Local Sports
Vees acquire forward, lose D-man
By David Crompton
Thursday, August 14, 2008

David Andreassen helped beat the Penticton Valley First Vees and now he‘s joining them.
The Vees acquired the 20-year-old forward from the Camrose Kodiaks in exchange for the junior A rights to a pair of forwards currently playing in the Western Hockey League.
The Vees also lost defenceman James Bettauer to the WHL‘s Chilliwack Bruins and learned that forward Curtis McKenzie has decided to play a second season in Penticton instead of going to the Red Deer Rebels.
Andreassen was born in Camrose and has played the last three seasons with the Kodiaks, serving an assistant captain in 2007-08. He helped Camrose beat the Vees four games to one in the 2007-08 Doyle Cup B.C.-Alberta junior A hockey championship series.
“He was a good player who played on the top two lines against us in that series,” said Vees head coach Fred Harbinson. “He‘s not a big point producer, but he‘s a big, strong power forward who is going to add depth to our lineup.”
The six-foot, 190-pound Andreassen suited up for all 60 regular season games with Camrose, tallying 12 goals, 31 points and 83 penalty minutes. In the playoffs, he netted five goals and six points in 18 contests.
In his first two years with Camrose, Andreassen had 20 goals and 42 points in 87 games.
“We lost a lot of character and leadership after last season and Andreassen is a kid who has been to two straight Royal Bank Cups and played in a lot of important games,” said Harbinson.
Andreassen indicated he wanted to experience junior hockey away from his hometown. He spoke to forward Eric Kroshus – who was traded from Camrose to the Vees last season – and decided Penticton was the place he‘d like to play.
The Vees gave up the rights to 20-year-old forward Matt Schermund of the Portland Winterhawks and 19-year-old forward Dustin Donaghy of the Memorial Cup-champion Spokane Chiefs. Donaghy played for the Vees two seasons ago.
Schermund‘s rights, ironically, came to the Vees along with Kroshus in the deal that sent Alex MacLeod and Nigel Dube to Camrose. Schermund never did don a Penticton jersey.
Losing Bettauer is a blow to the Vees blueline. The six-foot-one, 180-pounder from Burnaby had three assists and 16 penalty minutes in 42 regular-season games in his rookie season with the Vees.
“It kind of caught us by surprise but we wish James all the best,” said Harbinson. “We don‘t expect there to be any chance of him returning this season.”
With Bettauer departing, Harbinson said he‘s asked versatile 20-year-old veteran Elias Grossmann to move back to the blueline – at least to start the season.
The Vees are pleased to welcome back another promising second-year player in McKenzie, who considered going to Red Deer. The 17-year-old will decide after this season whether to go to the WHL or remain in the BCHL and try to earn a college scholarship.
McKenzie, a six-foot-one 190-pounder from Golden, had three goals, 10 points and 81 PIM in 49 games with the Vees, impressing with his skill, grit and willingness to drop the gloves.
“Curtis can take another step in his game,” said Harbinson. “We‘re thinking about trying him at centre to start the season. If it doesn‘t work out, we can move him back to the wing. We think he‘s going to have a great season.”
The Vees will open camp at the Sunbowl Arena in Osoyoos a week from today. The team will stay in Osoyoos until Aug. 23 and return to Penticton to get ready for the BCHL pre-season opener Aug. 26 in Merritt.
“It‘s a work in progress right now,” said Harbinson. “We‘re going to have some work to do, but we‘ve got a very good foundation with which to build.”