The Penticton Vees named their captain and assistant captain for the upcoming B.C. junior A hockey season.
Forward Tyson Jost will wear the captain’s C for the Penticton Vees in 2015-16 and defenceman Dante Fabbro will act as an assistant. The move comes about a week after it was announced Jost and Fabbro, a Burnaby Winter Club product, would return to the B.C. Hockey League club for their sophomore years.
Both were drafted in the first round of the 2013 WHL bantam draft and both have received attention from the NCAA.
The pair are coming off their rookie seasons. In 46 games last season, Jost had 45 points, good for fourth on the Vees. He led the team in playoff scoring with 10 goals in 21 games en route to a Fred Page Cup Championship. In the Western Canada Cup, Jost had five goals and six points and was named the tournament’s top forward.
From the back end, Fabbro scored 33 points in 44 games during the regular season, third amongst Vees defencemen, but led the unit in playoff scoring with 15 points in 21 games and three points in five games at the Western Canada Cup.
Jost and Fabbro were both named to the BCHL all-rookie team this spring.
“Being a part of the leadership team next year is a huge honour. It comes with a lot of responsibility, but it's a role I'm definitely looking forward to,” Jost said in a HockeyNow press release.
Next season, Jost will lead an almost entirely new group of forwards with just two other familiar faces returning in Mitch Newsome and Demico Hannoun.
The decision to name Jost and Fabbro as captains comes despite the fact they will be draft eligible for the 2016 NHL draft and are currently forecasted to be top NHL prospects.
“These two players have the attributes and demeanor required in being captains”, Vees head coach and general manager Fred Harbinson said in the press release.
“Their consistent work ethic, desire to learn and overall professional approach, both on and off the ice, is what has created a respect from their teammates, which will make Tyson the natural choice to wear the C and Dante one of our A's,” he said.
The Vees will name another assistant captain at its main camp at the end of August.
