I was at tonight's BCHL game as Langley defeated Vernon 3-2 in front of 1,576 fans at the Wesbild Centre.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon: Kirby Halcrow
Langley: Wyatt Galley
1st Period: The Vipers welcomed back captain, David Robinson to the lineup after missing the past two games with a concusion. Off the opening draw, Brandon Thompson setup Brad McBride who skated in over the Vipers blueline, and then ripped a low shot from the circle past Kirby Halcrow just fifteen seconds into the game giving the visiting Chiefs an early 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game. Here's a goal Halcrow would like to have back, after the veteran goaltender was deep in his net. Thompson and Dillon Scholten with the helpers. Langley got off to a good start controlling the first few minutes of the opening period. The Chiefs just about sent Austin Plevy in for the breakaway, but a smart heads up defensive play by veteran, Steve Weinstein to interupt the pass stopping the breakaway. The Chiefs carried the edge in play in the first three minutes before Vernon would record their first shot on net. Darren Nowick with the Vipers first chance of the night, beat Wyatt Galley but hit the post, the puck come back out into the slot where Marcus Basara couldnt hit the empty cage on two close scoring plays by Vernon. David Robinson's long shot handcuffed Wyatt Galley as the Chiefs netminder had trouble handling the puck after making wich should have been an easy save. A shot from the point then missed the net, but John Knisley scooped up the rebound off the end wall and tried stuffing the puck past Wyatt Galley down low, but Galley was their to make the save on a tough bounce off the end boards. Langley would get the games first powerplay of the night, after Aaron Hadley was called for goaltender interference. This was a terrible call by the refferee as Hadley was no where near Galley. Galley come out of his crease to play the puck, but lost an edge, Hadley was the one give the minor anyways. On the man advantage the Chiefs would find Mike Tebbutt all alone in front, Tebbutt looked to have Kirby Halcrow beat but decided to make one extra move in close before Halcrow made the huge save keeping the Chiefs off the scoreboard. Before the Vipers penalty would expire the Chiefs were sent to the penalty box, sending the game to four on four before the Vipers would get a late powerplay. The Vipers were unable to capitalise but just a few minutes later Vernon would hem the Chiefs in their own end, after the Vipers moved the puck around, Darren Nowick with a shot from the slot beat Galley at 9:25 tying the game 1-1. Colton Sparrow and Malcolm Lyles with the assists. This goal seemed to give Vernon a little life as the Vipers slowly started to come on as the period went on. With Vernon on another powerplay Mike Zalewski beat Galley at 13:34 giving Vernon their first lead of the night. Dylan Walchuk and John Knisley picked up the helpers. The Vipers were the better of the two teams in the opening period but Vernon didnt look sharp making several mistakes-turnovers through out the period. For two teams that have played just once prior to tonight's game, tonight was a fairly fiesty game, with some pushing and shoving going on after the whistle. Harvy Smyl wasnt too pleased with the reffering really giving it to Dexter Rasmussen during two straight shifts. Just three minutes later Bryce Kakoske blocked a hard shot inside the Vernon blueline, the Vipers cleared the zone as Kakoske had troubles skating off the ice in pain and headed straight to the Vipers dressing room and didnt return. On the same play Langley would get the puck back into the Vipers zone, before a turnover at the Vernon blueline as the Vipers couldnt clear the zone resulted in Kit Sitterley beating Halcrow at 16:04 tying the game 2-2. Josh Myers and Darnell Dyck with the assists. This was a real unfortunate play, because up until the Chiefs goal, Vernon was carrying the play and the better of the two teams. Off the draw after the Langley goal back come the Vipers, getting the puck in deep before Darren Nowick with a chance at the side of the net couldnt beat Wyatt Galley who made a nice pad save down low. The Vipers with a good hard shift put some pressure on the Chiefs in their own end. Vernon would get a late powerplay but the Vipers couldnt capitalise as Vernon would get a short man advantage heading into the 2nd period. The score was tied 2-2 after 20 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Langley 14-8.
2nd Period: Bryce Kakoske would come out to start the period, taking a quick skate before the period started, Kakoske headed back to the Vipers dressing room and didnt return for the rest of the hockey game. The Vipers started the 2nd with a short powerplay but couldnt get much of anything going as the Chiefs killed off the minor. Langley got off to another quick start as Vernon looked to have started the period flat with not much jump. The Vipers quit skating and were having all kinds of troubles in their own end early and often. Langley with some good jump early, was winning all the battles and races for the puck early getting some good chances in close. The Vipers defence make some bad choices causing a few odd man rushes. Mike Tebbutt alone in front with a great chance couldnt beat Halcrow. The Chiefs who controlled the better of the play early had some good chances. Langley would get a powerplay but it would be David Robinson who was very good on the penalty kill made his way around a Chiefs d-man and then found himself all alone in front of Wyatt Galley but Robinson couldnt hold onto the puck on a great shift by the Viper captain. The Vipers penalty kill was very good the entire game killing off the minor. The Chiefs were by far the better of the two teams outplaying Vernon in the first ten minutes to start the middle frame. Just after Vernon would kill off a penalty, the Vipers would head right back to the penalty bix, giving the Chiefs another man advantage. This time Adam Thompson wound up and wired a long shot from nearly centre ice, wich gace Wyatt Galley troubles, as the Langley goaltender I dont think expected the long blast from Thompson as the Vipers were close to catching Galley napping on the play. The Chiefs couldnt get much going on the powerplay as Vernon would kill off the minor. Langley would head straight back to the powerplay after the Chiefs were rewarded another powerplay, this their third straight in about seven minutes. With just nine seconds left on the powerplay, Brad McBride caught Max Mowat turning around, McBride went wide and then through the puck out front to Darnell Dyck who was stopped by Kirby Halcrow but scooped up his own rebound and beat Halcrow at 15:12 giving the Chiefs their second lead of the night. McBride and Brandon Thompson with the assists. The Vipers would get a late powerplay but again struggle as Langley would kill off the minor. Some pushing and shoving at the final buzzer ended up giving Vernon a powerplay to start the 3rd. The Vipers were unable to get much offence going, they didnt look very good in the 2nd as it was all Chiefs who took a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play. Langley outshot Vernon 15-12.
3rd Period: The Vipers started the 3rd with the man advantage but couldnt capitalise. Malcolm Lyles with a nice play early made a nice defensive play in his own end, before carrying the puck up ice, with a nice move through the neutral zone Lyles then went hard towards the goal, but Wyatt Galley dove across to stop Lyles at the side of the goal. Vernon would get an early powerplay but struggle as the Chiefs would kill off the minor. Marcus Basara with a great chance to tie the game was left all alone in front but couldnt beat Galley in close. The 3rd was all Vernon as Langley with just a single shot early in the final period would be the only shot they would record on Kirby Halcrow. Dylan Walchuk driving hard towards the net couldnt beat Galley. The Vipers with lots of shots in the 3rd didnt really get alot of quality shots on goal. Most of the shots towards Wyatt Galley, were either going wide or shot right at the Chiefs goaltender. Galley also looked shaky at times, kicking out huge rebounds, with no Viper in sight. Mike Zalewski with a chance in front was stopped by Galley. The Vipers with all kinds of pressure couldnt buy the game tying goal. Give the Chiefs credit for getting in the shooting lanes, and not giving Vernon any real quality chances. The Vipers would get a late powerplay but again struggle, getting just two shots on goal as Langley would kill off the minor. Dylan Walchuk then stepping in over the Chiefs blueline and ripped a low shot that beat Galley but went just wide of the goal. In the final two minutes the Vipers then had troubles getting the puck in deep as Langley did a great job at typing up a few Vernon players in the neutral zone, forcing the Vipers to have to skate back into their own end and regroup. Vernon was finally able to get the puck in deep and get Kirby Halcrow to the bench for the extra attacker but the Vipers couldnt get the puck towards the net, as the Chiefs battled hard along the side wall killing several key seconds off the clock. In the end the Chiefs would hang on for a huge 3-2 victory ending the teams three game road losing streak as the Chiefs bench erupted onto the ice at the final buzzer, as the team come out to congratulate Wyatt Galley. As Langley was heading off the ice you heard alot of screaming coming from the Chiefs as they were one happy hockey team. Tonight was the Chiefs first win away from home since a 3-1 victory in Alberni Valley back on December, 2nd and Langley's first win in Vernon since a 3-1 victory back on Saturday, February 18th 2006. The Vipers were all over the Chiefs but couldnt find the back of the net. Vernon outshot Langley 20-1.
Top Players: (Vernon)
David Robinson made his return to the Vernon lineup tonight after missing the past two games with a concusion. I thought the Viper captain played very well this evening, especially in the opening period. Robinson was skating hard, getting pucks on net and was very good on the penalty kill.
Aaron Hadley I thought played a real solid 1st period but didnt really stand out in the final two periods. Hadley battled and competed hard in the opening period, was driving towards the net and using his body down low.
Mike Zalewski (1 goal) Played very well up front for the Vipers. Zalewski with a few good chances was skating and working hard, also played well on the penalty kill.
Darren Nowick (1 goal) This is about the third straight game that Nowick has stood out in my mind. This young kid never gives up, works hard each and every shift, battles and competes and was very strong with and without the puck tonight. Nice to see Darren get his 3rd goal of the season after going without a goal for so long. Nowick was one of if not the best Vipers forward tonight.
Top Players: (Langley)
Tim Daly I thought played very well on the Chiefs blueline. Didnt put up any numbers but was very steady on the backend.
Mike Tebbutt was the Chiefs best player this evening. Tebbutt looked very good in and around the net, was very dangerous with the puck down low. A big kid who went straight for the net on almost every shift. Has some nice hands in close.
Brad McBride (1 goal) I thought McBride was another strong forward up front for Langley. McBride also looked good with the puck. A very good skater.
Dillon Scholten (1 assist) This kid is huge, another solid d-man for Langley. Scholten played physical and was very hard to knock off the puck. Played a very defensive game for Langley.
Wyatt Galley (44 saves) Galley made 44 saves (20 in the 3rd) and was named the first star of the game. Galley saw his most action oin the 3rd and made some of his biggest saves in the final frame but I dont think played or looked all that great. Give the kid credit he stopped 44 out of 46 Vernon shots, but the Vipers also made this kid look good with most of the shots in the first two periods getting shot right at him or not from the greatest angles. The Vipers didnt get alot of real good shots or quality shots towards Galley until a few in the 3rd. Galley looked shaky at times to me, giving up huge rebounds through out tonight's game as well as having troubles making the long shots from well outside the Langley blueline. Galley did made a few huge game saves in the 3rd to help Langley collect the win.
Game Thoughts: (Vernon)
Vernon had a great chance to take over top spot in the Interior Division with a win. I thought Vernon was the better of the two teams tonight, and outplayed Langley in the 1st and 3rd periods. The Vipers got off to a bit of a slow start giving up the games first goal of the game just fifteen seconds into the 1st but after the first five or six minutes, seemed to settle down and control the better of the play for most of the remainder of the opening period. Im not sure what happened in the 2nd period but the Vipers looked flat early, were forcing turnovers in their own end as well as making some bad choices defensively giving up several odd man rushes, as well as leaving players wide open in front of Kirby Halcrow. Vernon didnt look good at all in the 2nd and were lucky to only be down one goal heading into the 3rd. It was all Vipers in the 3rd but like most of the season the Vipers badly outshoot the other team and come away empty handed, and it happened again tonight. The Vipers with some great chances to tie the game but couldnt find the back of the net. How many games have Viper fans seen this season where Vernon has got 40 or more shots in a game and given up 15-20 and still lose the game. The Vipers need a sniper, someone that can put the puck in the net on a consistant basis. Vernon is missing a true goal scorer like, Hunter Bishop, Curtis Fraser, Glen Metropolit, Lanny Gare, Kenny MaGowan, Jeff Cheeseman etc Vernon also needs to get more quality shots on goal, Walley gave up several huge rebounds and no Viper player was anywhere near any of the rebounds. Vernon also needs to do something with their powerplay, as it struggled once again tonight. On another note even though Vernon was the better team tonight, I didnt think the Vipers looked all that sharp in several area's. The Vipers need to regroup and now get ready for a home and home series with the Westside Warriors.
Game Thoughts: (Langley)
I wasnt overly impressed with the Chiefs tonight. Give them full credit for coming in here and picking up a huge win as well as starting off the Interior three game road trip with a victory. I just didnt really see alot in the Chiefs, they have a big team, one of if not the biggest team I have seen this year but they didnt really stand out in my mind. Their goaltening looked shaky at times, they didnt really get alot of great offensive chances and were outplayed in two out of the three periods. Langley was the more physical team and did do a good job at not giving the Vipers many quality chances. Langley now heads to Salmon Arm for a game with the Silverbacks tomorrow night.
Scratches:
Vernon:
Philip Patenaude (Injured)
Todd Skirving
Langley:
Matthew Ius
Brandon Scholten
3 Stars:
1st Star: Wyatt Galley (44 saves)
2nd Star: Brad McBride (1 goal)
3rd Star: Mike Zalewski (1 goal)
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