The British Columbia Hockey League's Penticton Vees are pleased to announce that a trio of players have secured post-secondary scholarship commitments for the 2010/11 hockey season.
20-year old forward Andrew Pickering is set to attend the University of Alaska-Anchorage and suit up for the NCAA Division I SeaWolves. Pickering joined the Vees at the 2010 trade deadline following stints in Victoria, Prince George, Trail and Merritt and contributed 13 points in 17 regular season games.
The West Vancouver, B.C. product totalled 133 BCHL games over three seasons and scored 36 goals and 97 points during his time in the league.
“Andrew did all that we asked after he joined the team in January and proved to be a versatile player with good offensive instincts,” says Vees head coach Fred Harbinson. “Like most youn men in our league, Andrew's dream was to go to an NCAA Division I program and we're very happy that he is going to a strong team in a very good conference.”
20-year old defenceman Bo Dolan has secured a scholarship commitment to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he will compete for the NCAA Division I Engineers. Dolan scored nine goals and totalled 25 points in his first BCHL season despite missing over seven weeks of action due to a broken leg.
“Bo brought a great deal of energy to our defence corps and he was good in all areas of his game,” says Harbinson. “We missed him a great deal when he was out of the line-up, but he came back even stronger than when he left. We're going to miss him next season, but he was ready for college and he's going to be a big-time contributor at RPI.”
Meanwhile, 20-year old defenceman Matt Paltridge has commited to attend the University of Western Ontario and suit up for the CIS's Mustangs in 2010. Paltridge spent two successful seasons in Penticton after previously playing with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires.
Paltridge was an offensive contributor from the blueline with 34 points in his final season with the Vees, and the Tecumseh, ON product leaves Penticton with 13 goals and 50 points scored in 117 BCHL games.
“We're very happy for Matt that he'll be playung university hockey at a very good academic school,” Harbinson says. “He provided excellent leadership and played against other teams' top lines.”
The commitments of Pickering, Dolan and Paltridge bring the total number of Vees' scholarships for the 2009/10 season to a league-high 19, though many of those players are set to return to Penticton for another season before departing for school.
