A round-up of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
In Winnipeg, the Ice made a three-goal lead stand up, barely, in the opening game of the WHL championship series.
Connor McClennon and Evan Friesen, with goals in the first period, plus Carson Latimer who made it 3-0 at 7:02 of the second, scored for Winnipeg.
Reid Schaefer, just 28 seconds into the third, and Kevin Korchinski, at 18:18 with his team’s goalie pulled for an extra attacker, replied for Seattle.
Daniel Hauser stopped 27 of 29 shots for the Ice, while Thomas Milic made 25 saves on 28 shots for the Thunderbirds.
“It wasn’t our best game; slow out of the gates and I thought we got better as the game went on,” said Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette. “They executed well and cashed in on their chances.”
He added, “We still had some chances to tie it late in the game, but just didn’t get the bounces.”
The series winner will advance to the Memorial Cup in Kamloops, B.C., from May 26 to June 4, as the league champion.
Seattle thought they had tied it with seven seconds left, banking in a short-angle shot, but Hauser had just lost his blocker on a lengthy scramble, and the refs blew the play dead just before the puck went into Winnipeg’s net.
Seattle was 0-for-2 on the power play while Winnipeg was 1-for-4.
Game 2 is Saturday night at Canada Life Centre, home of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Friday’s attendance was 5,531.
The Ice normally play in Wayne Fleming Arena, a tiny rink with seating for 1,600. The team was slated to build a new rink, but that has yet to materialize, leading to speculation that the Ice could be on the move.
The Ice advanced to the league final by sweeping the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference championship. That series ended on May 3, with a 3-2 win by Winnipeg in Game 4.
The Thunderbirds advanced to the league final by defeating the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference championship. Seattle won the series 4-2, including a 4-2 victory in Game 5 last Monday.
This is the second straight appearance in the WHL final by Seattle, which lost 4-2 to Edmonton in last year’s championship.
The Thunderbirds also advance to the league final in 2016 and 2017. Seattle lost to Brandon 4-1 in 2016 but defeated Regina 4-2 in 2017. At that year’s Memorial Cup in Windsor, Ont., the Thunderbirds were winless at 0-3 and placed fourth.
The last time the Ice — who relocated to Winnipeg from Cranbrook after the 2018-19 season – played in a league final was 2011 when they beat Portland 4-1. At that year’s Memorial Cup in Mississauga, Ont., the Ice placed third.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
In Penticton, B.C., Thomas Pichette scored what stood up as the game-winning goal late in the second period as the Vees won the opening game of the BCHL championship series.
Nic DeGraves, Josh Nadeau and Mason Poolman also scored for the Vees, who led 3-2 after 40 minutes following a 1-1 tie following the first period. With his goal, Nadeau extended his playoff points streak to 11 games (11 goals, 11 assists for 22 points).
Nicholas Beneteau, with two goals, and Matthew Maltais also scored for the Bulldogs, who tied the Vees in shots this game — a rarity in this year’s playoffs.
Of their 14 post-season games this spring (13-1 record), Penticton has only been outshot twice (33-32 by Wenatchee; and 36-35 by Salmon Arm).
Further, of the 44 periods the Vees have played in these playoffs, they’ve outshot their opponents in 35 of them.
Of the remaining nine, four were ties. One of those five in which Penticton was outshot happened Friday night when the Bulldogs outshot the Vees 12-7 in the third period.
Luca Di Pasquo stopped 33 of 36 shots for Penticton, with Campbell Arnold turning aside 32 of 36 shots for Alberni Valley.
Penticton was 1-for-1 on the power play while Alberni Valley was 0-for-2. Friday’s listed attendance was 3,217.
Game 2 will take place Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, with the series then shifting to Port Alberni for Game 3 and Game 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Those games in Port Alberni were sold out 2.5 hours after tickets became available last Saturday.
“The response from our community has been beyond overwhelming,” said Bulldogs club president David Michaud.
“The way this community has wrapped its arms around our players this entire playoff run has been really special. Nothing really surprises me in terms of the support we get, but selling out this early shows how special this team is to our community.”
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