A roundup of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
KAMLOOPS vs. SEATTLE
The Seattle Thunderbirds are one win away from advancing to the league final and closing the front door to the Memorial Cup on the Kamloops Blazers.
The Thunderbirds lead the Western Conference final 3-1, with Game 5 set for Saturday night in Kent, Wash.
Should Seattle win, the T-Birds will meet the Winnipeg Ice in the league final. That result would also mean nearly three weeks of rest and practice for Kamloops, which hosts the Memorial Cup.
The four-team event runs May 26 to June 4, and features the champions of the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, along with a host team.
Host teams have mixed results, with some faring well and winning the Cup and others being quickly bounced from the tournament, losing all three round-robin games.
Since 2000, though, when B.C. teams hosted the tournament, they are 2-0, with the Kelowna Rockets winning in 2004 and the Vancouver Giants following suit in 2007.
However, both did so as host teams, not league champions.
The Rockets were stunned in the Western Conference final by the upstart and expansion Everett Silvertips, who won that crazy series 4-3. All games were decided by one goal, with the last three games needing overtime.
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Everett was then swept by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the league final. In that year’s Memorial Cup, the Rockets were a perfect 4-0 and finished the tournament by beating Gatineau 2-1 in the final.
The Giants were close to being league and national champions, but lost in seven games to the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL final. Vancouver would have the last laugh, though, as the G-Men downed the Tigers in the Memorial Cup final, winning 3-1.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
For a second consecutive year, the Penticton Vees will be playing in the league final.
At the South Okanagan Events Centre on Friday night, Bradly Nadeau tallied two goals and three points on his 18th birthday as the Vees erased Salmon Arm from the league’s playoff picture.
Penticton won the best-of-seven series and claimed the Interior Conference championship before a crowd of 3,254.
Aydar Suniev, with two goals, Billy Norcross, Josh Nadeau and Frank Djurasevic also scored for Penticton, which led 4-1 after 40 minutes following a scoreless first period.
Maddux Martin, with two goals, CJ Foley and Isaac Lambert replied for Salmon Arm, which trailed 6-1 just seven minutes into the third, but reeled off three consecutive goals later in the period to make it 6-4.
However, Djurasevic iced the game at 18:22 with an empty-net goal.
Luca Di Pasquo stopped 17 of 21 shots for the Vees, with Matthew Tovell turning aside 26 of 32 shots for the Silverbacks.
Penticton was 1-for-2 on the power play while Salmon Arm was 0-for-3.
The Vees will now face the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the league final. Alberni Valley blanked the Chilliwack Chiefs 4-0 in the Coastal Conference final.
Last season, Penticton cruised through the league, compiling the best record, then went 16-1 in the playoffs, including a 4-0 sweep of Nanaimo in the final.
Both the 2020 and 2021 playoffs were scrubbed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023 Fred Page Cup final will begin with Game 1 on Friday, May 12, at the SOEC in Penticton. Game 2 will take place on Saturday, May 13, with Games 3 and 4 set for Port Alberni on May 16-17.
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