Vipers Jacked For BCHL Showdown:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers jacked for BCHL showdown

By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star

Published: January 20, 2011

The Vernon Vipers like to consider themselves a defence-first hockey team.

They boast the best goals against average (2.36) in the Interior Conference, and are second only to the Powell River Kings, who top the B.C. Hockey League with a dazzling 1.73 GAA.

That alone should make for a thriller when the two teams clash tonight in a heavyweight showdown at Wesbild Centre. Add in the fact that Vernon has bested Powell River in the last two Fred Page Cup finals, and fireworks are pretty much guaranteed.

“It’s the biggest game of the year for sure, and we’re going to be ready for that. It’s a chance to play against the best in the league and prove ourselves,” said Vernon defenceman Brett Corkey, who recorded his first goal of the season as the Vipers thrashed the Merritt Centennials 6-0 Tuesday night at Wesbild Centre.

“It’s going to come down to who’s working hardest in the corners and who’s winning those battles between the dots and the boards.”

Vernon, who play 10 of their remaining 13 games at home, entertain the Coquitlam Express (15-19-1-9) Saturday at Wesbild.

The Kings (35-6-3-2) enter Friday’s contest having lost just once in their last 16 games. They used 2+1 from Daniel Schuler, and a goal and assist each from veterans Matt Garbowsky and Justin Dasilva as they outgunned the Trail Smoke Eaters 5-3 Wednesday night at Cominco Arena.

Steven Schmidt and Garbowsky fired third-period goals to complete a 3-2 comeback win over the host Westside Warriors Tuesday night at Royal LePage Place.

The Vipers (26-9-4-8) have registered points in 20 of their last 21 games and are first in the Interior, one point ahead of the Penticton Vees (30-12-2-1), who have two games in hand.

Vernon’s last regulation loss was to the Kings in mid-November.

“We played them to a 5-2 loss with an empty-netter, but for two periods we were close,” said Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner.

“There’s not going to be any surprises. We just have to work for everything that we get. We’ll have to be real good for 60 minutes to give ourselves a chance to win. It’s going to be a good challenge for our young group.”

The Snakes put a different spin on their defensive trademark Tuesday against the Cents as four Viper blueliners got on the scoreboard, including a three-point night by the recently acquired Ryan Renz (fourth goal, two assists), named first star.

Other blueliners getting in on the action were second star Stevie Weinstein (fourth), who has points in five straight games, Malcolm Lyles (sixth) and Corkey, who unleashed a rocket from the high slot to beat netminder Tyler Steel top shelf to make it 3-0 midway through the second period.

“I was in shock. It felt like my jaw hit the ice,” grinned the Calgary product, of his first BCHL goal. “I knew his top corner was going to be open because he goes down a lot so I just tried to aim high, closed my eyes and let ‘er rip.”

Goals by Dylan Walchuk (19th) and David Robinson, with his team-leading 22nd, capped the Vernon attack before 1,739 fans.

Third star Blake Voth made 19 stops to earn his fourth shutout of the season.

After facing just three shots in the first period, Voth was tested more in the second. The Herbert, Sask. product dragged his right pad just long enough to get a piece of Dylan Playfair’s deflection on Billy Marshall’s point shot, then used his blocker to deny Blaine Bokenfohr’s shot as he cut in from the wing.

The Cents (17-21-0-6) got off to a dismal start as Steel, a Vernon product, let in two soft goals (by Lyles and Weinstein) from the point. Merritt head coach Luke Pierce wasn’t about to hang the loss on his netminder.

“Our guys need to do a better job of bouncing back and giving him some support. Both he and Lino (Chimienti) have kept us in some games this year, and they’ve won us some games,” said Pierce.

“(Vernon) outworked us, they were hungrier for pucks, they executed on their powerplay and they outworked us on their penalty kill. Overall, they were just a much better team.”

This is the first time in four regular-season meetings the two teams did not go into overtime. The Vipers, who went 2-for-4 on the powerplay, evened the season series at 2-2.

As a former Viper, Merritt captain Steve Tresierra knows the work ethic Ferner demands from his players, and he has seen from both sides what can happen if the opposition doesn’t match it.

“We took the night off and you’ve got to be sharp against those guys because they’re going to capitalize on every little mistake you make,” said Tresierra.

Both teams played a physical game. Dane Muench delivered one of the bigger checks in the first period as he stapled Playfair to the boards in front of the Merritt bench early in the frame.

In the second period, Lyles hammered Max Vallis as he came across the blueline with his head down. Bokenfohr earned a retaliatory minor when he ran the Viper blueliner awkwardly into the boards. Lyles left the game, but returned for the third period.

Said Tresierra: “We play a rough style. We like to play the body and be physical and that’s how we’re successful. We didn’t really bring that tonight, but most of the time when we do it’s pretty intimidating and we have great success with it.”

Added Ferner: “I don’t know if a lot of teams are going to want to play them in the playoffs. They work hard and they’re not going to stop and you’ve got to jump on them.”

SNAKE BITES: Former Viper Chay Genoway is among six BCHL grads nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top player in NCAA men’s hockey. Genoway is the top-scoring defenceman with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux with 4-19-23 in 25 games. Other BCHL grads up for the award include Tyler McNeely (Merritt Centennials), Wade McLeod (Burnaby Express), netminder Chris Rawlings (Cowichan Valley Capitals), Kyle MacKinnon (Langley Chiefs) and Justin Schultz (Westside Warriors). Online voting is available at www.hobeybakeraward.com. Past BCHL grads to win the award include Paul Kariya and Brendan Morrison...In KIJHL action Wednesday night, the Kelowna Chiefs got goals two minutes apart late in the second period from P.J. Lawler and Colten DeFrias as they grounded the North Okanagan Knights 4-2. Shawn Holliday and Zachary Lindsay scored for the Knights.