Image Credit: Trail Smoke Eaters/Randy Emery
February 15, 2015 - 9:22 AM
TRAIL - The Penticton Vees captured the Ron Boileau trophy as BCHL regular season pennant winners with a 5-2 win in Trail Saturday, Feb. 14.
Steen Cooper potted two, Gabe Bast and Jack Ramsey also scored in a four-goal third period for Penticton (40-9-3-2) which sealed their second BCHL pennant in four years. Riley Alferd finished with three assists and his line when Cooper and Ramsey finished with eight points. Hunter Miska made 31-saves for his 30th win of the season and took home first star honours.
Dallas Calvin and Cooper Leitch scored for Trail (18-30-0-5) who had a four-game point streak coming into Saturday’s contest.
Calvin opened the scoring just shy of the six-minute mark in the first period on a rebound in front of Hunter Miska’s net. Miska stopped the initial attempt but Calvin cleaned up the rebound at 5:48.
The Vees pulled even in the opening moments of the second and short-handed no less. Just as a Trail power-play started, Demico Hannoun took a drop pass from Tyson Jost and from the top of the circle, squeaked a wrist-shot through Brett Clark’s legs; Hannoun picking up his team-leading 22nd thirty-seven seconds in.
Trail went back ahead early in the third period as Cooper Leitch took a Calvin pass and tucked the puck inside the post at 4:40.
That goal woke up Penticton though, as they scored four unanswered goals to pull away. First, Gabe Bast pulled the Vees back level just 2:06 after the Leitch goal. Bast followed up a rebound and wired a wrist-shot past Clark from the right-circle; his eighth of the season.
Bast then setup the eventual game-winner later in the third. Steen Cooper was all over the rebound from Bast’s shot of the rush, as he jammed the loose puck in at the side of the Smoke Eaters net; Cooper bagging his 11th of the season at 9:16.
Cooper then added an insurance marker as he had the quick trigger after a great pass out of the corner by Alferd. Cooper dropped to one knee and pounded the puck through Clark’s legs at 14:54 to put the game out of reach.
Jack Ramsey put the game to bed with an unassisted empty-net goal with just sixty-five seconds left in the game; Ramsey scoring his 15th to match his jersey number.
Final Score: 5-2 Vees
Shots: 43-33 Vees
Power-Play: Vees 0-5 Smoke Eaters 0-7
Three Stars: 1) Hunter Miska 2) Brett Clark 3) Steen Cooper
Ramsey (1-2-3) and Alferd (0-3-3) each finished with three points and four Vees had multi-point games in the win. The Vees finish with a 6-0-0-1 record against Trail and improve their record to 23-7-1-1 against the Interior Division. The Vees finished the game with just 16 skaters after Dakota Conroy and Shayne Gwinner picked up fighting majors.
The Vees finish with a 19-6-2-2 road record and now return to the SOEC for four straight at home to wrap-up the BCHL regular season. The Vees are back in action on Friday, February 20th, when they host the Merritt Centennials.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015