Season Series
Nov 26th: Chilliwack 2 at Penticton 3 (OT)
Feb 24th: Penticton 3 at Chilliwack 0
Fred Page Cup Schedule
GM 1: April 14th at Prospera Centre, 7 pm
GM 2: April 15th at Prospera Centre, 7 pm
GM 3: April 18th at SOEC, 7 pm
GM 4: April 19th at SOEC, 7 pm
GM 5: April 22nd at Prospera Centre, 7 pm *
GM 6: April 24th at SOEC, 7 pm *
GM 7: April 25th at Prospera Centre, 7 pm *
*If necessary
The BCHL Fred Page Cup Final starts tonight at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack, as the Chiefs host the Penticton Vees.
It’s the Vees second league final in the last three years and fourth in the last seven. Chilliwack is back after losing to the West Kelowna Warriors in the Final last year. The Vees got to the Fred Page Cup after a hard-fought seven-game series win over the Vernon Vipers in the Interior Division Final.
Chilliwack is back after beating the Victoria Grizzlies in six-games in the Coastal Division Final. Before that in was a four-game sweep of the Wenatchee Wild in the Mainland Division Final, and they opened the playoffs with a first-round victory over the Langley Rivermen.
Penticton and Chilliwack met twice in the regular season, with the Vees winning both games. Back on November 26th, at the SOEC, the Vees eked out a 3-2 overtime win. In the Vees final regular season game, they shutout Chilliwack 3-0 in the Fraser Valley.
These two are pretty much evenly matched, as the Chiefs finished just two points ahead of the Vees in the overall standings but both teams each had 41 wins. Even looking at the playoffs, the two have almost played the same amount of games despite Penticton having a first-round bye. The Chiefs have played 16 post-season games but because of two seven-game series, the Vees have played 14.
Penticton will have a couple of line-up decisions to make ahead of Game One, as AP forward Cassidy Bowes had a terrific Game Seven against Vernon, picking up an assist and was the Fortis Energy Player of the Game; hard to take him out after that performance. Chris Klack, who Bowes was subbing in for, is eligible to return after serving his one-game suspension on Monday night.
One line-up certainty is Mat Robson starting in goal. The 20-year-old has eight wins in 14 games and has a 2.22 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. Robson was very sharp in Game Seven against Vernon, stopping 28 of 29.
Nicholas Jones leads the Vees in playoff scoring heading into tonight’s game with 17 points in 14 games. Right behind him is defenceman Gabe Bast who has five goals and 12 points, which is second-best in the BCHL; Trail’s Carter Cochrane still at the highest scoring defenceman with 14 points. Klack rounds out the Vees’ top three with two goals and 11 points in 13 games.
Chilliwack looks like they will have forward Kale Kane back in the line-up for Game one. Kane hasn’t played since March 7th, as he was injured during their first-round series against the Langley Rivermen. He had 37 points in 41 regular season games and was a huge piece to their Fred Page Cup run last year, as he had 15 points in 19 playoff games.
The Vees will also have to keep tabs on Chiefs Captain Jordan Kawaguchi who leads the BCHL in playoff scoring with 28 points in 16 games; 10 points better than the next closest player. Kawaguchi was just named the BCHL Player of the Week after going off for five goals and seven points in the final four games of the Chiefs series against Victoria.
Two others that have had great runs so far for Chilliwack are Kohen Olischefski and Jake Smith. Olischefski is second in the team in playoff scoring with 17 points and closely behind him is Smith who has 15. Goalie Mark Sinclair has had a very good playoff run so far, as he has 12 wins in 16 games and owns a .927 save percentage, to go along with a very tidy 2.02 goals-against average.
Vees Playoff Scoring:
| Nicholas Jones | 7-10-17 |
| Gabe Bast | 5-7-12 |
| Chris Klack | 2-9-11 |
| Mitch Meek | 3-4-7 |
| Duncan Campbell | 3-3-6 |
Chiefs Playoff Scoring:
| Jordan Kawaguchi | 12-16-28 |
| Kohen Olischefski | 8-9-17 |
| Jake Smith | 5-10-15 |
| Anthony Vincent | 4-9-13 |
| Will Calverly | 3-9-12 |
Fans can listen to tonight’s game starting at 6:40 pm with the pre-game show on EZ Rock AM 800 and on www.hockeytv.com, with Fraser Rodgers and Scott Austin.
