Doyle Cup: Game 4 Vernon @ Grande Prairie (Game Preview)

Vernon (15-5) @ Grande Prairie (15-6)

The Vernon Vipers are just one win away from their 6th Doyle Cup Championship & moving onto their 7th Royal Bank Cup Championship in team history. The Vipers pulled out a huge 2-1 victory last night in Grande Prairie. Vernon now in full control is in the driver seat with Game 4 tonight. Once again scoring first is always key, & staying out of the penalty box. With the Vipers catching the flu, rapping up the series tonight will be big, as the team can get some much needed rest before heading to Victoria for the National Finals. The Grande Prairie Storms season is now on the line, its win or go home for the Storm from here on in. Coming back from being down 0-3 is almost impossible but don’t forget Grande Prairie does have the remainder of the games in this series on home ice. The Storm are going to have to be much better on the man advantage if they want to beat the Vernon Vipers. The Storm are now 1-13 on the powerplay in the Doyle Cup. The Storm are going to have to try and find someway of getting to Andrew Hammond who hasn’t given up more then two goals in one game all series. Grande Prairie is somehow going to have to try and contain the Gill-Jones line, this #1 unit for the Vipers has been on fire. You can listen to tonights broadcast on 107.5 Kiss FM with Todd Miller, starting at 6:15pm

You can check out the Grande Prairie Storms web site for info and updates on this series as well. A very well done web site

http://www.gpstorm.com/association.aspx

Here’s a look at the series:

April 17th @ Vernon: Game 1: Vernon wins 2-1

After some good pressure by the Vipers and controlling most of the opening period the Storm would open the scoring, Morgan MacLean at 15:50 with Carter Rowney and Brenden Turnbull picking up the assists. Vernon would outshoot Grande Prairie 15-7. Braden Pimm would tie the hockey game at 6:44 in the 2nd period after some nice three way passing, Mike Collins and Chris Crowell would collect the assists. It was all Vipers in the 3rd, Connor Jones goal at 2:54 stood up to be the winner. Kellen Jones & Sahir Gill collected the assists. Vipers went 0-4 on the powerplay, while Grande Prairie goes 0-2. Andrew Hammond picks up the win making just 14 saves. Chad Carder takes the loss making 36 saves.

3 Stars:

1st Star: Connor Jones

2nd Star: Braden Pimm

3rd Star: Chad Carder

http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/hockey_boxScores.cfm?clientID=2668&leagueID=6616&gameID=689056

April 18th @ Vernon: Game 2: Vernon wins 6-2

For the second straight night the Storm opened the scoring. Bobby Tyson scored at 5:09 from Jordon Harrison. Sahir Gill on the man advantage scored at 6:32 to tie the game. Kyle Bigos and Connor Jones picked up the assists. Kellen Jones on the powerplay put Vernon ahead 2-1 at 9:53 with Connor Jones & Sahir Gill collecting the assists. Cameron Brodie would give Vernon a two goal lead at 16:53 from Sahir Gill & Connor Jones. Matt Milne who allowed three goals on 14 shots was pulled after 20 minutes of play before Chad Carder took over in the 2nd period. Bryce Kakoske at 7:43 was the only scoring in the middle frame, assists going to, Cory Kane & James Kerr. In the 3rd the Vipers would put this one away, Chris Crowell at 10:12 from Braden Pimm & Cody Ikkala. Doug Reid snuck one past Hammond late at 17:23 with assists going to, Dennis Rix and Zahn Raubenheimer. Carder would head to the bench for an extra attacker, Rob Short would hit the empty net at 18:36 unassisted giving Vernon the 6-2 victory. With just 26 seconds remaining, Elias Grossmann & Josh Juell lost their cool in some cheap shots along the boards. A mini line brawl took place with tempers heating up. Andrew Hammond makes 21 saves for the win, Chad Carder makes 23 saves in the loss.

3 Stars:

1st Star: Connor Jones

2nd Star: Sahir Gill

3rd Star: Kellen Jones

http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/hockey_boxScores.cfm?clientID=2668&leagueID=6616&gameID=689067

April 21st @ Grande Prairie: Game 3: Vernon wins 2-1

Connor Jones opened the scoring shorthanded unassisted at 6:58 but just seconds later, Carter Rowney on the powerplay at 7:36 would tie the hockey game, Morgan MacLean would collect the lone assist. Sahir Gill on his birthday would score the game winner at 8:42 in the 2nd period to give the Vipers the 2-1 lead. Grande Prairie would pour on the pressure in the final period but couldn’t score the game tying goal. Andrew Hammond made his biggest save of the night with just minutes remaining in the hockey game to preserve the Vipers victory. Hammond would make 32 saves in the win. Chad Carder would make 35 saves in the loss. Vernon is just now one win away from clinching their 6th Doyle Cup Championship.

3 Stars:

1st Star: Sahir Gill

2nd Star: Connor Jones

3rd Star: Chad Carder

http://www.esportsdesk.com/leagues/hockey_boxScores.cfm?clientID=2668&leagueID=6616&gameID=689078

Vernons Leading Playoff Scorers:

Connor Jones 24 pts
Sahir Gill 22 pts
Kellen Jones 20 pts
Cory Kane 13 pts
Braden Pimm 13 pts
Mike Collins 12 pts
Chris Crowell 12 pts
Rob Short 10 pts
Bryce Kakoske 9 pts
James Kerr 7 pts
Kyle Bigos 7 pts
Andrew Hammond 15-5 Record 4 Shutouts

Grande Prairies Leading Playoff Scorers:

Morgan MacLean 24 pts
Zahn Raubenheimer 22 pts
Blake Clement 21 pts
Dennis Rix 20 pts
Carter Rowney 20 pts
Tanner Fritz 12 pts
Doug Reid 12 pts
Adam Young 10 pts
Matt Williams 7 pts
Chad Carder 14-5 Record 1 Shutout