Photo: Wayne Moore
Many tears were shed Wednesday night at Royal LePage Place.
Tears of joy from a few hundred Penticton Vees fans and their heroes after capturing another Inner Conference title, and tears of sadness on the faces of the West Kelowna Warriors players and many of their fans after their season and, to many, youth careers, came to a sudden end.
What most thought would be a long and hard-fought series turned out to be the opposite, as the Vees completed a four-game sweep of the best-of-seven series 6-1 before a sold-out crowd of 1,384 at Royal LePage Place.
“Salmon Arm and Vernon probably affected us more physically,” head coach and general manager Simon Ferguson said after addressing his players.
“In the last series, I said we got all the rebounds and some lucky goals, and I feel like it was the other way around this series.
“Penalties were against us, rebounds were against us. You create a little bit of your own luck and we’ll learn from that for next year.”
The Warriors desperately needed to change the script going into game four with their season on the line after losing the first three games by a combined score of 19-3.
They got what they needed, the opening goal, when Nick Roukounakis hit a rebound after the most concentrated pressure of the entire series.
But, the advantage lasted only 38 seconds. Jackson Neiuwendyk won a puck battle behind the Warriors’ net, and before Johnny Derrick knew where he was, Nieuwendyk took a few steps toward the net and potted the puck instead.
Ethan Mann scored the eventual game winner late in the period hitting Nieuwendyk’s pass near the top of the box.
The Vees extended the lead to two midway through the second on the power play, then rode Kaeden Lane’s star goal to victory.
Lane, the number one star of the game, made several key saves, including a spectacular save on a backdoor stopwatch in the closing seconds of the second period with the shorthanded Vees.
Penticton closed it out in the third with three unanswered goals, including two with Derrick on the bench for an extra attacker and the Warriors desperately looking for a way to extend their season.
Despite the loss, Ferguson says he is proud of the players and the way they competed both in the series and throughout the season.
“If you think about where this team came from, when I got here two years ago … sitting last eight points from the playoffs to third in the entire league and getting to the final four against a really experienced team.”
The Warriors will say goodbye to at least 14 players leaving for either graduation or US college commitments, including five defensemen and starting goalkeeper Johnny Derrick.
The rebuild has already begun with several key recruits already signed and committed for next season.
For the Vees, the season will continue when they face the Nanaimo Clippers for the Fred Page Cup. The Clippers advanced by sweeping the Langley Rivermen in four games on Wednesday.
That series is expected to begin a week from Friday at the South Okanagan Events Center.
Reference-www.castanet.net