and has lost just once in regulation in 2024.
“You have to find different ways to win,” said the team’s director of hockey operations Matt Miller. “That’s what great teams do.”
Penticton’s success has produced several individual milestones and even some BCHL history, too.
Rookie forward Billy Renfrew is currently enjoying a five-game point streak while Will Ingeeman, the team’s first-year netminder, set the league’s all-time shutout streak on March 1, after not allowing a goal for 260 minutes.
On the verge
Although the Vees are that much closer to winning their third straight Interior Conference regular-season title, the team is also eyeing finishing with the best record in the BCHL.
As of March 15, Penticton is three points behind the Surrey Eagles, who sit atop the Coastal Conference.
Surrey, like Penticton, also has six games left in their
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