Vipers Bury Centennials Again:

Vipers bury Centennials again

by Don Klepp - Oct 31, 2009

Vipers Bury Centennials Again

On a night when Connor and Kellen Jones scored the only two goals for Canada West at the Junior “A” Challenge in Summerside, Dylan Walchuk performed his best “Jones” imitation as he spearheaded a Vernon Viper 10-4 drubbing of the Centennials in Merritt.

Walchuk opened the scoring at 3.32 of the first period and set up Cole Ikkala just 15 seconds later. Late in the period, Walchuk scored again after a fine individual rush down the right wing. Not to be outdone, Ikkala added his second of the period at 19.31 when he and Cory Kane went in short handed on a defenceless Cameron Dagg, an AP who was filling in for flu-bitten regulars Cole Holowenko and Keith Hamilton.

Several Centennials have been ill recently, so Jr. “B” players John Minot and Spencer Kristensen were also pressed into action. Meanwhile, Vernon’s Garrett Noonan was also out of the lineup because of illness. Erik Soderlund played defence in Noonan’s place, and Darrin Robak moved up from defence to play with Patrick McGillis and Drew George.

The new-look line of Cory Kane, Bryce Kakoske, and Sawyer Mick was one of many Viper combinations that compensated for the Jones twins’ absence. That line struck for a beauty at 1.49 of the second period Kakoske glided over the Centennial blue line, hesitated a fraction, and then feathered a perfect pass to Kane, who put several moves on Dagg before depositing the puck.

Late in the period, Dustin Johnson connected on the power play to make the score 5-1. Then, early in the third period he scored again, to briefly give the Centennial fans some hope.

However, that hope was short-lived. Although the Cents scored twice more in a wild third period, the Vipers scored five times. Mike Collins led the parade with two goals and two assists. Another highlight was the first BCHL goal by Darrin Robak, in his first Jr. “A” game as a forward.

Rob Short and Nick Amies rounded out the scoring for Vernon as did Alex Valenti and Mitch Jones for Merritt. (There’s a chance that a review will credit the Jones goal to Andrew Pickering and that Patrick McGillis will get credit for the Amies marker.)

By the Numbers:

The Vipers have won 9 straight, out scoring the opposition 60-14. They have been particularly deadly in the first period, scoring 24 goals and allowing just 2 during that stretch.

In 18 games this season, the Vipers have scored 7 or more goals six times. Meanwhile, the Centennials have allowed 7 or more goals in 10 of their 18 games.
With his four-point outing, Mike Collins moved up to 4th in the BCHL scoring race, with 30 points.

Dustin Johnson leads the Cents with 12 goals and is tied for the team points lead with 15.

The Vipers surrendered 4 goals in a game for the first time this season. Previously, they had allowed more than 2 goals just twice, in 4-3 wins over Salmon Arm and Westside. Also, the Centennials’ 31 shots represented the first time a team had registered more than 29 shots versus the Vipers this season.

After Sawyer Mick was ejected for a check from behind in the second period, Mark Ferner juggled his lines freely. The juggling seemed to work, as 7 of the Viper goals came from new line combinations.