Exhibition: Wenatchee 9 Vernon 5

For anyone who could not attend or watch tonight’s Vipers game here are my thoughts and views from tonight’s game.  You may agree or disagree but we all have our own view and opinion on any game we watch.  This is my opinion and my thoughts on how I saw tonight’s game.  Thanks for stopping by and visiting blog.

 

I was at tonight's BCHL exhibition game as the NAHL Wenatchee Wild defeated the Vernon Vipers 9-5 at the Wesbild Centre.

Before tonight's game the Vipers paid respect to the sudden loss of long time Vipers season ticket holder Terry Upton who passed away this August.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon:  Joe Young
Wenatchee:  Evan McCarthy

1st Period:  Not alot of scoring chances but a very fast pace to the first period with very little whistles.  Both teams were skating hard and really moving the puck but not alot of offence shown from either club.  Both teams come out hitting with some good checks in a fairly even played first couple of minutes.  It took the Wild almost eight minutes to record their first shot on goal.  The Vipers come up with the games first scoring chance after Eric Chore ripped a high hard shot from the slot but fired high and over the net.  Vernon would get the games first powerplay but it was the Wenatchee Wild who prevailed after a very strong penalty kill not giving up a single shot would kill off the man advantage.  Just shortly after the Wild would get their first powerplay of the night and capitalize early after Christopher Kerr beat Vipers prospect Joe Young at 9:44 giving Wenatchee the 1-0 lead.  Blake Roubos and Derick Kuchera collected the assists.  Off the next faceoff the Wild won the draw, got the puck back into the Vipers zone and just seconds later Max McHugh scored off a rebound in front giving the Wild a 2-0 lead with back to back quick goals.  Christopher Jones & Noah Nelson with the helpers.  Wenatchee was outshooting the Vipers at this point 8-1.  These two goals seemed to give the Wild life as Wenatchee seemed to turn the tables and really come on strong slowly taking it to Vernon.  The Wild moving the puck well had the Vipers back on their heels as Wenatchee looked good with and without the puck.  Joe Young come out to challenge making a nice chest save off Dilon Eichstadt.  The Wild were outshooting Vernon 10-3 at this point.  The Vipers then got into some penalty trouble and it cost them as Lance Carney beat Young at 16:51 giving the Wild a 3-0 lead.  Tyler Rostenkowski and Noah Nelson with the assists.  The Vipers come right back with a great chance after Nick Josephs, Eric Chore and Joe Serpico with a odd man rush but Eric Chore was stopped in front by Evan McCarthy who didnt have a whole lot of rubber thrown his way.  Just past the two minute mark Adam Tambellini with a long shot from outside the blueline handcuffed McCarthy who had trouble handling the long slapper managed to juggle the puck before tossing it out to a defenceman.  Both teams were fairly even in the first half before the Wild scored on their chances and were the better team in the second half.  The Vipers were down 3-0 after 20 minutes of play.  Wenatchee outshot Vernon 15-6.

2nd Period:  The Wild started the middle frame with the man advantage as the Vipers took a penalty at the end of the opening period wich gave Wenatchee an early powerplay to start the 2nd period.  The Wild had their powerplay unit clicking tonight as just twenty seven seconds into the frame Blake Roubos with his second point of the night gave the Wild a early 4-0 lead.  Christopher Kerr and Tyler Rostenkowski with the helpers.  Vernon slowly started to get their game going and it didnt take the Vipers long to get on the board after Adam Tambellini setup Braedan Russell who drove hard towards the net beat Evan McCarthy at 3:40 making it a three goal game.  Tambellini and Colton Sparrow with the assists.  The Vipers come right back with a hard shift before Eric Chore with a great chance in front was stopped by Evan McCarthy.  On the next play Ryan Edwards one on one ripped a low shot from the circle that went off a Wild defenceman as Adam Fauchoux was going to the net hard looked to have tapped the puck into the open cage but they gave the goal to Edwards at 4:48 making it a two goal game.  Edwards goal was unassisted.  The Vipers would get a bit of a scare after Marc Hetnik took a stick-puck high in the mouth area and was down before slowly getting up but did stay in the hockey game.  Vernon would then get their second powerplay of the game with some hard work the Vipers come up with a few good chances but none better then Nick Josephs who walked in from the point and wired a hard shot that beat McCarthy but hit the post on a great chance.  A pretty good powerplay but the Vipers couldnt capitalize after the Wild killed off the minor.  Just before the midway mark Joe Young would get caught out of position as Christopher Jones put Wenatchee up 5-2 at 11:28 Noah Nelson with the lone assist.  Both teams would then switch goaltenders at the midway mark as Joe Young gave up five goals on twenty two Wild shots and Evan McCarthy gave up two goals on fifteen Vernon shots.  Harrison Whitlock was now in goal for the Vipers while Austin Piquette was in goal for the Wild.  Whitlock would get tested early after a hard shot from the point handcuffed the goaltender on a bit of a weird bounce come close to going inbehind the young Vernon netminder.  Wenatchee would get a two man advantage after the Vipers lost Ryan Renz for the remainder of the period after deliverying a checking to the head penalty.  The Wild with some good pressure couldnt capitalize.  After a big penalty kill the Vipers would once again make it a two goal game after Landon Robin beat Austin Piquette at 16:01 Sam McMullen and Colton Sparrow with the helpers.  But the Vipers couldnt slow down or contain the Wild attack as seconds later Jacob Barber beat Harrison Whitlock at 16:45 making it a three goal game.  Max McHugh and Noah Nelson with the assists.  The Wild didnt stop there after on another powerplay Tyler Rostenkowski's point shot beat Whitlock but hit the back of the post before Blake Roubos jumped on the rebound scored his second of the night giving the Wild a 7-3 lead.  Jake O'Borsky and Tyler Rostenkowski collected the helpers.  The Vipers didnt quit and battled back later after Adam Tambellini with a nice quick high wrist shot beat Piquette upstairs topshelf at 19:40 cutting the lead to with three.  Adam Fauchoux with the lone assist.  This was a more even played period at times but the Wilds powerplay and Vipers soft goaltending that let them down. Wenatchee with a 7-4 lead after 40 minutes of play.  Vernon outshot Wenatchee 14-10.

3rd Period:  Just over three minutes into the final frame Christian Elsborg gave Wenatchee a 8-4 lead at 3:05 Christopher Kerr with the lone assist.  But just over a minute later Colton Sparrow with a nice goal in front went high and just under the crossbar at 4:11 making it a 8-5 Wild lead.  Braedan Russell and Marc Hetnic with the assists on the goal.  Adam Fauchoux would get rewarded with a penalty shot but Austin Piquette would stand tall shutting the pads making the save.  But once again the Vipers couldnt shutdown the Wilds offence as Jake O'Borsky put Wenatchee up 9-5 at 7:58 Christopher Kerr and Blake Roubos with the helpers.  Just a few minutes later a mini line brawl would break out as everyone on the ice dropped the gloves.  It all started down at the Wild blueline just off to the side of the Wenatchee bench.  After a fairly lengthy delay in working out all the penalties the game resumed.  The Vipers would lose Colton Sparrow and Braedan Russell with game misconducts and the Wild would lose Brad LeLievre to a game misconduct as several words were being exchanged between the players in the penalty boxes.  From here on in the game slowed down with very little action at either ends of the rink.  The Vipers would get a late man advantage, TJ Dumonceaux with a great chance in front couldnt beat Piquette as the Wild would kill off the penalty.  A fairly boring last eight or so minutes as the clock winded down before both teams came out to shake hands after the game had ended.  Wenatchee would defeat the Vipers 9-5.  Wenatchee outshot Vernon 6-5.

Top Players:  (Vernon)

TJ Dumonceaux was by far one of the Vipers better players.  Not the biggest kid on the ice but can this kid skate and go for the net.  Very quick, plays with alot of energy, has some good hockey sence and knows where to go.  Always going to the net and looking to create chances.

Braedan Russell (1 goal & 1 assist)  Was another one of the Vipers better players tonight.  This kid is huge, can skate, create plays and isnt afraid to drop the gloves.  I was very impressed with Mr. Russell

Eric Chore was another kid who impressed me tonight.  Come up with several scoring chances, drove towards the goal and made plays happen.  Would have been nice to see him rewarded with a goal.

Michael Statchuk played very well on the Vernon blueline.

Game Thoughts:  (Vernon)

After a quick two day Training camp tonight was the Vipers first of five pre-season games.  Both teams looked fairly even in the opening first half but once Wenatchee got them two quick goals the Vipers wernt the same team.  I thought Vernon was back on their heels a bit in the second half of the 1st and didnt generate alot of offence (One shot in the first ten minutes) but give the Vipers credit, down 4-0 they could have folded the tents and packed it in but they didnt.  They battled back in the 2nd scoring two quick goals, come up with a few good chances but just couldnt hold off the Wild offence.  I thought the Vipers took too many penalties and didnt get the goaltending tonight giving up a few soft goals.  I thought and was pleased to see the team improve in certain areas as the game went on.  The Vipers tried clawing back on several occasions but couldnt keep the puck out of their net.  The Vipers played physical and have some kids with some size this year (something they were lacking last season) I noticed atleast two lines that were clicking and seemed to have some chemistry early.  It is for all the teams first exhibition game.  The Vipers went with a young team and it showed playing against a veteran Wenatchee Wild club.  At times it was like watching men play against boys.  It will be interesting to see when the Vipers start making some cuts and get down to a more realistict number.  The Vipers had fourteen scratches for tonights game sitting in the stands.

Top Players:  (Wenatchee)

Christopher Jones (1 goal & 1 assist)  Played very well on the point for a young kid.

Lance Carney (1 goal) Also played very well on the Wilds backend.

Jake O'Borsky (1 goal & 1 assist) Looked good up front, had some speed and skill.

Christopher Kerr ((1 goal & 3 assists) Played very well for the Wild.  Seemed to always be in and around the net looking for rebounds or open ice.

Noah Nelson (4 assists) Was very good tonight, another kid who was in the right place at the right time.  Worked hard and was rewarded.

Blake Roudos (2 goals & 2 assists)  This kid was very good for Wenatchee, has some good hands and good hockey scence.

Tyler Rostenkowski (3 assists)  Another kid that played and looked very good.

Game Thoughts:  (Wenatchee)

The Wild come into town playing a veteran-experienced lineup and it showed tonight.  Wenatchee was the better team and it showed for most of the game.  The Wild looked very good with some nice passing plays, a very strong powerplay and looked to have most of if not all their lines on the same page.  Wenatchee is very strong on the forecheck and dont give you alot of time or space.  The Wild didnt really get alot of chances but made you pay by capiatalizing on there chances.  A very physical game that could have got ugly (other then the mini line brawl).  Both teams didnt seem to like one another with several mini scrums after stopages in play.  The Wild with a veteran lineup only had five scratchessitting in the stands tonight. 

They didnt announce either of the teams scratches but here is both teams lineups

Vernon:

Kevin Guiltinan
Marc Hetnik
John Saunders
Wyatt Trumbley
Adam Tambellini
Landon Robin
TJ Dumonceaux
Braedan Russell
Mat Lambert
Ryan Edwards
Sam McMullen
Adam Fauchoux
Eric Chore
Colton Sparrow
Joe Serpico
Michael Statchuk
Nick Josephs
Ryan Renz

Joe Young
Harrison Whitlock

Wenatchee:

Christopher Jones
Derick Kuchera
Christopher Knudson
Dilon Eichstadt
Lance Carney
Nathan Flynn
Nick Kuchera
Jake O'Borsky
Christopher Kerr
Noah Nelson
Jacob Barber
Blake Roubos
Brad LeLievre
Christian Elsborg
Tyler Bruneteau
Max McHugh
Tyler Rostenkowski
Trace Redmond

Evan McCarthy
Austin Piquette