Rod MacMurchy is realistic about the host Penticton Vees chances of winning the B.C. Peewee Tier 2 Hockey Championship that run from Sunday to Wednesday at Memorial Arena.
“If we get all 17 players showing up, we should be very competitive,” said the Vees head coach. “If you look at the eight teams, anyone can make it to the final. I don‘t think there is a clear-cut favourite.”
The Vees are in a round-robin pool with Semiahmoo, Cranbrook and Fort St. John, while the other pool consists of Campbell River, Mission, Quesnel and Okanagan-Mainline champions Westside.
The event begins with a banquet Saturday night at the Penticton Lakeside Resort. The first game will be played Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and the Vees first game will be at 1:30 p.m. against Cranbrook. Opening ceremonies will be held at 7 p.m. and the Vees will follow it up with their second game on Sunday at 8 p.m. against Semiahmoo.
Penticton gets Monday off and plays Fort St. John Tuesday morning.
The Vees had a solid season, finishing second with an 11-4 record and making it to the OMAHA final before losing in two straight games – the second one in overtime - to Westside. Overall, the team was 30-18-2 and made it to a pair of tournament finals.
MacMurchy said the Vees will be counting on four players who were on the Penticton team that won the peewee tier 2 provincials last season – forwards Blake Holowaty (also the team captain) and Kyle Kohlheiser, and defencemen Tyrell Buckley and Cooper Prechel.
“Having that experience of having gone through and won a provincial title is important,” said MacMurchy, who is joined by assistant coaches Al Fraser, Doug MacMillan and Dave Prechel, and manager Betsy Hogg.
Holowaty is the key offensively. Already six-feet tall, he led the team in scoring and has unlimited potential.
“He could easily play bantam right now,” said MacMurchy, who was an assistant coach to Ken Law on the Penticton team that won the tier 2 midget championship last year.
Matthew Brodt and Brayden Wheeler are two of the other key offensive cogs for the Vees.
The Vees, made up of players ages 11 and 12, have 13 second-year peewees and only four first-year peewees.
The team also has a pair of female players – defenceman Alyssa MacMillan and goaltender Stephanie Hogg.
Hogg splits the goaltending duties with Ryan Konno and MacMurchy said both goalies will see plenty of action at provincials.
The top four teams advance to the semifinals on Tuesday, with first place from Pool A playing second place from Pool B at 5 p.m., and first place from Pool B playing second place from Pool A at 8 p.m. The bronze-medal and championship games go Wednesday morning.
MacMurchy said a lot of hard work has gone into planning and staging the provincials.
He said Blaine Peterson and Lorraine MacMillan headed up a committee that started organizing the event in November.
Meanwhile, the Penticton Smile Enhancement Studio Vees – coached by Mike Needham and John DePourcq - are representing OMAHA at the bantam tier 1 provincials in Richmond next week.
