By Jim Bailey, Trail Times
After going up two games to none, few expected the Penticton Vees to be playing in a Game 7 do-or-die match against the Trail Smoke Eaters on Monday but, in hockey, anything is possible.
“Before the series starts, people are making predictions,” said Penticton assistant coach Matt Fraser. “I see a lot of Penticton in five, Trail in six or whatever – almost no one ever bets on seven but secretly hopes it goes the distance. So after the way we played last year in our playoffs, going to three Game 7s, it doesn’t surprise me.”
The Vees won all three of its 2017 playoff series against Merritt, Vernon, and Chilliwack, and looked to do the same in front of their home crowd Monday night.
The Smoke Eaters had a chance to ice the Vees’ season after winning Game 5 in Penticton and going up 3-2 in the best-of-seven Interior Division semifinal, with Game 6 in Trail Saturday. But the pressure of playing in front of a sell-out crowd of 3,200 home fans may have got to the Smoke Eaters, as they fell 6-1.
“I think maybe some of us saw the huge crowd and maybe just got a little too excited and tried to do too much,” said Smoke Eater captain Troy Ring. “But it’s okay, I think we’re just going to take the positives out of the three games we won and use that as momentum for Game 7.”
The Smoke Eaters have made the Interior Division final twice in its history. The 1996-97 team was loaded with Trail product Steve McCarthy, Travis Roche, and Massimo Provenzano but lost to the Vernon Vipers, while the 2002-03 team with David Eccles, Mick Lawrence, and goaltender Kevin Hachey fell to Penticton.
Trail played a textbook road game in Penticton on Friday to take the series lead. Levi Glasman scored twice as the Smokies led 3-2 with two minutes to play. However, Trail forward Kale Howarth took a hooking penalty, leaving the Smoke Eaters two-men short, once the Vees pulled goalie Adam Scheel for an extra attacker. But Smokies forward Braeden Tuck managed to work the puck into the neutral zone and backhand it into the empty net for a 4-2 lead with 1:41 remaining. Penticton pulled within one after Taylor Ward blasted a shot from the circle past Trail goalie Adam Marcoux, leaving 29 tense seconds to tick off before celebrating the Game 5 victory.
