Vees gunning for div. title

Heading into the final week of the BCHL regular season, the Penticton Vees are looking to lock up a seventh-straight Interior division crown as well as the title of the league's top overall team.

And sitting on top of the league with three games left, the ball is in the Vees' court for the final standings will shake up.

With 81 points, Penticton (38-12-2-3) sits two points up on the Vernon Vipers, who have two more games left, and four points ahead of the Wenatchee Wild, who have three games remaining as well.

Head coach and general manager Fred Harbinson acknowledged points are critical right now, and expects they won't come easy for his team this week.

The Vees start their week of action by visiting the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Wednesday — their final road game of the regular season.

Penticton returns home to host the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday night, before hosting the Silverbacks on Sunday afternoon in game 58.

Having home ice clinched for the first round, the Vees also announced on Tuesday that their playoffs will begin with home games on Mar. 2 and 3 at the SOEC, regardless of who their opponent is.

"We're trying to get first place overall, trying to get that attendance record... A lot of great things going on this weekend," Harbinson said.

The Vees will hope to build off the momentum of three games in the Lower Mainland last weekend, where they won two of three and played relatively strong hockey.

After crushing the Coquitlam Express 5-1 on Friday, the Vees fell 5-3 to the Langley Rivermen on Saturday before downing the Surrey Eagles 5-3 on Sunday.

As it stands, the Vees are likely to match up against the 16th-ranked Express in round one of the playoffs.

On Feb. 27 the team also said they will be hosting a public Q&A session at Match Eatery and Public House in the SOEC Complex — similar to a session held last month with Harbinson, defenseman Jonny Tychonick and team broadcaster Craig Beauchemin.

"By then we'll know who our first-round opponent is and kind of recap the regular season and get ready for the playoffs," Harbinson said.