Weekend Preview: Vees host Capitals, Bandits at SOEC

Penticton Vees  

President, General Manager & Head Coach: Fred Harbinson 

2024-25 Record: GP 36 28-6-2-0, 58 pts (1st, Interior Conference) 

Last Game: 4-3 win vs. Blackfalds Bulldogs (Jan. 25) 

Home: 13-1-2-0 

Away: 15-5-0-0 

GF: 137 

GA: 91 

Power Play: (27/113) 23.9% 7th BCHL 

Penalty Kill: (20/93) 78.5% 9th BCHL 

Scoring Leader: Ryden Evers (15-22-37) 

The Vees return home Friday after a successful Alberta road trip saw them pick up wins in Brooks and Blackfalds last weekend to cement their status atop the BCHL Standings. Now five points clear of the surging Trail Smoke Eaters and six beyond the third place Brooks Bandits, the Vees will look to continue their winning ways Friday night when they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Indigenous Night at the SOEC. Friday opens another weekend home set for Penticton, who will also host the Brooks Bandits in their fourth and final meeting of the season Saturday night.  

Nearing full health for the first time this season, Penticton enters the stretch drive out of the BCHL All-Star break in a great spot. They’ve won four straight and collected points in 15 straight contests dating back to November 22nd in Salmon Arm. Michael Fisher and Matthew Biotti have returned to the lineup in recent weeks, bolstering a defense core that stands as one of the top units in the BCHL. They still await the return of 19-year-old Landen Hilditch, who remains sidelined with an upper body injury sustained as a member of the West Kelowna Warriors in November.  

Offensively the Vees continue to fill the net despite not having a true bonafide superstar up front. Luke Posthumus continues to be the go-to trigger man for Penticton and has hit the 20-goal mark thanks to a pair on last weekend’s road trip. Since November 28th, Posthumus has scored 14 times and collected 20 points in 14 games. 

Goaltending has also turned into a bright spot for Penticton, with both Will Ingemann and Ethan Buenaventura bringing their very best every time they take the crease. Ingemann has earned victories in six of his last seven starts since November 28th, while Buenaventura maintains an 8-0-1-0 record in nine starts since his arrival on November 16th. The two have alternated starts since November.  

Cowichan Valley Capitals 

Head Coach & General Manager: Cam Keith 

2024-25 Record: GP 32, 20-12-3-0, 43 PTS (4th, Coastal Conference) 

Last Game:  

Home: 12-6-0-0 

Away: 8-6-3-0 

GF: 146 (4th, in BCHL) 

GA: 132 (14th in BCHL) 

Power Play: 19.7% (24/122, 14th in BCHL) 

Penalty Kill: 75.4% (92/122, 15th in BCHL) 

Scoring Leader: Camden Bajzer (15-23-38) 

The Cowichan Valley Capitals kick-off an interior road trip weekend Friday with their only stop of the season at the SOEC to face the league-leading Vees. The last time the Vees and the Capitals faced off was at the 2023 BCHL Showcase in Seattle, where Penticton won 4-1. The last time Cowichan visited the SOEC was January 14, 202,3 where they lost 5-3 defeat in front of a crowd that topped 3,600.  

Rejuvenated in 2024-25 with a new coach at the helm in Cam Keith, the Capitals find themselves in the middle of the pack and jockeying for playoff positioning in the BCHL’s Coastal Conference. They would hold home ice advantage if the Rogers BCHL Playoffs began as play resumes this weekend. Keith, a Fred Page Cup Championship winning coach with Surrey in 2023/24, has brought his expertise and experience to the island and has the Caps playing a high paced brand of hockey that showcases an ‘all gas, no brakes’ mentality.  

Much like his teams in past years, Keith has built a team with a high-octane offense that scores a ton and sits near the top of the league in the goals for department. The Capitals seem to outscore their defensive problems, as they also sit in the bottom third of the league in goals against through 35 games.  

20-year-old forward Camden Bajzer leads the way on the scoreboard for the Capitals, averaging north of a point per game (15-23-38) in his 33 appearances this season. The native of Shaker Heights, OH and Bowling Green University commit for next season rides a 5-game point streak (4-4-8) into Friday’s contest and has collected points in 16 of his last 18 games, including eight multi-point efforts.  

New goaltender Liam Sztuska is the expected starter for the Caps Friday night at the SOEC. Stutzka, 20, joined the Capitals in late November and has won six of his first eight starts including his last one on January 24th against the Langley Rivermen.   

 

Brooks Bandits  

Season Series:  

September 27, Penticton 1 @ Brooks 4

November 2, Brooks 6 @ Penticton 2

January 24, Penticton 2 @ Brooks 1

January 31, Brooks @ Penticton

 

General Manager & Head Coach: Ryan Papaioannou

2024-25 Record: GP 34, 25-7-0-2, 52 PTS 

Last Game: 5-2 Win vs Spruce Grove, January 25th 

Home: 13-4-0-1 

Away: 12-3-0-1 

GF: 144 

GA: 71 

Power Play: 37/153 (24.2%, 5th in BCHL) 

Penalty Kill: 108/124 (87.1%, 2nd in BCHL) 

Scoring Leader: Nathan Free (20-24-44) 

For the second time in eight days the Brooks Bandits and the Penticton Vees will do battle Saturday night, this time in Penticton for the fourth and final meeting of the season. Brooks won the first two, with Penticton picking up the victory in the latest contest on January 24th. Brooks will begin their weekend in the Shuswap with a stop in Salmon Arm Friday night before their arrival at the SOEC on Saturday.  

Brooks comes into the weekend on the back of a 5-2 win last Saturday night against the Spruce Grove Saints. Still without top talent Nick Peluso, the Bandits did get Matej Tepley and Davide Patella back from suspensions Saturday night to fill a roster that looks different now than it did the last time Brooks visited the SOEC on November 2nd.  

While different, the Bandits remain one of the top three teams in the BCHL along with Penticton and Trail. While still awaiting the first meeting of the season with the two teams at full roster strength, Penticton and Brooks played a tight, thrilling hockey game last weekend in Brooks. The two put their best foot forward in a playoff like setting and went toe-to-toe in a game that was scoreless through two periods.  

With two new goaltenders settling into the BCHL, the Bandits have had to weather the storm with roster changes, injuries and suspensions since the holiday break in December. Zach Zahara and Chris Quizi have come together quickly to form a brand new goaltending tandem for the Bandits, splitting starts since the arrival of Zahara from the Medicine Hat Tigers on January 10th. The 19-year-old from Rockyview, AB arrives to Brooks with nearly 50 games of WHL experience under his belt split between the Tigers and the Wenatchee Wild over the past four seasons. He was the goaltender of record last Friday against Penticton, but it figures to be Quizi’s turn in the rotation this coming Saturday when Brooks comes to the SOEC for the final regular season meeting with the Vees.