Vipers Ground Eagles:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers ground Eagles

Published: November 21, 2009

With no practice ice to be found, and suffering from a serious case of bus leg, head coach Mark Ferner had to wonder how the Vernon Vipers would come out against the Coastal Conference-leading Surrey Eagles Friday night.

They fared pretty well, it turns out. The Snakes utilized their speed on the larger ice surface at South Surrey Arena to clip the Eagles 5-1 before 1,100 B.C. Hockey League fans, pushing their win streak to 18 games.

“Being off for so long, I had to wonder how we were going to play,” said Ferner. “Sitting around doing nothing can be more tiring than playing sometimes, but I thought our start was real good, outshooting them 17-3 in the first period. It was important that our start was there.

“I can’t say there was one player who wasn’t on board as to what we were trying to do out there. They’re starting to figure it out and they’re starting to work hard in every situation.”

Vernon veteran Robbie Short (10th goal) caught Surrey flatfooted in Vernon’s zone and used his speed to burst up the middle, firing a low shot to beat Vinney Lessard shorthanded midway through the first period.

“It was really good to see the early effort, especially since we haven’t skated in three or four days,” said Short. “It was nice to play on the larger ice surface because we were really able to use our speed.

“We wanted to send a message to the other coast teams by beating the top team. Any advantage you can get is good.”

Second star Dylan Walchuk (13th) made it 2-0 for Vernon (25-1) a few minutes later when he converted a scramble in front of Lessard (34 saves) during a powerplay.

After Andrew Wallace (11th) put Surrey (18-8-0-3) on the board with a powerplay goal 8:26 into the second period, Short (11th) restored Vernon’s two-goal cushion, tapping home a nice backdoor pass from Walchuck on a 3-on-2.

Vipers’ leading scorer Mike Collins, who is riding a seven-game point streak, completed Vernon’s second-period assault with a great solo effort. After keeping the puck down low while his linemates went for a change, Collins walked in front to collect his 16th goal.

Sawyer Mick (7th), assisted by Connor and Kellen Jones, rounded out the scoring at 15:01 of the third frame.

Short ended up getting tossed by referee Sean Raphael after a skirmish broke out in front of the Vipers’ bench at 5:26 of the third period. Short, who was on the bench, got involved with the Eagles’ Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, earning an automatic game misconduct. Ferner questioned with the call, noting it was Vannieuwenhuizen that instigated the incident.

In the same play, the Vipers’ Pat McGillis wound up scrapping Jamus Lane.

Netminder Graeme Gordon turned in a 23-save showing to earn first star.

The Vipers faced the Langley Chiefs (14-11-1-2) Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre, and will wrap up their Coastal Conference tour against the Burnaby Express (8-15-0-3) today (2:30 p.m.) at Bill Copeland Arena.

The Vipers return home to host the Prince George Spruce Kings (10-16-1-1) Thursday night at Wesbild Centre, followed by a Friday showdown with the Westside Warriors (17-9).