Saturday, March 20, 2010

(Game Preview) Interior Conference Finals: Game 2: Penticton @ Vernon:




Penticton (8-3) @ Vernon (5-2)

Last Game Played:

Friday, March 19th Vernon defeated Penticton 6-0

The defending Royal Bank Cup Champion Vernon Vipers & Penticton Vees meet in the Interior Conference Finals in Game 2 tonight after the Vipers dominated the Vees in Game 1 with a 6-0 victory. Game’s 3 & 4 go Tuesday & Wednesday in Penticton. You can listen to tonight’s game live with Todd Miller on 107.5 Kiss FM starting at 6:45pm

Lets take a look at the Vernon Vipers (5-2)

The Vipers clinched top spot in the BCHL and the Interior Division with a record of 51-6-0-3 and was ranked #2 in all of Canada. Vernon scored a league high 298 goals and broke the Penticton Vees BCHL record for least amount of goals, giving up just 119. Vernon was 25-4-0-1 at home & 26-2-0-2 on the road during the regular season. The Vipers are 9-0-0-1 in their last 10 games. The Vipers had three players in the leagues top 20 in regular season scoring. Connor Jones (36-45-81), Mike Collins (30-46-76) & Braden Pimm (25-43-68). Blake Voth lead the league as the BCHL’s top goaltender. Voth has a record of 21-2 with 3 shutouts and broke the BCHL record with the lowest GAA with 1.79 Graeme Gordon was 3rd in the leagues top 10 goaltenders with a record of 30-7 with 2 shutouts and a GAA of 2.06

1st Round: First Round Bye
2nd Round: Defeated Quesnel in six games

Home Playoff Record: 3-1
Road Playoff Record: 2-1

The Vipers will be looking to use home ice advantage and try and grab a 2-0 series lead before heading to Penticton for Games 3 & 4 next week. Vernon who almost dominated Game 1 from start to finish need’s to come out strong again tonight and try and jump on the Vees early. Scoring first is key, playing physical and battling hard is what the Vipers have to do to do well against Penticton. Vernon’s defence need’s another strong performance in Game 2 just like in Game 1. If the Vipers keep playing like they have been over the last three games, they will be sucessful. The Vipers will once again have to try and shutdown the Vees big guns of Denver Manderson & Beau Bennett. You know Sean Bonar will be looking to rebound after giving up six goals in Game 1, the Vipers will once again have to get lots of traffic and pucks towards the Penticton goaltender and try to get to him early and often. Specialty teams will once again be the difference vs. the League’s second best team. Graeme Gordon needs to be solid again between the pipes. The Vipers need strong goaltending vs. a Penticton team that also has loads up firepower up front.

Key Players To Watch:

Connor Jones (4-5-9)
Kellen Jones (3-6-9)
Rob Short (4-4-8)
Cory Kane (1-6-7)
Cole Ikkala (4-2-6)
Sahir Gill (3-3-6)
David Robinson (1-5-6)
Jonathan Milhouse (3-2-5)
Braden Pimm (3-2-5)
Dan Nycholat (2-2-4)
Mike Collins (1-3-4)
Graeme Gordon (4-1 Record, 3 Shutouts 1.21 GAA)

Vernon Vipers Playoff Scoring:

Connor Jones (4-5-9)
Kellen Jones (3-6-9)
Rob Short (4-4-8)
Cole Ikkala (4-2-6)
Sahir Gill (3-3-6)
David Robinson (1-5-6)
Cory Kane (1-4-5)
Braden Pimm (3-2-5)
Jonathan Milhouse (3-2-5)
Kevin Kraus (0-5-5)
Garrett Noonan (2-2-4)
Dan Nycholat (2-2-4)
Curtis Gedig (1-3-4)
Mike Collins (1-3-4)
Adam Thompson (1-2-3)
Steven Weinstein (0-3-3)
Bryce Kakoske (0-2-2)
Dylan Walchuk (0-1-1)
Patrick McGillis (0-0-0)
Darrin Robak (0-0-0)

Blake Voth (1-1 Record, 3.56 GAA)
Graeme Gordon (4-1 Record, 3 Shutouts, 1.21 GAA)

Let’s take a look at the Penticton Vees (8-3)

The Vees finished the regular season in 2th place in the Interior Division & the BCHL with a record of 48-8-0-4 The Vees scored 284 goals and gave up 143 goals. Penticton was 25-3-0-2 on home ice & 23-5-0-2 on the road during the regular season. The Vees are 3-0 at home & 1-2 on the road during these Playoffs. Penticton finished the regular season at 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games. The Vees had two players in the leagues top 20 in scoring. Vees Captain Denver Manderson finished 3rd leading scorer with (40-73-113) while Beau Bennett finised tied with Salmon Arm’s Mark Zengerle as the leagues leading scorer with (41-79-120) Joel Rumpel & Sean Bonar finished in the leagues top 10 goaltenders. Rumpel had a 19-3 record, two shutouts and a GAA of 1.92 Sean Bonar finished with a 28-9 record. Bonar had four shutouts and a GAA of 2.64 For more info, stats and great game coverage check out Ryan Pinders Penticton Vees blog, http://pentictonvees.podbean.com/

1st Round: Defeated Merritt in four games
2nd Round: Defeated Westside in six games

Home Playoff Record: 5-0
Road Playoff Record: 3-3

You can bet Fred Harbinson will have his troops fired up and ready to play in Game 2 tonight after an embarrassing Game 1 6-0 loss. The Vees were outplayed, & outworked for most of last night’s game. Penticton didn’t compete, they lost most of the one on one battles, races to the puck and were outhit all night. Penticton need’s a much better effort from everyone. The Vees need to create and generate more scoring chances, get more pucks and traffic towards Graeme Gordon and keep the shots against down. Last night Penticton gave up 47 shots against, something you rarely see with this hockey team. The Vees need to play physical with Vernon, try and shutdown the Vipers top lines. Pentictons defence needs to tighten up, they gave Vernon way too much time and space in their own end in Game 1. Denver Manderson and Beau Bennett are going to have to play with a little more grit, try and find ways to get through the Vipers defence and into the offensive zone. You can bet the Vipers will see a much different Penticton hockey team tonight, the Vees don’t want to head home down 2-0 in the series. Remember Vernon was 2-1 in the Peach City during the regular season.

Key Players To Watch:

Denver Manderson (8-12-20)
Beau Bennett (4-9-14)
Joey Laleggia (2-8-10)
Garrett Milan (2-7-9)
Logan Johnston (5-2-7)
Ryan Viselli (5-2-7)
Alex Szczechura (5-1-6)
Byron Sorensen (2-3-5)
Matt Paltridge (1-3-4)
Jake Johnson (0-4-4)
Sean Bonar (8-3 Record, 1 Shutout 2:30 GAA)

Penticton Vees Playoff Scoring:

Denver Manderson (8-12-20)
Beau Bennett (4-9-14)
Joey Laleggia (2-8-10)
Garrett Milan (2-7-9)
Logan Johnston (5-2-7)
Ryan Viselli (5-2-7)
Alex Szczechura (5-1-6)
Byron Sorensen (2-3-5)
Andrew Pickering (0-4-4)
Jake Johnson (0-4-4)
Matt Paltridge (1-3-4)
Eric Filiou (1-3-4)
Ben Sexton (1-2-3)
Joey Holka (1-1-2)
Bo Dolan (0-2-2)
Stefan Nicholishen (2-0-2)
Luke Curadi (0-1-1)
Derik Johnson (0-1-1)
Isaac Macleod (0-0-0)

Joel Rumpel (0-0 Record)
Sean Bonar (8-3 Record, 1 Shutout 2:30 GAA)

Here’s a look at this series,

Interior Conference Finals: Game 1: Friday, March 19th @ Vernon: Vernon wins 6-0

Dan Nycholat’s powerplay goal at 2:13 opened the scoring giving the Vipers the early 1-0 lead. Vernon carried the better of the play and was rewarded with two goals. Jonathan Milhouse scored on a breakaway with just 2.5 seconds remaining in the period. The Vipers took over control of the game in the 2nd and dominated for the remainder of the hockey game. Nycholat with his second of the night at 10:32 gave Vernona 3-0 lead. Then Garrett Noonan at 16:17 put the Vipers up 4-0. Kellen Jones & Rob Short (shorthanded) rounded out the scoring in the 3rd as Vernon walked away with a 6-0 victory taking a 1-0 series lead. Vernon outshot Penticton 47-19. Graeme Gordon made 19 saves for his third straight shutout, while Sean Bonar made 41 saves taking the loss.

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=808962&link=bchl

Here's a look at the Vipers-Vees Playoff Schedule:

Interior Conference Finals (3rd Round):

#1 Vernon Vipers vs #2 Penticton Vees

Game 1 - Friday, March 19th @ Vernon:
Game 2 - Saturday, March 20th @ Vernon:
Game 3 - Tuesday, March 23rd @ Penticton:
Game 4 - Wednesday, March 24th @ Penticton:
Game 5* - Friday, March 26th @ Vernon:
Game 6* - Saturday, March 27th @ Penticton:
Game 7* - Sunday, March 28th @ Vernon:

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