This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:The Vernon Vipers started the B.C. Hockey League exhibition season the same way they ended their last season – perfect.
The Vipers recorded a pair of wins over the Salmon Arm SilverBacks, grounding them 9-2 Saturday night at the Sunwave Centre, and doubling them 6-3 Sunday at the Revelstoke Forum.
Vernon faces the Westside Warriors tonight at Royal LePage Place in the second game of a home-and-home to conclude the preseason.
The Vipers made five more cuts following weekend play – Kale Hildebaugh, Marley Keca, Josh McKissock, Terrence Limbert and Nick Kerr – leaving them with 14 forwards, 10 defencemen and three goalies. Assistant coach Jason Williamson says they will get down to their 23-man roster following tonight’s game against the Warriors.
The Snakes begin their Fred Page Cup title defence with a home-and-home with the SilverBacks, starting Friday, Sept. 11 at Wesbild Centre. They visit the ‘Backs Sept. 12 at Sunwave.
Josh McKissock, Drew George, Mike Collins, Cole Ikkala, Kellen Jones and Nick Amies handled the Vipers’ attack Sunday. Bobby Lipsett, Matt Cassidy and Faiz Khan answered for Salmon Arm.
Tyler Steel (13 saves) and Blake Voth (15 saves) shared the win.
“Our veterans have been everything we wanted,” said Williamson, of the exhibition series. “The veterans have been good in that this is how we play and everyone has been jumping on board... our new players have come in and started to produce, too.
Of the recruits, Williamson says prospects Dylan Walchuk and Drew George continue to impress, as has defenceman Garrett Noonan. Of the cuts made, he sees a lot of potential for the future.
“There hasn’t been many jobs, but they’ve opened our eyes for years to come.”
Despite the setbacks, newly-appointed Salmon Arm head coach Matt Hughes said he got what he wanted to see from the fresh-faced players.
“We were just focusing on a couple things we’d worked on on the weekend,” said Hughes of Saturday’s loss in front of 600 fans at Sunwave Centre. “We just wanted to see the compete level of the kids. All the young guys showed well.”
Once the Vipers pare down to their final roster, Williamson says he and head coach Mark Ferner will begin drilling the team on systems to prepare for the regular season.
“We’re going to get a good seven or eight practices to work on our systems. We haven’t done much of that at camp so far.”
SNAKE BITES: After being released by the Portland Winter Hawks, Vernon’s Sawyer Mick is at camp with the Kelowna Rockets. In 48 games with the Winter Hawks last season, Mick recorded seven goals for 13 points and 13 penalty minutes.
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