I was at tonight's BCHL game as Westside defeated Vernon 3-1 in front of 1,090 fans at Royal Le Page Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon: Kirby Halcrow
Westside: Dwayne Rodrigue
1st Period: The Warriors would get an early powerplay just over two minutes into the opening period and come very close to opening the scoring after Brett McKinnon tried putting the loose puck that was laying in the crease but couldnt get the puck up and over Kirby Halcrow who was down and out. On the same play Darren Nowick and Mike Zalewski would breakout shorthanded on a two on one, Nowick who carried the puck in over the Westside blueline dropped the puck back to Zalewski who forced Dwayne Rodrigue to come way out to the top of the crease, made the first move before Zalewski hit the empty net giving Vernon the 1-0 lead at 3:17 on the Vipers first shot on goal. Nowick with the lone assist. The Vipers with a good penalty kill didnt give up a single shot killed off the penalty. Just seconds after killing off the minor, Adam Tambellini would get hit from behind, with no call on the play Turner Lawson dropped the gloves with Dustin Cave. Just over a minute later Vernon would get it's first powerplay of the night and the Vipers moving the puck well setup a few good chances but the Vipers couldnt handle the puck or hold onto the puck on several occasions before Colton Sparrow towards the end of the powerplay beat Rodrigue hitting the post. In the final few seconds of the Viper man advantage a point shot was stopped by Dwayne Rodrigue who kicked out a rebound to Brendan Persley who couldnt connect on the rebound at the side of the net as Westside would kill off the minor. The Vipers carried the better of the play and had the better scoring chances in the first half of the 1st before the Warriors come back with a strong effort in the second half. Just past the midway mark Brennan Clark all alone in the slot ripped a hard shot from in close but missed the net on a great scoring opportunity. Just a few shifts later Shawn Hochhausen with a great chance from the slot beat Kirby Halcrow who was down and out but the puck went under Halcrow out the other side but went through the crease and into the corner. Tempers heated up after one whistle with both teams getting involved in some pushing and shoving as words were exchanged with nothing major coming out of the scrum. Late in the period with the Warriors on an odd man rush, former Vernon Vipers forward Marcus Basara setup Connor Dempsey who went low along the ice beating Halcrow at 17:03 tying the game 1-1. Basara and Curtis Toneff collected the assists. Vernon was the better of the two teams in the first half before the Warriors come back to tie the game and were the better of the two teams in the second half. It was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. Westside outshot Vernon 8-6.
2nd Period: Both teams got off to a bit of a slow start with not alot of action early before the Warriors took the lead after Dru Morrison stepped in over the Vipers blueline and wired a hard shot that beat Kirby Halcrow post and in giving Westside a 2-1 lead at 5:31 Max French and Peter MacIntosh picked up the helpers on really the first scoring chance of the period. Just under two minutes later Colton Sparrow levelled Devon Hascarl with a check to the head along the side wall near centre ice. Hascarl was very slow to get up and needed help off the ice as the Warriors forward didnt return to tonight's game. Sparrow was given five minutes for checking to the head and tossed from the hockey game. The Warriors would take an early penalty allowing both teams to play a little four on four for the next two minutes before Westside would get a late-shortended powerplay. While both teams were four on four Dru Morrison cut wide along the boards before beating the Vernon defenceman and then cut hard towards the front of the goal where Halcrow was forced to make a tough pad save, Halcrow would fire the puck up as the Vipers quickly moved the puck up to Mike Zalewski on the same play allowing Zalewski to come down the left wing and snap a quick hard shot from the circler where Dwayne Rodrigue come up with a quick glove save keeping this game tied. The Warriors would eventually get a short three minute powerplay but it was the Vipers penalty kill that was sharp killing off the minor as Westside was unable to generate any real offence getting just two shots with the man advantage as Vernon would kill off the five minute major. Darren Nowick who was the Vipers best player tonight made a huge defensive play to breakup a Warriors scoring chance late on the man advantage. Just as the penalty expired the Vipers found Adam Tambellini coming out of the penalty box, sending the Vipers rookie in for the breakaway, Tambellini with a nice move in close couldnt beat Rodrigue who stayed with the Vipers forward making a nice save shutting the fivehole at the last second. From here on in it was all Warriors as Westside picked up momentum and carried the better of the play for the remainder of the 2nd period. Marcus Basara lead the way with a three on one but Basara's shot hit something along the way going up and into the mesh above the end glass. Westside would get the play in deep and get lots of pressure inside the Vernon blueline. Moving the puck well the Warriors generated some good chances as the Vipers were hemmened in their own end for several minutes. Kirby Halcrow had to be sharp and was making several big saves keeping this a one goal game. Connor Dempsey with a great chance from the slot was stopped by Halcrow who made a nice save, on the same shift Dempsey was robbed again by Halcrow who made a quick glove save from in close. Halcrow was also lucky at times as the Warriors buzzing in and around the net tried stuffing the puck in shortside, but somehow with traffic in and around the Vernon net Halcrow stood tall keeping the puck out. Warriors captain Max French with a tip in front couldnt beat Halcrow who made another nice pad save on a shot I dont think he saw. The Vipers who had troubles most of the period getting out of their own end didnt register a single shot for atleast ten minutes before getting a shot on goal in the final two and a half minutes. Westside dominated the play and really took it too the Vipers but could only manage one goal. The Warriors with a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Westside outshot Vernon 21-11.
3rd Period: Off the opening faceoff Brett Corkey come up with a huge defensive play to breakup Brett McKinnon from going in on a parcial breakaway. The Vipers with good energy to start the 3rd put on all kinds of pressure early and often as Vernon carried the better of the play for most of the final period. The Vipers deep in the Westside zone really worked hard down low, moving the puck well but couldnt get alot of pucks through or towards the goal as the Warriors defence played very strong this evening. John Knisley was robbed about seven minutes into the period after Dwayne Rodrigue come across the crease making a huge save with his right pad keeping this a one goal game. The Vipers come up with a few good chances but couldnt beat Rodrigue who made several good saves. Vernon was outshooting Westside 6-2 at this point before on an odd man rush Shawn Hochhausen setup Brett McKinnon who beat Halcrow low at 13:40 giving the Warriors a 3-1 lead. Hochhausen and Ben Betker picked up the assists on just the Warriors third shot of the period. Vernon would come right back with a few hard shifts, Ben Gamache with a chance from the slot ripped his shot high and over the net, Darren Nowick with two shots from in close fired and high and wide. The Vipers with atleast four or five chances from in close missed the net. Any other shots fired towards the net Dwayne Rodrigue was solid coming out to challenge making the save not giving out any rebounds. The Vipers would get Kirby Halcrow to the bench for the extra attacker with 1:40 remaining before Vernon would take a late penalty giving the Warriors a powerplay for the remainder of the contest. This would put the game away as Vernon would fall 3-1 in another loss away from home. The Vipers were the better team and carried the better of the play but fell short. The Vipers outshot the Warriors 12-4.
Top Players: (Vernon)
Brett Corkey played very well on the Vipers blueline, made atleast two defensive plays to breakup a Warriors scoring opportunity.
Mike Zalewski (1 goal) Played fairly well tonight opening the scoring shorthanded. Zalewski saw a ton of icetime was very good down low with Darren Nowick.
Darren Nowick (1 assist) Nowick was by far the Vipers best and most hardest working player tonight. Nowick with a ton of energy played very well at both ends of the rink. Was buzzing in and around the Warriors zone all night.
Geoff Crisfield also played well on Vernon's backend.
Ryan Renz played very well for the Vipers. I thought Renz had one of his better games in the last few weeks with a solid effort on the blueline.
Game Thoughts: (Vernon)
Another loss away from home, this team just cant win on the road have just one win in their last nineteen road games. With the Vees knocking off the Chilliwack Chiefs tonight, this was a great opportunity for the Vipers to climb within five points of 4th place Chilliwack. One loss or a Chilliwack win and the Vipers playoff run-season will all come to an end with just four games remaining. At times the Vipers looked good but then at times also didnt look very good. This team has been very uncosistant all season and it showed again tonight. I thought the Vipers penalty kill was good. The Vipers were making life easy for Dwayne Rodrigue who saw most of his shots, not alot of traffic or bodies going hard towards the net making life misserable for the Warriors goaltender. Alot of Vernon's shots were from well outside with no traffic in front. I really liked Jason Williamson's post game interview, and thought this was due about 25 games ago. It's about time someone called out his team and make them accountable. I think its a little too late for a speach like this, this late in the season. The Vipers now have to re group quickly and get ready to take on PG tomorrow afternoon.
Top Players: (Westside)
Connor Dempsey (1 goal) Was very good up front for Westside tonight. Dempsey come up with several scoring opportunities in the 2nd period but couldnt beat Kirby Halcrow.
Brett McKinnon (1 goal) Was the Warriors best player tonight. McKinnon showed alot of energy and hustle and was really skating hard all night.
Dru Morrison (1 goal) also played well for the Warriors and was one of their better players tonight. Played with alot of jump and had lots of energy all night.
Peter MacIntosh (1 assist) Played very well on the Westside blueline.
Ben Betker also played very well on the Warriors backend.
Dwayne Rodrigue (28 saves) Didnt have alot of tough saves to make but did make the big saves when needed. Saved his best save of the night for the third period after coming across the crease making a huge pad save off John Knisley.
Game Thoughts: (Westside)
The Warriors have battled the Vipers hard all season, each team has done better at home but give the Warriors full credit for playing hard especially the last two meetings vs Vernon. Westside fell behind early giving up the shorthanded goal but didnt quit, come back with a solid effort in the second half of the opening period to tie the game and then played very well in the 2nd period to take the lead. Westside's defence was very strong, especially in the 3rd not giving Vernon alot of shooting lanes and breaking up the Vipers offence not giving up alot of scoring opportunities.
Scratches:
Vernon:
Max Mowat (Injured)
Luke Juha (Injured)
Westside:
Matthew Berry-Lamontagna
David Pope
Seb Lloyd
Garrett Skrbich
Josh Monk
3 Stars:
1st Star: Dru Morrison (1 goal)
2nd Star: Travis Blanleil
3rd Star: Peter MacIntosh (1 assist)
For more on tonight's game visit the boxscore,
http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=977773&link=bchl
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