Vipers Set For Gorillas:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers set for Gorillas

By Brent Mutis - Vernon Morning Star

Published: December 10, 2009

You could excuse the Vernon Vipers for their below-average showings against Penticton and Trail leading into Tuesday’s game with the Merritt Centennials.

They’d just lost one of their top scorers to a broken jaw and were still adjusting to new forward lines. With Dylan Walchuk absent Tuesday for the CJHL prospects game, there was even more mixing and matching going on.

But a visit from the struggling Cents seems to have allowed the Snakes to get their offensive house back in order with a 7-1 win in front of 1,636 B.C. Hockey League fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Veteran winger Bryce Kakoske notched 1+2 and seems poised to surpass his previous high points total of 40 set with Westside two years ago. The first star liked his second-line assignment alongside Braden Pimm and Mike Collins.

“It’s always nice playing with those two; they work really well together and I just try to find the open spots and they’re pretty good at getting me the puck.”

That’s how it went on the goal that made it 5-1 as Kakoske roofed a shot from the high slot past Keith Hamilton. It was the final shot the netminder would face. Junior B call-up Riley Wall mopped up in the Merritt crease, allowing two goals.

Merritt actually opened the scoring 1:08 into the first after some sloppy play by Vernon in their own end. Dustin Johnson took a feed from behind the net and beat Blake Voth from in close.

“It’s really tough when they score on the first shot but it was a good goal so I just didn’t let it bother me and just focused on the rest of the game,” said Voth, now 9-0 on the campaign.

A highlight-reel effort from Connor Jones tied the game as he danced around a Cents defenceman before going backhand-forehand to beat Hamilton. The eventual game-winner came when Adam Thompson put a nice feed from Sawyer Mick into an open net.

Kakoske said Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner emphasized a focus on systems play in the second intermission.

“Ferns always says it’s not about the score, it’s about the process and we just kinda got reminded about that. It didn’t really matter what the score was then, we just had to go out and work hard in the third and that’s what we needed to do.”

Merritt’s early lead lasted only five minutes.

“We got a great start and even after the opening goal I thought we continued to apply the pressure but against a team like that, that’s very opportunistic, you need to stay the course and can’t take a second off,” said Merritt coach Luke Pierce, a former Viper, now 2-4 since taking the job.

Cole Ikkala, playing on the top line with Jones and Jonathan Milhouse, netted two third-period goals giving him a dozen for the season. Cory Kane and Collins added the other goals for Vernon (30-2-0-1). The Vipers host Salmon Arm SilverBacks tonight (Teddy Bear Toss).

n Walchuk recorded a goal and assist as Team West hammered Team East 8-1 in the opening game of the CJHL Prospects Event Tuesday afternoon in Winkler, Alta. Team East responded with a 2-0 win Wednesday night.