Vipers Measure Up To Westside:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers measure up to Westside

By Nicole Berg - Vernon Morning Star
Published: January 04, 2009 10:00 AM

The Vernon Vipers rang in 2009 in style, pounding the Westside Warriors in a fight-filled 5-1 victory Friday night at Wesbild Centre.
Vipers’ captain Chris Crowell and the league’s top penalty getter Brad Plumton (139 minutes) set the physical tone early, squaring off just three seconds into the game. The fight was evenly matched with both players landing hard blows, and earning cheers from the 2,000 fans.
“Those guys have got to be two of the toughest players in the (B.C. Hockey League),” said Vipers’ assistant coach Jason Williamson. “They got the game started quickly with their fight and the rough stuff just kept coming the rest of the game.”
The Vipers entertain the Swedish Under 17 national team in exhibition play today at 2 p.m. They hosted the Trail Smoke Eaters (22-15-2-1) Saturday night.
Vernon (28-10-1-2) is winning the season series with Westside 5-1, and they sit eight points ahead of the third-place Warriors (24-24-0-3) in the Interior Conference.
The spirited bout sparked a Viper goal less than two minutes later, as Cory Kane (17th) received a nice pass from Robbie Short to put the puck five-hole on Westside netminder Kevin Jebson (33 saves).
Vipers’ goaltender Andrew Hammond, who earned first star with his 23-saves performance, made one of the game’s biggest saves in the third period. The Warriors’ Ron Kelly jumped on a loose puck after a Vipers’ defensive breakdown, and barrelled down centre ice to throw the puck on Hammond, who stood tall to make the save.
At the other end of the ice, Jebson came up with a big save of his own, as he robbed John Digness who had a clear breakaway after a Warriors’ defensive breakdown.
Crowell (second star) added to Vernon’s lead with his 10th goal. He converted a rebound from the side of the net four minutes into the second frame.
The game’s second fight erupted midway through the second when Joel Woznikoski caught Kane at the blueline with his head down to deliver a devastating open-ice hit.
Steve Tresierra came to Kane’s defence and fought Woznikoski. The fight was one-sided, as the 6-foot-4 Woznikoski held the edge over Tresierra, who stands 5-foot-11. Tresierra held his own in the beginning, throwing a barrage of punches to Woznikoski’s mid-section, but Woznikoski ended it with some hard head shots. Tresierra left the game to get a few stitches to his right eye and didn’t return. Kane also left the ice and didn’t return.
Kelly and Vernon’s Mike Collins got into a scrap in the third period after Kelly threw a hard open-ice on Braden Pimm – who has assists in five straight games – in front of the Vipers’ bench.
While Collins is more known for his goal scoring, Williamson was pleased to see him come to Pimm’s defence.
“The game had a physical feeling to it, no doubt,” said Williamson. “It was good for our guys to stick up for each other, mainly Steve and Mike stepping up to a couple fights after their teammates went down. We want our guys to stick up for each other like that, but not go looking for fights for nothing.”
Like Tresierra, Collins picked up the extra minor for instigating.
Just six seconds into the ensuing powerplay, Justin Schultz (13th) put the puck past Hammond, but the Vipers came roaring back 37 seconds later, on Sahir Gill’s eighth of the year.
Third star Cole Ikkala (third) completed the Vipers’ attack midway through the period on a highlight reel breakaway goal. The Philadelphia product pulled a beauty forehand-backhand deke before going top shelf on Jebson.
“It felt really good to get that goal,” smiled Ikkala, who assisted on Kane’s goal. “Pimm blocked a Westside pass and gave me the puck and I had just about all day to think about what I was going to do with it when I got it, and I just rushed up the ice to put it in the net.
“The game was definitely really physical, which was a fun game to play in. They were throwing lots of bodies around, but they couldn’t match our speed which was one of the factors in our win.”
Kelly and Crowell mixed it up in the last minute.
Ryan Santana and Bryce Kakoske were scratches for the second straight game, but were expected to play against the Smokies.
“We weren’t good defensively and they took the hits in the corners and came up with the puck to score,” said Westside head coach Mark Howell. “They just seemed to want the puck more tonight, and win the game more than we did.
“Our penalty kill was pretty good though, as we didn’t let Vernon score once on the powerplay. Good penalty killing all starts with the goalie, and Kevin stepped up when he needed to.
“Vernon’s won the season series so far and they’ve done it by playing tough in-your-face hockey, and if you don’t show up prepared to play the game, they’ll get you back and make you pay.”