Michael Garteig can only sit and watch as his Penticton Vees' teammates battle to keep their dream season alive.
The Prince George native goaltender for the B.C. Hockey League Vees (54-3-0-2) watched his team's first four playoff games with the Chilliwack Chiefs (33-22-2-3) from the same place he was for the final seven regular games - in the stands, suffering from what's believed to be a high-ankle sprain.
"It sucks knowing you can't control anything and have a say in what they do," said Garteig. "All you can do is be supportive and cheer on the guys to hopefully do their best."
After a dominating 6-1 win over the Chiefs in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Interior Conference the Vees lost their first home game of the 2011-2012 season 3-2 in overtime Saturday as the Chiefs' tied the series at 1-1. After twin 3-1 wins by each club in Chilliwack the best-of-seven series re-ignites tonight in Penticton tied at two wins apiece.
"I obviously want to be playing and I will be soon enough that's all that matters," said Garteig, when the Vees closed out the regular season March 10 in his hometown with a split against the Prince George Spruce Kings, which ended the Vees' Canadian Junior Hockey record-tying 42-game win streak.
Despite the tough time the Vees' have had solving Chiefs' goaltender Mitch Gillam in the playoffs Garteig believes in his teammates.
"We're going to face adversity and we have faced adversity a lot this year," he said, pointing out the Vees' leading scorer, Connor Reilly, is out for the season with a knee injury. "We have guys who can step up and fulfill that role. We'll be OK."
Garteig has posted a 41-4 record this season, with five shutouts, a .927 save percentage and a 1.93 goals against average. In his three year BCHL career, Garteig has played 120 games with a 92-23-3 record with 13 shutouts, a .921 save percentage and a 2.07 goals against average.
Storybook season
He said as a 20 year old the Vees' magical regular season has been a lot of fun.
"Unreal," he said. "Obviously when you're winning it's fun. It's a class act organization and probably [close] to the best in the BCHL, hopefully we can go all the way and keep playing for some time."
The Vees have the target of being the No. 1 ranked team in the CJHL and anything less than raising the Royal Bank Cup above their heads in Humboldt, Sask., after the May 5 to 13 round-robin championship will be a disappointment.
"You don't want to put that pressure on yourself but, I think, we have that pressure on ourselves," said Garteig. "It's not something we look at in a bad way though, it's good to have the pressure. We're definitely the over-dog in every situation.
"To win the BCHL would be awesome," he added. "That's a huge feat on its own and then if you can keep going and win the Royal Bank Cup that's obviously what we want to do and that's, hopefully, what we can do."
No matter what happens, Garteig said this season has given him many memories he'll have for the rest of his life.
"I think probably the record-tying game in Penticton for 29 in a row and then 30 in a row in Chilliwack with our fans coming down were pretty memorable with the busload of fans there and walking out after the game and them congratulating you," said Garteig, adding playing in, or just milling around as he did the final weekend of the regular season, the Prince George Coliseum is always a joy.
"The fans are awesome," he said. "[March 9] I was walking around and signing some autographs. It's good to see my family. The atmosphere is nice and to be honest it's a true rink. It's a true old-school hockey rink. It's not the biggest. The stands aren't the most - best quality, you could say - but it's a barn. I like playing in it. There's a good feel to it. I grew up playing here so I enjoy it."
Before joining the Vees, Garteig played minor hockey in Prince George before embarking on his junior A and junior B career at 16, starting in Quesnel before moving on to play with the Princeton Posse. Garteig credits the Princeton coach Dale Hladun with getting his career started.
"He treats his players like his own kids and has so many connections everywhere," said Garteig. "He got me into Powell River and gave me a lot of options. Playing junior B was the best thing that happened in my career."
Before joining the Vees this season Garteig spent two years playing in the Coastal Conference for the Powell River Kings
Garteig went on to play two seasons with the BCHL's Powell River Kings where the team made the league final both years only to fall to the slithery Vernon Vipers.
"There's such a big rivalry between Penticton and Vernon that it almost felt like it was Powell River again," said Garteig. "I loved playing [against] them, but it's nice to see that they didn't make playoffs this year."
ECAC bound
In the fall Garteig will head to Hamden, Connecticut (90 minutes north of New York City) where he'll juggle playing for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Quinnipiac Bobcats with academics.
"School and hockey is going to be tough to balance but I'm looking forward to the challenge," said the self-admitted "average" student. "The hockey I'm looking forward to a ton.
"Who knows if I work hard and I put effort towards it I think I could probably be a little bit better [in school]," said Garteig, who is accepted into the business/marking program.
Garteig will have a familiar face to study with since his Vees' teammate Travis St. Denis is also heading to the NCAA Division 1 university.
After his four years with the Bobcats is done Garteig said he would like to continue playing.
"If I can continue playing hockey after Quinnipiec I'd love to," said Garteig, who had chatted with a few NHL scouts last season in Powell River. "If not I have an education to fall back on which is awesome."
