Game Preview: Vees vs. Prince George Spruce Kings (Game One)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Game Time: 7:00 pm PST
Location: South Okanagan Events Centre
Radio: Bounce 800 AM
Webcast: Flo Hockey
| Season Series | Playoff Series |
| Oct. 11 Prince George 2 at Penticton 5 | GM 1 Apr. 5, Prince George at Penticton |
| Nov. 17 Prince George 1 at Penticton 8 | GM 2 Apr. 6, Prince George at Penticton |
| Dec. 1 Prince George 0 at Penticton 4 | GM 3 Apr. 9, Penticton at Prince George |
| Jan. 5 Penticton 4 at Prince George 7 | GM 3 Apr. 10, Penticton at Prince George |
| Jan. 6 Penticton 3 at Prince George 1 | GM 5 Apr. 12, Prince George at Penticton |
| Feb. 10 Prince George 0 at Penticton 8 | GM 6 Apr. 14, Penticton at Prince George |
| GM 7 Apr. 16, Prince George at Penticton |
Penticton Vees
GM & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson
Regular Season Record : GP 54 38-10-3-3, 82 PTS (1st, Interior)
Last Game: 5-1loss vs. West Kelowna (Mar. 31)
Home: 21-5-0-1
Away: 17-5-3-2
GF: 202
GA: 116
Power Play: (53/186) 28.5% (2)
Penalty Kill: (34/156) 78.2% (11)
Scoring Leader: Callum Arnott (27-26-53)
The Vees open the 2024 BCHL Playoffs tonight, as they face the Prince George Spruce Kings in Game One at the SOEC.
Penticton is looking to get back on track in the postseason after closing out the regular season with three-straight losses. The Vees lost four of their final five regular season games. Their three losses at home marked the first time they had lost three straight at the SOEC since November 9th, 2012.
The Vees did dominate the season series against the Spruce Kings, winning five out of six. Penticton outscored Prince George 32-11 in the six games and shut them out twice. The Spruce Kings lone win was a decisive one, a 7-4 victory at home back on January 5th.
Co-Captain Thomas Pichette led the Vees with 10 points against Prince George. Callum Arnott and Billy Renfrew were right behind him with nine points.
Penticton will likely rotate their two goaltenders to start the series, so look for Will Ingemann to start tonight and then Andrew Ness get the call in Game Two.
Prince George Spruce Kings
GM: Mike Hawes
Head Coach: Alex Evin
Regular Season Record : GP 54 16-35-3-0 (8th, Interior)
Last Game: 4-1 loss at Merritt (Mar. 30)
Home: 12-13-2-0
Away: 4-22-1-0
GF: 107
GA: 163
Power Play: 46/208 22.1% (5)
Penalty Kill: 48/176 72.7% (15)
Scoring Leader: Kilian McGregor-Bennett (20-18-38)
The Spruce Kings come into the series as the noted “underdogs” finishing eighth out of the eight-team Interior Conference.
Prince George finished the regular season by splitting a pair of road games last weekend, winning 6-5 in overtime Friday in Vernon, before losing 4-1 Saturday in Merritt. Speaking of the road, the Spruce Kings had the fewest road wins (4) in the BCHL this season. They only won two of their final 13 road games in the second half of the regular season.
Killian McGregor-Bennett led the Spruce Kings with 20 goals and 38 points. No Spruce King averaged a point per-game this season and McGregor-Bennett was the only Prince George player to finish inside the top 50 in league scoring. Prince George was the third-lowest scoring team in the BCHL with 148 goals, behind Cranbrook (133) and Coquitlam (146).
The Spruce Kings bring an abundance of playoff experience into this series. Prince George has four players on their roster who have played in multiple BCHL Playoffs. McGregor-Bennett, Linden Makow, Amran Bhabra, and Ben LeFranc all were on the Spruce Kings’ team that lost in four games to the Vees in the 2022 postseason.