A member of the Penticton Vees’ 2011-2012 championship team has received one of the B.C. Hockey League’s top honours.
The league’s annual Top Goaltender Award will now be called the Michael Garteig Trophy, renamed last week in honour of the Vees’ netminder who guided the team to a record-breaking 42-game winning streak last decade.
Garteig played one season with Penticton before moving on to spend time in the Vancouver Canucks organization.
“Having this award named after me is a true honour,” the now 30-year-old goaltender said. “I feel so humbled and fortunate to have spent my junior career playing in the BCHL.”
The Prince George native spent three full seasons in the BCHL, including two with the Powell River Kings in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 before he arrived in the South Okanagan to help the Vees win the Fred Page Cup and the 2012 National Championship.
Garteig’s 92 career wins and 12 shutouts still stand as all-time league records.
“I played for some incredible teams and met some great people along the way,” he said. “I feel so lucky to now have an award named after me.”
Since the end of his junior hockey career in B.C., the goaltender has embarked on a professional career that’s included stops in Finland, Germany and the American Hockey League.
Garteig’s former team in Penticton will be inducted into the B.C. Hockey of Hall of Fame this Friday, July 22, at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
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