This is posted on the Vipers website:
Vipers clinch first in BCHL!
by don klepp | Added 2010-02-20
A dominant first period was all the Vernon Vipers needed in Salmon Arm to defeat the Silverbacks 4-1 and guarantee first place in the BCHL this year.
With two games yet to play, the Vipers have 101 points. Meanwhile the Penticton Vees have 98 points from their 59 games, and they cannot overtake Vernon.
From the opening faceoff the Vipers took control and they bombarded Tony Ierfino with 15 shots in the period. The Silverback defencemen had no answer for the Viper cycle, although they were able to block several Viper shots. Also, Adam Thompson blasted a point shot off Ierfino’s right goal post.
Against the run of play, Mark Zengerle scored the game’s opening goal at 4:43. Both Viper defencemen were caught off to the side of their net and the puck squirted to Zengerle, who banged the puck past Blake Voth on his second attempt.
Unfazed, the Vipers went back to work, scoring three goals in the remainder of the period. At 6:34, Dan Nycholat buried a long rebound resulting from a Cory Kane shot. Kane had been sprung on the right wing by Patrick McGillis’s stretch pass.
Mike Collins then notched his 29th of the season on the power play at 13:15. From a scramble in front, Cole Ikkala tried a backhand between his legs. Collins flicked the rebound into the yawning cage.
The Kane/McGillis/Short line struck again at 17:55. Darren Robak’s point shot was deflected by McGillis and Rob Short swatted in the rebound that came off Ierfino’s pad.
A slick three-way passing play put the Vipers up 4-1 early in the second period. With Salmon Arm’s Devin Gannon off for holding, Connor Short dug the puck out of the right corner and flicked to Kellen Jones. Kellen’s quick lateral pass was buried by David Robinson at the goal mouth.
The Vipers then went into cruise control, which nearly cost them because the Silverbacks sensed an opening and went on the offensive for much of the second period. Their 12 shots doubled the Vipers’ output, but Blake Voth was sharp in net and the Viper defenders cleared rebounds.
In the third, each team had eight quality scoring chances as the play opened up, but again both netminders were very good and occasionally brilliant. Voth’s best save was a lightning fast glove stop of Josh Manson’s point blank shot from 10 feet, while Ierfino robbed Steve Weinstein, Connor Jones, and Sahir Gill, among others.
The Vipers, who outshot the Silverbacks in each of their seven meetings this season, registered 34 shots to the Silverbacks’ 25. Vernon won five of those contests.
The two teams could meet in the second round of the playoffs if Salmon Arm can win its first round playoff with one of Quesnel, Trail, or Merritt.
Game Notes:
• Patrick McGillis and Darren Robak, who had not seen game action for some time, subbed in for Dylan Walchuk and Curtis Gedig. They both had solid games. Fellow rookie Garrett Noonan, who paired with Robak, was named the game's first star.
• Jayson Reardon, who had missed 9 games through injury, returned to the Salmon Arm lineup. Fellow defencemen Matt Ridley and Josh Monk are still on the limp.
• Blake Voth, who dropped his goals-against average to 1.78, can set a new BCHL record if he allows fewer than 9 goals in Vernon’s two remaining games. The current record holder, Nanaimo’s Simon Nolet, had a GAA of 1.98 in 2004-05.
• The Vipers seem certain to set a new team record for fewest goals allowed. They’ve surrendered just 114 so far. The record of 137 was set by the Penticton Vees in 2005-06.
• The 2009-10 Vipers are just the sixth team in BCHL history to amass 100 points in a season. The 1989-90 New Westminster Royals (108 points) and the 1998-99 Vernon Vipers (106 points), each with 52 victories, lead the way. With wins in their remaining games against Westside and Surrey, this year’s Viper squad could move into third spot with 105 points.
• Meanwhile, the Penticton Vees (98 points with one game remaining versus Trail) could also join that elite group.
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