I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon my entire life. My family watched senior men's hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon since Vernon got a team in 1961. I have two family members that played junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990 missing 46 home games. I worked with the Vipers as colour commentator for a few games during the 2003-04 season. In 2011 I helped design and create the Vipers website and was in charge of keeping the site updated for five seasons. I started and created this blog in 2008 and have over 5.8 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-West Kelowna Warriors game as the Vipers won 4-2 in front of 2,308 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Colton Jugnauth
West Kelowna Warriors: Angelo Zol
1st Period: The Vipers with a strong opening frame, were the better team. Vernon who played well and looked good in Friday's 1st period, come up with another solid effort in tonight's 1st period. The Snakes outplayed the Warriors for most of the period. The Vipers carried the better of the play, had lots of time in the offensive zone, were getting pucks to the net, creating/generating opportunities, and were hard on the body, physical through out the period, played very very well. The Tribe saw a lot of action in their own end, couldn't seem to get much going through out the 1st period. WK gave up a lot of shots and opportunities, heavily relied on Angelo Zol who made some big stops, keeping the visitors in the hockey game. It was 2-0 Vernon after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 13-8 Vipers.
2nd Period: This was a choppy/scrambled period at both ends of the rink. I thought Vernon carried the better of the play, but struggled offensively to get any scoring chances. The Vipers did get a couple of looks but it seemed like they had some pressure then would lose the puck and have to re-group. West Kelowna saw a lot of play in their own end for a second straight period, did get a couple of good shifts in the offensive zone but just like the opening frame, couldn't get much of anything going. It was 2-0 Vipers after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 10-8 Vernon.
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3rd Period: The Snakes had a good start with a strong forecheck before Noah Garthe got the Warriors on the board, cutting Vernon's lead to 2-1 at 4:37 This goal seemed to give the Tribe some life, give them momentum and turned the tables as WK responded and took over the edge in play for most of the remainder of the period. The visiting Warriors were now skating, moving the puck, getting pressure in the offensive zone, had the Snakes back on their heels at times. The Vipers got some timely saves from newcomer Colton Jugnauth making his Vipers debut tonight and a couple of big defensive plays to keep this a one goal game. The Tribe pressed and had several quality opportunities, couldn't force overtime after Vipers captain Deagan McMillan put the game away with an empty netter as the Vipers pick up just their fourth win of the season with the 4-2 victory. Shots were 11-8 West Kelowna.
Vernon Vipers Top Players:
Sebastian Bradshaw Played one of his better games as a Viper. I haven't been too impressed with the Dallas Stars draft pick but thought he battled/competed and played a hard nosed game
Samuel Charko Was one of Vernon's better players this evening. Played with a ton of jump/energy, was hard on pucks, battled/competed, was winning battles along the wall, took a puck to the face in the 1st period, but stayed in the hockey game. Really liked this kids performance tonight
Teodor Vapenik I thought played a very calm and steady game on the backend
Andrew Petruk Made his Snakes debut, was physical, played hard
Deagan McMillan (2 goals) The local kid and Vipers captain, played one of his better games of the season. I really liked his game, thought he played hard, competed, played very well
Colton Jugnauth (25 saves) Made his Vipers debut tonight, was solid in goal. Made some big time saves in the 3rd with the Warriors pressing
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The Vipers are 1-1 vs West Kelowna
- With the win, the Snakes snap a 8 game losing streak
- Tonight's the second game of a two game home stand
- Tonight was just the Vipers second win at home
- I liked the Snakes 1st period. Vernon was the better team, outplayed the Warriors for most of the period. The Vipers were getting pucks to the net, had lots of looks/quality opportunities, had lots of puck possession and zone time, could have easily been up by a couple of goals if it wasn't for Angelo Zol who played very well in goal for West Kelowna
- The Vipers have lost four of their last five games and lost eight of their last ten games
- The Snakes next game is Friday in Trail
- Vernon went 1-1 with the power play
- Tonight's the second of six regular season meetings vs West Kelowna
- The hometown Vipers had a slight edge in play in the 2nd period, a period that was pretty choppy/scrambled. The Vipers had more puck possession and zone time but didn't get a whole lot of quality chances
- Tonight's attendance was announced at 2,308
- The Snakes play five of their next seven games on the road
- Give the Vipers full credit for beating the league's top team in a game I didn't think we would win
- The Vipers lost 4-0 in West Kelowna during the preseason September 6th
- The Vipers unveiled their new 3rd jerseys (Black with white and yellow stripes)
- Vernon could have easily won both games this weekend. Vipers looked and played very well in both games
- Since the 2003-04 regular season, Vernon is 52-45-7-3-2 vs West Kelowna
- With a 2-0 lead heading into the 3rd, the Vipers give up an early goal that gives the Tribe life, changes the momentum and now it's West Kelowna who comes on and takes over the edge in play. The visiting Warriors were the better team in the 3rd, carried a lot of the play, had more puck possession, zone time and had several quality opportunities. Colton Jugnauth was solid in goal, making some large saves before the Snakes put the game away with an empty net goal
- The Vipers & Warriors will meet again November 29th in West Kelowna
- The Vipers are 2-4-4-0 at home
- Give some credit to Vernon's discipline as the team started the season taking a ton of penalties, have really improved by staying out of the box lately
- I have been saying all season, the Vipers are a much better team then their record, they play hard, they compete, they are fun to watch, they never quit and have been in most games other then maybe two or three. This team should have more wins then they do but they don't. If this team keeps playing like they did tonight and can find a goal scorer, look out
- The Snakes are 11 points back of 3rd place Salmon Arm
- I don't like the new 3rd jerseys. The Vipers don't have black in their main colors. Their main colors are navy blue, yellow and a slight tint of red. These jerseys remind me of the Victoria Grizzlies
- After losing eight straight games, only having three wins you had to feel sorry for these kids who have come to play and play hard game in and game out but for whatever reason, couldn't find a way to win. Well tonight their hard work and effort paid off getting just their fourth win of the season. Lets hope this win gives this team some confidence
- With the win, Vernon improves to 4-10-5-0 sit 4th in the Interior West Division
West Kelowna Warriors Top Players:
Noah Garthe (2 goals) Didn't really stand out at all until he scored both of the Warriors goals in the 3rd period. Once he got the Tribe to within a goal, I started to notice his play pick up and played fairly well in the final frame
Carson Pavlowich I thought played very well on West Kelowna's blueline
Angelo Zol (27 saves) Was solid in goal, especially in the 1st period, a period where he kept WK in the hockey game. If it wasn't for Zol in the opening frame, Vernon could have easily had a couple of goals
Game Thought's: West Kelowna Warriors
- Including the preseason, the Warriors are 2-1-0-0 vs Vernon
- I spotted a small group of Warriors fans in attendance
- The Warriors have won three of their last five games and won seven of their last ten games
- I didn't think WK had a very good 1st period. The hometown Vipers were by far the better team as the Snakes outplayed the Tribe for most of the period. The Warriors saw a lot of play in their own end, gave up a lot of shots, a lot of chances and didn't see much time with the puck or in the offensive zone. West Kelowna did have a couple of good shifts but otherwise this wasn't a very good period
- The Warriors next game is Friday vs the visiting Cranbrook Bucks
- The Tribe didn't get a power play tonight
- The Warriors last win in Vernon was a 4-3 overtime victory on September 28th 2024
- After being outplayed in the opening frame, the 2nd period wasn't much better. This was a pretty scrambled period with not a lot of flow. The Vipers did carry the better of the play but West Kelowna did a much better job at not giving up nearly as many opportunities. The Tribe had a couple of good shifts but overall didn't look that great in the middle frame
- West Kelowna is 6-2-1-0 on the road
- With the loss, West Kelowna drops from 1st overall into 2nd as the Cowichan Capitals are now the league's top team
- With the visiting Warriors down 2-0 heading into the 3rd, Noah Garthe gets the Tribe to within a goal. This gives WK life, changes the momentum and turns the tables as West Kelowna takes over the edge in play and was the better team to finish the period. The Warriors got their legs going, were moving the puck, had lots of puck possession, zone time, were generating/creating opportunities, had Vernon back on their heels at times. Angelo Zol gave up a soft one, to give the hometown Vipers a 3-1 lead but give West Kelowna credit, Noah Garthe scored a minute later to get the Tribe to within a goal. The Warriors pressed but couldn't force overtime
- The Warriors will play their next five games at home
- The Warriors didn't look that good in the first two periods and it cost them. They fell behind 2-0 and could have been down by more if it wasn't for their goaltender. Give West Kelowna credit, they didn't back down and come on strong in the 3rd but fell short in a game I didn't think they played their best
- With the loss, West Kelowna falls to 15-3-2-0 sits 1st in the Interior West Division
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Dome Szongoth
Koji Gibson
Alex Edwards
Brendan Russell
London Taylor
Rasmus Dahlqvist
West Kelowna Warriors:
Kurtis Kinoshita
Carter Oakenfold
Ethan Merner
Aidan Malone
Boxscore-Game Summary,
West Kelowna Warriors @ Vernon Vipers Saturday, November 22, 2025 | BCHL League Site
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
6 comments:
Well, miracles never cease but, this win was no miracle. Hard work, a belief you can win and a never quit attitude did the job tonight. So happy the Vipers got the win and a much deserved win it was. They beat the top team in the league hopefully this gets the snowball rolling. This win should provide the confidence the team needs to put some more wins together, they play a great game so, Go Vipers GO!
That was the best game of the year, a full 60 minute effort and a well deserved win. Friday night vs Salmon Arm was also a very good game, the first 60 minutes were good but SA's talent dominated in the overtime. I hope this weekend is the turning point for the season. Both these games were successful because of hard work. Last night the Vipers out shot, out hit and out scored the Warriors who had little time to play their game This is the recipe for success against more skilled teams and great to see. The Vipers have been in most games this year and just showed themselves what they must do to compete. Good for them.
Another thing I was impressed with was the discipline we witnessed. Earlier in the year players would take foolish, unnecessary penalties that would cost the team. Finally they are putting the team first.
Just a reality check for the Vernon faithful. I think we all recognized early in the season that this could be a frustrating year as a fan. I am hearing and seeing a few negative comments and believe we must remain positive and supportive of this team. Recruiting was a challenge because of the reputation the past coaching/management created and it will take time for Cooke to dig us out of the mess left for him. Realistically we have a team of hard workers but no players who would be first liners on other teams. It will take a full disciplined team effort each night to be successful. I am confident top talent will chose to play here when they see the program Cooke and his team and creating. Go Vipers Go!!!
I think the vipers played very well on home ice this weekend with a great crowd Friday night for parents weekend to start unfortunately only came out of that game with a point. And on Saturday they picked up the momentum to a very skilled West Kelowna Warriors, and played puck on the tape with their passing very good kept there foot on the gas the whole game and the new goalie looked very well in net for his debut to help the boys to defeat a top placed team. Good weekend boys to earn 3 points out of a possible 4 point s Go vipers Go
Great game they played a full sixty minutes beating one of the best team.
The vipers played well in all areas of the game against west kelowna and they should fell proud of themselves as its clear the lessons learned by our coaching staff is evident on the ice. Good job Matt Cooke and coaching staff
I made the trip up from Kelowna to visit my buddies Diehard and Bingo and watch my Warriors and to see your new score clock. I wasn’t all impressed with the Warriors and not sure how they are the best team after what I saw last night. I was very impressed with how the Vipers played all night long I kept saying really they only have 3 wins as they looked like a way better team than that so must of got better. Yes what a joke those jerseys are like you said not even close to what the Vipers colours are. What a waste of money
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