Vees Make Vipers Pay With Red-Hot Powerplay:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vees make Vipers pay with red-hot powerplay

Published: January 13, 2009

The Vipers bowed 5-1 to the Penticton Vees Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vipers came out flying in the first period, outshooting Penticton 15-0 (according to the shot clock) before nearly 2,000 fans. However, Vees’ netminder Jordan White kept his team alive with probably his best performance since coming to Penticton from the Cowichan Valley Capitals in October. “We had a good start and had some momentum,” said Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner. After a scoreless first period, the Vipers’ Sahir Gill pounced on a broken play in Penticton’s end to bury his ninth of the year at 6:40. The Vees answered as first star Denver Manderson (13th) solved Hammond (17 saves) less than a minute later, followed by Curtis McKenzie on a five-on-three at 10:52. “I think we were due against Vernon, to say the least,” said Manderson (1+3). “I think everybody played well and it was a big win for us. White did what he’s supposed to do and kept us in. “You’re never going to beat a team in the playoffs if you lose all eight games during the year. It’s pretty unrealistic. For our confidence and for our team, we needed that win.” The 30-11-1-2 Vipers’ penalty woes continued into the third stanza – referee Matt Thurston called them for four straight minors – and the Vees made them pay. Brodie Reid (13th and 14th) potted a pair, his second on the powerplay at 6:38, and Ryan Viselli (15th) iced the game for Penticton (25-13-0-6) with a powerplay goal at 7:16. “Momentum gets on their side, and we couldn’t stop the bleeding,” said Ferner. “They’ve got some skilled players and we couldn’t stop them. “We can’t put the ref in that situation to make those calls. We’ve just got to put that behind us and play the game.” Despite the loss, Ferner said his players battled hard and thought it could have been a different outcome had they stayed out of the penalty box. “I was more mad over our win against Merritt (Friday night) than I was about the loss against Penticton. Our guys never gave up, they just kept working.” Added Vees’ head coach Fred Harbinson: “When you’re going with a team like Vernon, with the amount of weapons they got and then the big d-core they have, you have to have some grit to try to find ways to get to the front of the net.” It was defencemen Cam Brodie and Mike Leidl’s Vipers’ debut since being brought in from the Burnaby Express, and Ferner is confident they will fit in. “They were a bit nervous, but they settled in. They’re going to be good for us.”