Game Preview: GM #21 Vees at Salmon Arm Silverbacks
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Game Time: 7:00 pm PST
Location: Rogers Rink
Radio: Bounce 800 AM
Webcast: Flo Hockey
Season Series
October 11th, Salmon Arm 2 at Penticton 4
November 9th, Penticton 5 at Salmon Arm 2
November 22nd, Penticton at Salmon Arm
January 10th, Salmon Arm at Penticton
February 21st, Penticton at Salmon Arm
March 29th, Salmon Arm at Penticton
Penticton Vees
President, General Manager & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson
2024-25 Record: GP 20, 15-5-0-0, 30 pts (2nd Interior Conference)
Last Game: 4-1 win at Trail, November 16th
Home: 6-1-0-0
Away: 9-4-0-0
GF: 78
GA: 56
Power Play: 16/70 (22.9%, 11th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 44/56 (78.6%, 8th in BCHL)
Scoring Leader: Ryden Evers (8-11-19)
Winners of four straight, the Penticton Vees enter the weekend second in the Interior Conference behind only the Brooks Bandits. The Vees will look to stretch their win streak to five-straight with a visit to the third-place Salmon Arm Silverbacks Friday. It’s the third meeting of the season, with the Vees winning the previous two, including the most recent encounter, 5-2 on November 9th.
The Vees are coming off a pair of wins in the Kootenays last weekend, winning 4-3 in Cranbrook Friday, and 4-1 in Trail on Saturday. The Vees have won nine of their first 13 road games. Penticton received a boost to their lineup last weekend with captain Conyr Hellyer returning from a four-game absence. He scored twice, including the game winner last Friday against Cranbrook to help the Vees extend their winning streak. Hellyer’s linemate, Ryden Evers, continues to lead the team in points with 19 (8-11-19) in the team’s first 20 contests. Evers has paced the offence during the four-game win streak, recording at least a point in each win and has five points (2-3-5) in those four games.
Penticton’s power play has slumped in the month of November, as the Vees have scored just twice in seven games. The power play is 2-26 in the last seven games. Granted the Vees have missed key power play personnel in Michael Fisher and Conyr Hellyer in November due to injuries. Power play will be missing Max Heise, who won’t play either game this weekend due to an upper-body injury. Heise leads the team with five power play goals.
On the other side of the special teams ledge, the penalty kill has been excellent this month. The PK has surrendered just three goals in seven games in November. The penalty kill is operating at just over 85 percent in November, which has climbed from 18th to 8th in the BCHL.
Ethan Buenaventura made his Vees’ debut in goal last Saturday against Trail, stopping 21 of 22 shots he saw to record his first BCHL win. The 20-year-old goaltender from Winnipeg, MB joined the Vees ahead of their road trip last weekend and served as the backup to Will Ingemann Friday before picking up the win Saturday night in Trail. He and Ingemann will share goaltending duties going forward and it’s expected that Ingemann will get the nod Friday night in Salmon Arm.
Penticton’s roster is now at 23 players: three goaltenders, eight defencemen, and 12 forwards. Forward Casey Brown, and defencemen Julien Wasmer left the team this week to sign in the Canadian Hockey League. With injuries and roster departures, it’s expected the Vees will dress 17 skaters tonight: 11 forwards, six defencemen.
Salmon Arm Silverbacks
General Manager & Head Coach: Tyler Shattock
2024-25: GP 20 14-4-2-0, 30 pts (3rd, Interior Conference)
Last Game: 5-2 win at Blackfalds, November 16th
Home: 6-2-1-0
Away: 8-2-1-0
GF: 68
GA: 46
Power Play: 14/58 (24.1%, 9th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 41/58 (70.7%, 20th in BCHL)
Scoring Leader: Maddux Martin (10-9-19)
The Silverbacks arrive in the midst of a red-hot month of November, with their only loss of the month coming to Penticton on November 9th.
Immediately following that 5-2 loss to the Vees, Salmon Arm embarked on an Alberta road trip last week scoring 19 times in three wins over Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove and Blackfalds. Sitting in a tie with Penticton for 2nd place in the Interior Conference, the Silverbacks remain one of the best teams in the BCHL and will look to pick up their first win of the season against the Vees on Friday night.
Local product Maddux Martin continues to lead the Silverbacks in scoring, collecting 19 points (10-9-19) in the team’s first 20 games. A Merrimack commit, Martin is a third-year Silverback and plays big minutes in all situations for his hometown team. He was tapped by Head Coach & General Manager Tyler Shattock as the team’s captain ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Goaltending continues to be a pillar of strength for the ‘Backs, with the combination of returnee Ryan Grout and former Merritt Centennial Andrew Ballantyne forming one of the best goaltending tandems in the BCHL through 20 games. The two split games nearly evenly with Ballantyne, a recent commit to Tennessee State University, picking up the team’s last win in Blackfalds last Saturday night.