Vipers Quell Storm:

Vipers quell Storm

by Don Klepp - Apr 18, 2009

The Vernon Vipers drew first blood in their Doyle Cup series against the Grande Prairie Storm with a 2-1 win in Vernon’s ancient Civic Arena on Friday. First star Connor Jones decided the contest when he converted brother Kellen’s rebound at 2:54 of the third period. The Jones line had buzzed in the Storm zone all game as their patented cycle gave the Storm defencemen fits. On the winning goal, Sahir Gill joined his line mates on a tenacious forecheck and he drew an assist along with Kellen. The game was fast and, for the most part, furious. In the first period, particularly in the middle part of the frame, the Storm matched the Vipers hit for hit. But as the period advanced, the Vipers out hit and out chanced the Alberta champions. The period finished with the Vipers outhitting the Storm 15 to 10, out shooting them 15 to 7, and out chancing them 11 to 6. However, the Storm took the lead against the run of play when their top line of Blake Clement, Carter Rowney, and Morgan MacLean harassed the Vipers into a defensive zone turnover and Rowney found MacLean for a tap in at Andrew Hammond’s doorstep. Clement and defenceman Mark Stojan, who had five hits in the period, were the most physical Storm players in the early going. The Vipers very nearly tied the score in the first period when Kyle Bigos ripped a power play shot from the point that hit the cross bar. Grande Prairie hit iron twice in the second period as the visitors controlled play for the better part of five minutes in that period, but were held to only four shots on goal in the middle frame. Meanwhile, the Vipers started to take over and diminutive goalie Chad Carder had to be very sharp on several Viper scoring chances. He stands just 5’6", but he’s very quick and plays his angles well. Vernon tied the game on a Braden Pimm goal at 5:44 of the second period. He capped off a pretty three-way passing play with Chris Crowell and Mike Collins that sent the capacity crowd of 2252 into a frenzy. As in the first period, the Storm’s aggressive forecheck caused the Viper defencemen some problems. But again, the Vipers’ dedicated checking prevented the Storm from getting shots on goal, and the Storm finished with just four shots in the period. In the third period, it was all Vipers as they out shot the Albertans 15-4 and basically shut them down after Connor Jones’s goal. Cory Kane very nearly made the score 3-1 when his rocket again hit the cross bar behind Carder. Still, Grande Prairie’s top line nearly tied the game with about five minutes remaining. Andrew Hammond dived back and stopped Blake Clement’s close-in shot with the paddle of his stick to preserve the Viper lead. Vernon finished the game with a lead in every statistical category. For example, they out shot Grande Prairie 38-15. However, Grande Prairie looks like the kind of team that’s always just a shot away from turning the tide. The first line is big, physical, and skilled the second line features two proven scorers in Zahn Raubenheimer and Dennis Rix, and the aggressiveness and speed of third-line forwards Tanner Fritz and Brenden Turnbull made that line dangerous on every shift. However, all four Viper lines played well, including the fourth group of Kory Roy, Cole Ikkala, and Rob Short, who generated several scoring chances with their hustle and their physical play. If Friday night’s game is any indication, fans are in for an exciting series of intense, action-packed games that will feature less scoring than the shots on goal would lead one to expect. Carder is a very athletic goaltender and Hammond continues to play at a championship level. The next game is Saturday in the Civic. If the Vipers win that contest, the series will move to north-western Alberta for the remainder of the series. If the Storm win, there will be a third game at the Civic on Sunday.