Game Recap: "Parents Weekend" Salmon Arm Silverbacks 3 Vernon Vipers 2 Overtime

I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon most of my life. My family watched senior men's hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon since getting a team in 1961. I have two family members that played junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990, missing 40 home games. I started and created this blog in 2008 and have over 5.7 million viewers.

I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Salmon Arm Silverbacks game as the Silverbacks won 3-2 in overtime in front of 2,784 fans at Kal Tire Place. (Largest crowd of the season)

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon Vipers: Oliver Kanat
Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Mikkel Christensen

1st Period: Toms Trockis opened the scoring at 2:26 as the hometown Vipers were the better team in the first half. The Snakes carried the better of the play, were getting pucks to the net, generating some looks/opportunities. Salmon Arm was outshot 11-1 at one point but managed to tie the hockey game on the power play on just their second shot of the period. This goal seemed to give the Silverbacks some momentum and turned the tables a little as the Gorillas were the better team in the second half, had more of the play, were starting to get some pucks to the net, get a couple of looks/chances and get back into the contest. Mikkel Christensen kept the Apes in the hockey game, making some big stops with Vernon pressing in the first half. Christensen has a quick glove, was forced to make several gloves saves. It was 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 15-7 Vernon.

2nd Period: This was a bit of a choppy period with lots of stoppages as either team couldn't seem to get much going. Neither team really had much control as both teams were back and fourth with neither team outplaying one another. The S'Backs scored the lone goal of the period. The Snakes didn't get a ton of opportunities, did come close but hit the post. SA also didn't get a lot of chances. It was 2-1 Salmon Arm after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 10-9 Silverbacks.

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3rd Period: The Vipers carried the better of the play, had loads of icetime in the offensive zone, but didn't generate a lot of quality chances. Vernon did get a couple of good looks but on several occasions had lots of zone time but few opportunities. Lane Sim was able to tie the game early, which was the lone goal of the period. The Apes saw a lot of time in their own end, did manage to get some pressure/opportunities at different times through out the period but not a bunch. The visiting Silverbacks come close to taking the lead but hit the crossbar. Both goaltenders played well. It was 2-2 after 60 minutes of play. Shots were 11-11.

Overtime: Salmon Arm carried most of the play in OT as the Snakes had a couple of shifts in the offensive zone, spent a lot of overtime chasing the puck. The Gorillas looked very good in the extra frame, had a couple of looks until Mateu Spath scored at 8:38 giving the Silverbacks a 3-2 overtime victory. Shots were 5-1 Salmon Arm.

Vernon Vipers Top Players:

Edvin Nilsson I thought played well at both ends of the arena. Nilsson has really improved since last season as one of the more dangerous d-men for the Vipers

Seth Tansem I thought was another defenceman that played well in the overtime loss

Brayden Pankey also played well on Vernon's defence

Toms Trockis (1 goal) Opened the scoring early in the 1st, saw a lot of ice, played well. Was going to the net, made some plays, had some looks

Leon Bussmann Was another Viper who saw a ton of ice. Making his Vipers home debut looked pretty good, made some heads up plays

Dmitrii Kubantsev (1 assist) Also saw a ton of icetime, carried the puck a lot, made some plays, created some opportunities

Oliver Kanat (30 saves) Was wearing his new gear all decked out in Vipers colors, played well in goal. I think Kanat would like to have back Salmon Arm's opening goal, a goal that somehow beat him five hole

Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers

- The Vipers playing just their second home game in forty eight days

- Since the 2003-04 regular season, the Vipers are 76-56-17-1-1-4 vs Salmon Arm

- Vernon was wearing their yellow alternate jerseys tonight

- When's the last time the Vipers have lost 8 straight games?

- Tonight's the second of seven regular season meetings vs Salmon Arm

- I thought the Snakes got off to a great start, carried the better of the play early and for most of the first half. Vernon was getting pucks to the net, had several good looks/opportunities, could have had a couple of goals but Mikkel Christensen played very well in goal for Salmon Arm. The visiting Silverbacks were outshot 11-1 and down 1-0 early but a big PP goal to tie the hockey game, changed the momentum as the Apes looked and played much better in the second half, were the better team in the second half. SA carried a lot of the play in the second half, were starting to get pucks to the net and get a few looks/opportunities

- Tonight's the first game of a two game home stand

- The Vipers have lost eight straight games and eight of their last ten games

- The Snakes went 0-3 with the man advantage

- Vernon is 1-9 in one goal games

- The Vipers next game is Saturday vs the visiting West Kelowna Warriors

- The Snakes are 1-4-4-0 at home this season

- Both teams couldn't get much of anything going in the 2nd period, a period where it was pretty choppy with no real flow. The Snakes hit the post once but otherwise didn't get a whole lot of looks or chances in the middle frame. Salmon Arm scored the lone goal of the period, to take a 2-1 lead, also didn't get a ton of looks or opportunities

- The Vipers are 1-5 in overtime

- The Vipers & Silverbacks will meet again, January 2nd in Vernon

- Only Surrey and Powell River have fewer wins then Vernon

- Vernon struggled getting the puck out of their own end. The Vipers turned over the puck inside the blueline a lot

- I thought the Snakes were very disciplined tonight, taking only two minors

- For whatever reason, this team has troubles winning. This team competes, plays hard, can be fun and exciting to watch at times, has some good players and are in almost every game other then maybe two or three but at the end of the day, aren't winning games. There has been several games they should have or could have won but still lost. These kids have to be frustrated and have no confidence right now. This team is lacking a true goal scorer or someone that can put the puck in the net. The Vipers just don't seem to have the talent or the elite players, a lot of the other teams have

- There was about a twenty minute delay before puck drop, due to the Vipers introducing their parents out onto the ice before tonight's game

- The Silverbacks won 5-2 at Kal Tire Place North during the preseason September 9th

- The Vipers only win at home was a 6-1 victory over Cranbrook September 27th

- Tonight's attendance was announced at 2,784 (Largest crowd of the season)

- I really liked Vernon's 3rd period as the hometown Vipers were the better of the two teams. I thought the Vipers carried the better of the play, had lots of pressure and zone time but didn't get a whole lot of quality chances. The Vipers had a couple of scrambles in and around the net, were able to get the only goal of the period, at 2:36 The S'Backs played well defensively, limiting Vernon's opportunities, kept the Vipers to the outside, did manage to get some pressure and zone time but also didn't get a whole lot of looks/opportunities. SA come close to taking the lead, but hit the crossbar

- The Vipers play three of their next four games on the road

- Congratulations to Bingo on winning the 50/50

- Since the 2003-04 regular season, the Vipers are 41-27-7-1-1 at home vs Salmon Arm

- The Vipers struggled with their passing tonight, caused lots of turnovers

- The Vipers have a difficult schedule ahead. The next four games are vs Trail (twice) & West Kelowna (twice) 

- Salmon Arm was the better team in overtime as they carried most of the play. Vernon just couldn't gain any puck possession as they were forced to defend most of the entire OT. The Vipers had a couple of looks but no real quality chances. The Apes moved the puck around, basically playing keep away before setting up the overtime winner

- With the overtime loss, Vernon falls to 3-10-5-0 sits 4th in the Interior West Division (Tied in points with Cranbrook)

Salmon Arm Silverbacks Top Players:

Luca DeCubellis (1 assist) Played well on the S'Backs blueline

Cole Longacre (1 assist) Was another d-man that played well in the overtime victory, was engaged and involved in the play, played well at both ends of the rink

Luke Lepper Was involved in the play, saw lots of icetime, played well

Mateu Spath (2 goals) Got the Silverbacks on the scoreboard with a 1st period PP goal and then scored the overtime winner, played well. Seemed to be always involved in the play, was going to the net, made some smart plays and sees the ice

Anthony Cardilli (1 goal & 1 assist) Was one of the more dangerous forwards for Salmon Arm

Liam Bursaw (1 assist) Assisted on the OT winner, has some speed, not the biggest kid but seemed to find open ice and make plays happen, using his quickness

Keifer Miller Was another Silverbacks forward that had some speed, played well

Mikkel Christensen (34 saves) Kept the Apes in the game early with the Vipers pressing. Has a quick glove hand, played very well between the pipes

Game Thought's: Salmon Arm Silverbacks

- Both regular season games vs the Vipers have gone to overtime. The Vipers won 3-2 in overtime October 17th in Salmon Arm

- The Silverbacks have won three of their last five games and won six of their last ten games

- The Silverbacks next game is Saturday vs the visiting Sherwood Park Crusaders

- The Gorillas were outplayed early and had to reply on Mikkel Christensen in the first half of the opening frame. The S'Backs were outshot 11-1 at one point didn't look good early. The Vipers were the better team in the first half, with Salmon Arm tying the game on the PP, turning the tables, changing the momentum before playing much better in the second half. SA was the better team in the second half

- Salmon Arm is 7-3-1-0 on the road

- The Gorillas went 1-2 with the power play

- A good size crowd of Salmon Arm fans in attendance

- The Silverbacks defence played very well, blocked lots of shots, kept Vernon to the outside at times, limiting their chances

- Not much of a 2nd period, a period that was pretty choppy with not a lot of flow. Both teams had a couple of looks/opportunities but not a lot. The Snakes hit the post once, as both teams went back and fourth with not a lot of flow

- The Apes had trouble getting sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The Silverbacks couldn't seem to stay in the offensive zone for any real length of time

- The Silverbacks play three of their next four games on the road

- The Vipers were the better team in the 3rd. Salmon Arm saw a lot of time in their own end, managed to limit the Vipers opportunities but gave up the game tying goal 2:36 into the period. The S'Backs did get some pressure and some looks/opportunities but were defending a lot more this period. SA come close to taking the lead but hit the crossbar

- SA was the better team in overtime. The Silverbacks carried most of the play, had some looks and loads of puck possession. Salmon Arm did a good job at keeping puck possession and not turning over the puck or allowing the Snakes to get the puck

- With the overtime victory, Salmon Arm improves to 10-6-2-1 sit 3rd in the Interior West Division

Scratches:

Vernon Vipers:

Dome Szongoth
Teodor Vapenik
Alex Edwards
Andrew Petruk
London Taylor
Rasmus Dahlqvist

Salmon Arm Silverbacks:

Tate O'Brien
Luke Sinclair
Aidan Shirey
Jaden Johnson
Maverick Avent

Boxscore-Game Summary,

Salmon Arm Silverbacks @ Vernon Vipers Friday, November 21, 2025 | BCHL League Site

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