I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon most of 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 worked with the Vipers as colour commentator for a few games during the 2003-04 season and in 2011 I helped design/create the Vipers website and was in charge of running and updating it for five years. I have had season tickets since 1990 missing 46 home games. I started and created this blog in 2008 and have over 5.8 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-West Kelowna Warriors game as the Warriors won 5-0 in front of 893 fans at Royal LePage Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Oliver Kanat
West Kelowna Warriors: Bor Glavic
1st Period: I thought the Warriors were the better team early and through out the period. West Kelowna capitalized on an early power play, carried the better of the play, had more zone time, more puck possession and created/generated lot's of opportunities. The Vipers didn't get a lot of zone time or pressure, did get a couple of good looks/quality chances but couldn't capitalize on their chances. Vernon couldn't seem to get any real pressure in the offensive zone and had troubles defending. Oliver Kanat was solid in goal, making some big stops, keeping this a one goal game. It was 1-0 West Kelowna after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 12-8 Warriors.
2nd Period: The Vipers got off to a good start, had some early puck possession and zone time, even created a couple of quality opportunities but couldn't tie the game. The Warriors would get a couple of big saves early from their goaltender, managed to re-group before taking over most of the remainder of the period. The Tribe were the better team after holding off Vernon in the first five minutes. WK carried the better of the play, had more puck possession, zone time but didn't get a lot of pucks to the net or generate a lot of chances. The Warriors did manage to get the all important second goal to take a two goal lead. The Snakes got off to a good start, were the better team in the first three to four minutes but couldn't sustain that same pressure for the whole period. The visiting Vipers saw a lot of play in their own end in the second half. It was 2-0 Warriors after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 7-6 Vernon.
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