Snakes roll through Express lines
By Roger Knox - Vernon Morning Star
Published: April 02, 2014
Alright class, here is what is known after the Vernon Vipers’ 6-1 win over the Coquitlam Express in the B.C. Hockey League’s three-team, semi-final round-robin tournament Sunday night at Kal Tire Place:
The Interior Division champion Vipers are 2-0 in the six-game round-robin. The Mainland Division champion Express, playing their first game of the round-robin, are 0-1, same as the Island Division winners,Victoria Grizzlies, who fell 5-4 at home Friday to the Vipers.
Still with me?
Have the Vipers clinched a spot in the Fred Page Cup best-of-seven league final? No. Are they close? Yes. Will they have to play their final two round-robin games Saturday at home against Victoria and Monday in Coquitlam? Maybe. That depends on what happened Tuesday in Coquitlam and what happens Thursday in Victoria when the Grizzlies and Express meet in back-to-back games.
“I could not tell you how it (round-robin formula) works,” smiled Vipers forward Colton Sparrow after Sunday’s win, where he popped in his seventh post-season goal. “This is all new to me and I try not to focus on that. It’s one game at a time, you win a game then you move on. We don’t want to crunch numbers.”
The league confirmed Monday that the final two round-robin games slated for Saturday in Vernon and Monday in Coquitlam would not be played if Victoria or Coquitlam sweeps the home-and-home this week.
At the very least, the Vipers have assured themselves a spot in a tiebreaker game April 9 to determine the other league finalist. If the three teams end up tied at 2-2, a tie-breaking formula, which could include goals for and against totals, would be used to determine the first finalist. The other two teams play April 9.
“It’s a little bit out of our hands,” said Vernon head coach Jason Williamson. “We’ve done what we need to do and we’ll see what happens when the other two teams go head-to-head Tuesday and Thursday. We’ve done our job, now we wait and see what happens.”
The Vipers put themselves in a comfortable position with their victory Sunday, ignited in the first period by a powerplay marker at 11:46 from Liam Coughlin, who buried a rebound after Express goalie Gordy Defiel made a save on a point shot from Jared Wilson.
The game-winner would come exactly seven minutes later, courtesy of Defiel of all-people, who inadvertently misplayed a Dylan Chanter dump-in into his own net.
“It was very important for us to get off to a good start,” said Coughlin, the game’s first star. “We didn’t have a good start in Victoria, so it was definitely key to get on these guys early as they hadn’t played yet.”
After a scoreless middle frame, the Express cut the lead in half just 46 seconds into the third period when Bo Pieper picked up a Brendan Lamont rebound in the slot and buried a backhand over Vipers goalie Austin Smith’s glove for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Vernon defenceman Riley Guenther re-established the two-goal cushion with a shot from the point past a screened Defiel at 6:22.
In the last half of the game, it was all Vernon. Michael McNicholas finished off a three-on-one, taking a great pass from Dexter Dancs and beating Defiel at 13:25.
Sparrow banged in a rebound at 19:11 with Dancs finishing the scoring at 19:50 as he took a pass from Coughlin and put it past Defiel.
“I thought we started the game well, the second period was a bit sloppy, but we pulled away in the third,” said Williamson. “The guys made some plays. Anytime you get a win at this time of the year you have to relish it and be proud of it.”
For the Express, it was not only their first game of the round-robin, but their first in eight days since eliminating the Langley Rivermen.
It took them six minutes to get their first shot on goal.
“We try not to use excuses but I think the layoff did hurt us. It’s not the same practising everyday,” said Express assistant coach Rob Boyd, a former Vernon Minor Hockey rep coach. “The first period wasn’t even our same team. We played a little better in the second and I think it’ll come.”
Boyd said his team has to grasp the importance of this round-robin format.
“It’s easy to say every game is a game seven in the room, but I don’t know from the players’ standpoint if they grasp that urgency.” he said. “It’s not like a game six or game seven and you’re facing elimination, your back’s against the wall and you have to win. This is a different format and there’s not that sense or urgency, and we’re playing a team we only saw twice during the year so there’s no real rivalry to fire you up.”
Defiel finished with 24 saves while Smith made 29 stops as both teams had 30 shots on goal.
Vernon went 1-3 on the powerplay, the Express were 0-3 with the man advantage.
Snake Bites: Defenceman Kenny Citron is day-to-day with a lower body injury, suffered Friday in Victoria. He did not play Sunday...One of the biggest cheers of the night came in the third period when it was announced Sparrow’s mom, Chris, won the 50/50 jackpot. “She’d better buy me something nice,” laughed Sparrow after the game.
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