The Vees kick-off their second WHL season tonight in Prince George when they take on the Cougars for the first of a back-to-back against their new BC rivals. Puck drop is 7PM.

catch all the action on the Western Hockey League Youtube page or, for the Vees broadcast, Summit 800 AM and Summit 98.5 Summerland. 

The last time the Vees hit the ice was game four of the Western Conference final when they fell to the Everett Silvertips in four straight games. There is a lot of turnover on this season’s Vees roster with 18 players new to the team from the official season opening roster that was announced earlier this week. 

The Vees and the Cougars solidified a new rivalry last spring when they met in a physical, no-love-lost, second round playoff series. The Cougars took a 2-0 series lead before the Vees stormed back with four straight victories to advance to take on the eventual WHL Champion Silvertips in the next round. 

Vees Player to Watch: Vees newcomer Gavin Katz led all Vees in points in the preseason with seven. Katz comes over from the USHL where he registered 30 goals and 57 points in 60 games last season. He was named an assistant captain for the season last week. 

Fast Fact: Sean Burick (Vegas), Noel Pakarinen (Vegas) and Gio Pantelas (Los Angeles) will not be in the lineup tonight as they were invited to NHL main camps with their respective teams. 

 

Preseason Leading Scorers

Penticton: 

Gavin Katz (3g, 4a)

Gio Pantelas (2g, 3a)

Noel Pakarinen (1g, 2a)

Nate Pederson (2g) 

Tristan Petersen (1g, 1a) 

 

Prince George: 

Tre Peck (2g, 1a)

Townes Kozicki (1g, 1a)

Lee Shurgot (2a)