Vipers Shut Down 'Backs:

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Vipers shut down 'Backs

by Don Klepp | Added 2010-09-04

The BCHL season hasn’t even begun – the Vernon Vipers have played just three exhibition games – but it’s already clear that Mark Ferner and Jason Williamson are once again building a strong defensive team. The latest evidence was the Vipers’ home ice 3-0 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday.

Young goaltenders Bryton Udy and Tyler Steel shared the shutout, stopping a combined 18 shots. Both were solid, making life more difficult for Ferner and Williamson, who have one more game to decide who will be Blake Voth’s backup between the Viper pipes.

Salmon Arm look like a better defensive team than last year, as they dressed five veteran defencemen: Clinton Atkinson, Jayson Reardon, Josh Monk, Charlie Vasaturo, and Dustin Krabben. Atkinson returns to the Gorillas after spending two years with the Moose Jaw Warriors. He and Vasaturo were particularly strong for the Silverbacks.

Vasaturo responded to some early physical play by the Viper line of Todd Skirving, Pat McGillis, and Trevor Fitzgerald by running Adam Thompson into the end boards. Vasaturo took a two-minute boarding penalty, but the Vipers lost on the exchange because Thompson was knocked out of the game.

Following the Vasaturo hit, referee Kevin Bennett clamped down, and the first and second periods saw a nearly constant string of penalties. Despite all the power play opportunities, only one special teams goal was scored. At 11:28 of the opening frame, Pat McGillis deflected Brett Corkey’s point shot past Kurt Williams.

Williams, who allowed 4.65 goals per game last year for Salmon Arm, looked sharp in this match. His best save was on John Knisley, the diminuitive Syracuse speedster who was sent in alone on nifty passes by Bryce Kakoske and Brett Corkey. Knisley went high glove side, but Williams caught the rising puck to keep the score 1-0.

Williams, whose father owns the Salmon Arm team, continued to hold the fort in the second period, but the Vipers broke through with two fine goals in the third.

At 9:38, Bryce Kakoske took a feed just outside the Salmon Arm blue line. He stepped across the line, drew two defenders to him, and zipped a diagonal pass to Steve Weinstein, who had stolen in from the left point. Weinstein froze Williams with a double deke at the goal, and stuffed the biscuit past the goalie on the short side.

Marcus Basara, the highly rated rookie from Notre Dame College in Saskatchewan, completed the scoring at 11:20. He picked a defenceman’s pocket at the Silverback blue line and went in uncontested. His quick shot to the upper corner went over Williams’s glove.

Other than the Viper goals, the game highlights were the frequent heavy hits as the two North Okanagan rivals tried to establish which team will be dominant physically this year. Vasaturo, Reardon, and Spencer Samuel were especially aggressive for the Silverbacks, while David Robinson, Elliott Richardson, Pat McGillis, and Austin Sture lowered the boom for the Vipers.

Game Notes:

• The Vipers have allowed three goals in their three exhibition games.
• Marcus Basara’s four goals lead the Vipers.
• The Silverbacks dressed Kris Moore, the 20-year-old goalie acquired from the Camrose Kodiaks, but Kurt Williams went the distance.
• The ‘Backs did not dress vets Matt Ridley, Brett Knowles, and Josh Manson.
• They continue to draw forwards from the Prince Albert Minto Midget AAA program, which has supplied Josh Manson and Travis Statchuk the past two years. Taylor Fauchoux, Bryce Gervais, and Cody Michelle averaged 75 points playing for the Mintos last year.
• The Vipers did not dress Malcolm Lyles, Philip Patenaude, Bennett Hambrook, Mike Zalewski, Dylan Walchuk, Darren Nowick, Kyle Murphy, and Blake Voth.
• The two teams meet in Salmon Arm Saturday night. They will open the regular season with games next Friday in Vernon and Saturday in Salmon Arm.