Vipers Eye Playoff Run:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers eye playoff run

With the Interior Conference pennant already in their pocket, the Vernon Vipers went out and shut down the struggling Trail Smoke Eaters 4-0 Sunday to close out their B.C. Hockey League regular season.
The Vipers (42-14-1-3) settled for second place overall in the 17-team BCHL, two points behind the Victoria Grizzlies, 5-4 winners Saturday night over the Cowichan Valley Capitals. Vernon lost 5-3 to the host Penticton Vees Saturday night.
Both Vernon and the second-place Salmon Arm SilverBacks, who finished five points back of the Vipers, received first-round byes.
The Smoke Eaters, who lost their last 10 games, placed sixth and will meet the third-place Westside Grizzlies in a best-of-five series starting Friday night. Penticton hosts the fifth-place Prince George Spruce Kings in the other first-round series.
Vernon’s first playoff game will be Friday, March 6, at the Wesbild Centre against the lowest remaining Interior seed.
Andrew Hammond registered 22 saves to earn first star and his fifth shutout of the season before 2,911 fans in Sunday’s matinee.
“Trail’s offence wasn’t too busy tonight, but when they did shoot the puck, they were pretty good chances,” said Hammond, a 21-year-old White Rock native. “Trail was probably pretty tired, facing their third game in their third day, but so were we, coming off two tough losses to Westside and Penticton, while Trail lost twice to Merritt. We really needed to rebound back from that tough loss Saturday night in Penticton and bring lots of momentum into this one. I think we played a much better and disciplined game.”
The Snakes got off to a relatively quick start Sunday, peppering Smokies’ goaltender Paul Barclay with 15 shots in the first period, for a game total of 39.
After losing their first two games of the year to Trail in their eight-game mini-series, the Snakes rallied back for six straight victories.
“They definitely had our number at the beginning of the year, but we’ve come on strong since then, especially after the trade deadline when we got Cameron Brodie and Mike Leidl from Burnaby,” said Hammond. “They’re a big help to me on the defence, as they’re both big bodies who keep the puck to the outside and bring a physical presence to every game.”
Bryce Kakoske (12th) got the Snakes on the board first on an easy goal where he jumped on the loose puck in front of Barclay.
Vernon also dominated the second stanza, piling 28 shots on Barclay before the end of the period. They did have a bit of a lapse however, when they got tired in their own end and Trail took over, throwing some good quality chances on net. Trail’s Justin Brown had two quick opportunities but was denied by Hammond.
The Vipers soon woke up and got a late goal with 1:55 to go, from Sahir Gill. Gill potted his 18th on a nice three-way passing play from Kellen and Connor Jones.
Some rough stuff was featured in the period, as former Viper Patrick Raley was ejected from the game after a hit from behind on Mike Collins. Coming to Collins’ defence, Chris Crowell and Kyle Bigos jumped on Raley.
Everyone who was on the ice at the time of the hit got involved in the mini scrum. In the end, Vernon lost all three of their captains (Crowell, Bigos and Braden Pimm) for a good chunk of the game as they were slapped with misconducts. Jayson Reardon (Lumby product) and Scott Jacklin of the Smokies received the same. Cole Ikkala and Brown fought in a spirited bout two seconds after Gill’s goal.
Collins scored the Snakes’ lone powerplay goal seven minutes into the third, on a crisp pass from second star Kevin Kraus. Collins finished as the Vipers’ leading goal scorer, with 25. Pimm finished second with 24. Connor Jones finished as the top Vernon point-getter, with 19 goals and 60 points.
Trail enjoyed a two-man advantage halfway through the third period but couldn’t solve Hammond.
Ryan Santana (12th) bagged the Vipers’ fourth goal. Kraus also factored into the goal, as he set up Santana who carried the puck through the zone and slipped the puck past a surprised Barclay.
Vernon assistant coach Jason Williamson was pleased with his team’s last regular-season game.
“Night in and night out, I believe the Interior Conference is one of the top divisions in Canada. It’s a pretty tough division to play in, with us, Salmon Arm, Penticton, and Westside always being so close. It’s a real accomplishment for these boys and puts a real feather in their cap.
“Our last two games weren’t our greatest effort, when we lost 4-3 to Westside and 5-3 to Penticton, but tonight we switched things around and came out to win. Our defence played pretty poor in those two games and that just can’t happen come playoff time. We will work really hard in practice these two weeks we have off leading up to the second round, and not allow for those type of mistakes to happen again.”

SNAKE BITES: Robbie Short served game two of his three-game suspension, thanks to a match penalty he received in Westside Friday night for a check from behind on Brendan Ellis with four seconds to play...Cody Ikkala joined Short in the press box, as he was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s tilt...Gill, Cory Kane and James Kerr had the Viper goals versus the Vees...Cowichan meets Nanaimo, while Langley battles Surrey in Coastal Conference first-round tilts...University of North Dakota junior defenceman Chay Genoway, a Viper grad, has been named a Western Collegiate Hockey Association Scholar-Athlete recipient. This is the second time that Genoway, a management major, has been honoured for academic excellence while studying at North Dakota. The Manitoba product is UND’s leading scorer with 2-26-28.