Sunday, November 16, 2014

Vernon 5 Victoria 1

For anyone who could not attend or watch today’s Vipers game here are my thoughts and views from today’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 today’s game. I try to be unbiased and give a fare recap on both sides. Thanks for stopping by & visiting my blog.

I was at today's Vipers-Grizzlies game as Vernon defeated Victoria 5-1 in front of 1,636 fans at Kal Tire Place.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Jarrod Schamerhorn
Victoria: Michael Stiliadis

1st Period: The Grizzlies got off to a quick start, had some early jump and energy were buzzing with some good pressure off the opening faceoff.  Just twenty six seconds into the hockey game Garrett Forster with a great opportunity couldnt beat Jarrod Schamerhorn in close.  Victoria had the better of the play early was outshooting Vernon 3-0 in the opening minutes.  The Vipers got off to a bit of a slow start slowly come on as the period went on as both teams didnt generate alot of scoring chances.  The Grizzlies would get the games first powerplay couldnt convert after a good penalty kill by Vernon.  Victoria was the better of the two teams in the first half.  The Vipers would get back to back powerplays.  Vernon struggled with the first man advantage didnt record a single shot as the Grizz were able to kill off the first minor.  On the second PP TJ Dumonceaux with a quick low shot from the slot forced former Vipers goaltender Michael Stiliadis to make a quick ride toe save keeping this game scoreless.  Dumonceaux would eventually open the scoring on the same shift on the man advantage giving Vernon a 1-0 lead at 15:32 Luke Shiplo & Liam Finlay picked up the helpers.  This goal seemed to spark the Viper bench as Vernon seemed to turn up the pace come back and finished the remainder of the frame with some good opportunities.  Anthony Latina and Luke Voltin with two good chances in front couldnt give the Vipers a two goal lead.  Victoria was outshooting the Vipers 7-6 at one point before Vernon rallied back were now outshooting the Grizzlies 14-8 to finish the period.  The Vipers with their best opportunity of the opening period come late with 22.2 seconds to go, Stiliadis made a big pad save before robbing Liam Coughlin on the rebound from the slot keeping this a one goal game.  Vernon was up 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.  Victoria with a strong start jumped on the Vipers early, had some good pressure early carried the better of the play early.  The Vipers looked a little sluggish at the start before getting their legs going in the second half.  Not alot of scoring chances at both ends of the rink.  TJ Dumonceaux's powerplay goal seemed to give Vernon some life as the Vipers played-looked a little better in the second half.  Vernon outshot Victoria 14-8.

2nd Period: This period was very scrambed at times with not alot of flow at either ends of the rink.  The Grizzlies would get back to back powerplays early to start the 2nd period, Vipers starting goaltender Jarrod Schamerhorn was good between the pipes made several key stops and the Vernon Viper penalty kill was also good as the Vipers excaped killing off both penalties.  The Vipers were the more physical of the two teams as Vernon laid out some good hits through out the game this afternoon.  Just before the midway mark Viper captain Riley Guenther was stopped by Justin Sadler who made a nice defensive play breaking up a three on two Viper attack.  A few shifts later Liam Coughlin with a great opportunity was alone at the side of the net went high on Grizzlies starting goaltender Michael Stiliadis, Stiliadis made the first save before Coughlin got the rebound as the puck went up and over Stiliadis but stayed out of the net.  The Vipers kept up the pressure kept coming with some hard working shifts Anthony Latina setup Colton McCarthy in front who beat Stiliadis in his Vipers debut put the Vipers up 2-0 at 14:20 Latina and former Victoria Grizzlies defenceman Mitch Meek with the assists.  On the following shift Vernon would get their first shot with the man advantage this period.  The Vipers struggled couldnt control the play or get any offence going as Victoria with a fairly easy penalty kill would kill off the minor.  For the second straight period not alot of scoring chances for both teams in a more defensive game.  Neither team could get much of anything going in a pretty dull non exciting period.  Vernon was up 2-0 after 40 minutes of play.  The Grizz had a few good chances in the first half couldnt beat Jarrod Schamerhorn while the Vipers got the all important two goal lead heading into the 3rd period.  The Grizzlies outshot the Vipers 12-9.

3rd Period: The Vipers jumped all over the Grizz in the opening few minutes scoring three goals in just over two minutes.  Kenny Citron setup Trevor Fidler in front gave Vernon a 3-0 lead at 2:20 Citron with the assist.  Off the following draw Linden Hora and Riley Brandt come close to putting the Vipers up by four couldnt beat Michael Stiliadis on a two on one.  Victoria looked very flat, were almost standing around watching the Vipers move the puck.  The Vipers with all kinds of pressure were attacking the Grizzlies in waves.  The Grizzlies come very close to putting the puck in their own net after Michael Stiliadis come out to play the puck, got the puck caught up in his skates fell over kicking the puck loose into the crease before the puck was cleared.  Shortly after Luke Shiplo was able to walk in and score putting the Vipers up 4-0 at 4:10 Liam Finlay collected the helper.  Just fourteen seconds later Finlay would find the back of the net gave the Vipers a 5-0 lead at 4:24 Jagger Williamson picked up the assist.  Michael Stiliadis was choked, fired the puck down the rink in discust and looked to say something towards the Grizzlies bench as he went for a skate into the corner boards.  Victoria's defence basically went to sleep left their goaltender hung out to dry on the last three Viper goals were now down by five.  Up by five goals Vernon seemed to sag as Victoria would come right back and take the edge in play to the Vipers.  Jarrod Schamerhorn again was forced into making some key saves even though this was a 5-0 game.  Schamerhorn made a huge save at the side of the net off Matt Kennedy before the Grizz would ruin Schamerhorn's shutout bid with a powerplay marker.  Brett Gruber got the Grizzlies on the scoreboard at 10:06 capitalizing with the man advantage.  Meiers Moore and Zach Dixon collected the helpers.  Victoria seemed to lose control and show their frustration taking several undisaplined penalties.  Up by four goals Vernon got a little too fancy on the man advantage were trying to make the goals look pretty couldnt capitalize as the Grizzlies penalty kill was pretty good this afternoon.  Lots of extra pushing and shoving after the whistle coming from the Grizzlies who showed lots of frustration.  The Grizz would get a late powerplay to finish the game, Jarrod Schamerhorn made two big saves in the final minute keeping this a four goal game.  The Vipers would kill off the remainder of the period come away with the 5-1 victory evening the season series at 1-1.  The Vipers got off to a strong start, jumped on Victoria early scoring three times to put this game away with three goals in just over two minutes.  The Grizzlies looked flat, were basically standing around watching the Vipers.  Michael Stiliadis got no help from his defence was hung out to dry on all three goals.  With the game out of reach Victoria showed lots of frustration taking several undisaplined penalties in the period.  Shots were even 11-11.

Top Players: (Victoria)

TJ Dumonceaux (1 goal) I thought was the hardest working Viper this afternoon, played with alot of jump and energy was really buzzing all game.

Luke Shiplo (1 goal & 1 assist) Played well on the Vernon blueline, joined the play through out the game, was good at both ends of the rink.

Johnny Coughlin I thought played well on defence, jumped into the play at times was steady through out the game.   

Jarrod Schamerhorn (30 saves) Wasnt forced into making alot of really big saves did make some key saves through out the game.  Was especially good when the Grizz carried the play at times, made those first saves with no rebounds allowed for s stopage in play, the Vipers were able to change lines and try and change the momentum in play.

Game Thought's: (Vernon)

Colton McCarthy made his Vipers debut today, scored the game winner.  I thought the Vipers got off to a slow start, they looked sluggish at times.  Didnt have their legs going, didnt show alot of jump-energy early to start the game were outplayed early.  I thought Vernon responded well and played better in the second half, got the games first goal and then had some good looks at the net-quality chances to finish the 1st period.  The Vipers didnt get a ton of great chances tonight, I dont think played one of their "A" games today.  The play was very scrambled at times through out the game, was fairly even and could have been anyones game until Vernon blew the game open in the 3rd with three goals in just over two minutes.  There wasnt really alot of emotion in the game until midway through the third when Victoria started showing signs of frustration.  With only facing the Grizz once prior to today's game there isnt really going to be that emotion as in when playing a team from your own division.  This wasnt a very exciting game, with not alot of flow.  I liked the physical side of Vernon's game as I thought the Vipers were the more physical team laying out some good checks.  The Vipers powerplay really struggled today, didnt look very good at all.

Top Players: (Victoria)

Zach Dixon (1 assist) I thought was one of if not the better d-man for Victoria this afternoon.  Has some size, can skate, move the puck and hard to beat one on one.

Garrett Forster really impressed me early and through out the first two periods.  I didnt notice him as much in the 3rd but thought he brought alot of jump and skill-offence to the Grizzlies lineup.  Quick on his feet, good puck handler, was buzzing in and around the Vernon goal.

Game Thought's: (Victoria)

Playing their third game in as many days I thought the Victoria Grizzlies got off to a good start.  The Grizz jumped on Vernon early, had some good pressure were really skating-attacking the zone early.  As the period went on I thought Victoria sagged a little, wich allowed the Vipers to slowly get back into the contest.  The Grizz were good in the first half but the Vipers carried a slight edge in play late in the opening period.  Not much of a 2nd period as both teams couldnt get much of anything going in a game where neither team generated a whole lot of chances.  Both clubs looked scrambled in the middle frame.  Both teams took some undisaplined penalties.  Only down by two to start the 3rd Victoria basically fell apart in the opening five minutes.  The Vipers with three goals in just over two minutes put this game away as the Grizzlies defence went to sleep, left their goaltender hung out dry.  Give Victoria credit they did come back after the Vipers sat back a bit with a five goal lead, had some looks before taking some undisaplined penalties.  The Grizzlies showed frustration got a little chippy in the final frame lost their composure at times.  The Grizz lost all three games this weekend wrap up the four game road trip in Nanaimo Wednesday.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Danny Todosychuk (Injured)
Mackenzie Bauer (Injured)
Branden Wagner

Victoria:

Dane Gibson
Storm Wahlrab

Energy player of the game:

Jagger Williamson (1 assist)

Three Stars:

1st Star: Liam Finlay (1 goal & 1 assist)
2nd Star: Luke Shiplo (1 goal & 1 assist)
3rd Star: Jarrod Schamerhorn (30 saves)

BCHL Boxscore,

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=1358253&link=bchl

Clay & Tyler's Victoria Grizzlies Blog,

http://grizzliesgazette.blogspot.ca/
 

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