Game Preview: Vees at Surrey Eagles (Fred Page Cup Game One)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Game Time: 7:30 pm PST
Location: South Surrey Arena
Radio: Bounce 800 AM
Webcast: Flo Hockey
| Season Series | Fred Page Cup Final |
| Jan. 27, Surrey 1 at Penticton 4 | GM 1: May 17, Penticton at Surrey, 7:30 pm |
| GM 2: May 18, Penticton at Surrey, 7:00 pm | |
| GM 3: May 21, Surrey at Penticton, 7:00 pm | |
| GM 4: May 22, Surrey at Penticton, 7:00 pm | |
| GM 5: May 24, Penticton at Surrey, 7:30 pm* | |
| GM 6: May 26, Surrey at Penticton, 5:00 pm* | |
| GM 7: May 28, Penticton at Surrey, 7:15 pm* | |
| *If necessary |
Penticton Vees
President, GM & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson
Regular Season Record: GP 54 38-10-3-3, 1st Interior Conference
Playoff Record: 12-4
Last Game: 4-3 win vs. Salmon Arm (May 14)
Home: 7-2
Away: 5-2
GF: 44
GA: 24
Power Play: (5/35) 14.3%
Penalty Kill: (3/27) 85.2%
Scoring Leader: Callum Arnott (7-7-14)
The Vees are making their third consecutive Fred Page Cup Final appearance and looking for their third-straight BCHL championship. Penticton won the Interior Conference title in dramatic fashion in Game Seven on Tuesday.
Penticton, down 3-1 with less than five minutes left in regulation, scored three goals in 4:44, including two goals 13 seconds apart in the final half minute of regulation. Nolan Stevenson started and finished the dramatic comeback with his two goals, including the game winner with just 14 seconds left in regulation. Arguably the most dramatic Game Seven finish in BCHL history.
The Vees now have to quickly turn the page and regroup for Game One of the league final in Surrey. It’s a showdown of the top two teams from the BCHL regular season standings. The Vees finished first in the Interior and Surrey finished first overall in the BCHL. They only played each other once, back on January 27th, in Penticton, with the Vees winning 4-1.
Penticton has won a league-record 14 BCHL championships and are looking to be the first team to win three-straight Fred Page Cups since 2011, when the Vernon Vipers pulled off the three-peat.
Will Ingemann is the projected Game One starter. The 19-year-old has had a terrific postseason, posting a 9-2 record, to go along with a 1.23 goals-against average and .945 save percentage. He also has three shutouts.
Defenceman Daniel Buchbinder resumed skating with the team this week and is close to potentially making a return. Buchbinder hasn’t played since Game Three of round one versus Prince George.
Penticton has been a good road team in the postseason, posting a 5-2 record in seven road games. Both losses have come in overtime.
Surrey Eagles
GM & Head Coach: Cam Keith
Regular Season Record: GP 54 44-8-0-2, 1st Coastal Conference
Playoff Record: 12-6
Last Game: 3-2 win vs. Alberni Valley (May 14)
Home: 8-2
Away: 4-4
GF: 61
GA: 42
Power Play: (12/59) 20.3%
Penalty Kill: (13/42) 69.0%
Scoring Leader: Micah Burger (8-12-20)
Surrey is back in the big dance for the first time in 11 years, as they won the Coastal Conference championship in seven games over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
For most of the season, the Eagles have been the top team in the BCHL, as they finished eight points ahead of the Vees in the overall standings, as they won the Ron Boileau Trophy as regular season champions.
Surrey is led by the one, two punch of Caden Cranston and Aaron Schwartz. The two forwards finished first and second in BCHL scoring in the regular season. Cranston led the league with 86 points winning the Brett Hull Trophy as top scorer and the Vern Dye Memorial Trophy as the Most Valuable player. Right behind him was his linemate Aaron Schwartz who had 81 points. Surrey’s 226 goals in the regular season led the league, as they averaged just over four goals per game.
In the postseason, Cranston and Schwartz are near the top in team scoring, but it’s Micah Burger who leads the team with 20 points. Burger, who played for Wenatchee last season, signed with the Eagles midway through the season, after starting the year in the USHL with Sioux Falls Stampede.
Surrey has split their goaltending duties in the playoffs. Ajeet Gundarah, who won the Mike Garteig award as the league’s top goalie, has played in 11 of their 18 playoff games. Gundarah is 6-4 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .931 save percentage. Jaiden Sharma, who played 16 regular season games as Gundarah’s back up, has been excellent in the postseason. Sharma is 6-2 in the playoffs with a 1.66 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.
The Eagles have been excellent at home in the playoffs, posting an 8-2 mark at South Surrey Arena.