Vipers Beat Host Camrose At RBC:

This is posted on the Vipers website:

Vipers beat host Camrose at RBC

by Don Klepp | Added 2011-05-01

The Vernon Vipers opened their defence of their national Jr. “A” title with a 4-2 win over the host Camrose Kodiaks on Saturday.

Playing perhaps his best game as a Viper, Darren Nowick paced his team with a goal and two assists, while his linemates, John Knisley and Mike Zalewski, also scored.

In front of a capacity crowd, the Vipers dominated a rusty Kodiak crew, who had not played since April 8 when they were eliminated by Spruce Grove in the fifth game of the AJHL finals. That dominance paid off with two early goals.

Defenceman Brett Corkey got the ball rolling with a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 4::12. The Viper rookie of the year capitalized on good Viper pressure with a low wrist shot that eluded Dalyn Flette’s catcher.

Two minutes later, with Camrose about to be penalized, Darren Nowick fired a shot through traffic to beat Flette on the stick side.

After the 14-minute mark, the Kodiaks started to find their legs and to win some puck battles. Their power play goal made the score 2-1 before the period was out.

Using their trademark dump and chase, the Kodiaks flipped the puck in for Kirby Halcrow to retrieve. He attempted to clear the zone, but Ben Gallacher intercepted the puck and shot toward net. The puck hit Mario Boilard and glanced over Halcrow’s left shoulder at 16:30.

In the second period, the Vipers took three penalties but limited the Kodiaks to just one power play scoring chance.

Camrose finally did earn a power play goal at 9:29 of the third period, courtesy of defenceman Sam Jardine, whose flip shot bounced off a Viper defender and then off Halcrow’s left arm on its way into the net.

Sandwiched around the Jardine goal were two Viper tallies, both by the Nowick line. At 5:12, Nowick lunged to win a puck race on the right wing at centre ice. He then freed Mike Zalewski with a 70-foot diagonal pass. Zalewski broke in off the left wing and fired a big-league wrist shot that beat Flette high to the glove side at 5:14.

The Vipers scored their second power play marker of the game at 12:19. Nowick’s shot beat Flette, but hit the base of Flette’s left post. From the other side, John Knisley buried the rebound.

Neither team played a complete game in the opening contest of the 2011 Royal Bank Cup. Viper coach Mark Ferner “was satisfied with the result, but not with the process.” The bench boss said “we had too many turnovers in our zone, too many defensive zone mistakes, but we’ll shore those up before we meet Portage on Monday.”