I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following junior hockey my entire life. My family watched senior men's hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon since Vernon got a team in 1961. I have two family members that played junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990 missing 46 home games since. I worked with the Vipers as colour commentator for a couple of home games during the 2002-03 season. In 2011 I helped create and design the Vipers website and was in charge of running the website for five seasons. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 5.9 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Okotoks Oilers game as the Oilers won 6-3 in front of 2,030 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Oliver Kanat
Okotoks Oilers: Eric Young
1st Period: A good start from the hometown Vernon Vipers as the Snakes were the better team for a good chunk of this period. I thought the Snakes got off to a good start, had the early puck possession, zone time, were getting pucks to the net and generated several quality opportunities. Puck luck was not on Vernon's side this evening, as the Vipers missed a wide open net before not being able to tap home the loose puck bouncing around in the blue paint. I thought the Snakes could have had three goals instead couldn't bury their chances before the visiting Oilers open the scoring at 13:38 This goal seemed to change the momentum as Okotoks gained some life and momentum and finished the period on a high as the Oilers were the better team to end the period. The Oilers who couldn't seem to get much going in the first half, got some big saves from their goaltender, had a couple of bounces or puck luck go their way, seemed to be a different team after opening the score. It was 1-0 Okotoks after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 11-9 Oilers.
2nd Period: The Oilers were by far the better team and outplayed the Snakes most of the entire period. Okotoks played a solid road game this period, carried the better of the play, had lots of puck possession, were firing lots of pucks on goal, forced the Vipers into turnovers and defensive mistakes, that resulted in goals. The Oilers looked very good. Vernon on the other hand struggled at both ends of the rink. The Snakes just like last night struggled in their own end, had troubles defensively, were turning over pucks, turning the puck over inside their own blueline, left Oliver Kanat out to dry and then when they did get out of their own end, struggled offensively, with poor passing, turning pucks over, couldn't generate or create any kind of offence. Vernon went well over twelve minutes without a shot on goal. It was 4-0 Okotoks after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 19-6 Oilers.
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