Vernon 7 Merritt 3

I was at tonights BCHL game as Vernon defeated Merritt 7-3 in front of 1,905 fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Blake Voth
Merritt: Keith Hamilton

1st Period: Vernon come out with some sustained pressure in the first few minutes, David Robinson in the opening minute beat Keith Hamilton but hit the crossbar. The Vipers would get the games first powerplay of the night just under three minutes into the game. Dan Nycholats point shot beat Hamilton at 2:46 putting Vernon up 1-0 with Bryce Kakoske with the lone helper. Minutes later Merritt would get their first powerplay of the night, Jeff Jones who was at the Vipers training camp this season beat Blake Voth at 5:10 as the Centennials tied the game. Alex Valenti & Dustin Johnson with the assists. The Vipers were outshooting the Cents 5-1 but the game was tied 1-1. Cole Ikkala with a great scoring chance at the side of the net was stopped by Hamilton who made a big save. Dustin Johnson with a chance for the Centennials but Voth was their to make the save. Merritt come ready to play, battling hard getting some good chances early. Sahir Gill on the wrap around was somehow stopped by a diving Keith Hamilton with traffic in front, the puck come back to the point where Garrett Noonans screened shot was stopped by Hamilton who looked good tonight. The Centennials would get another man advantage, David Sabey who was another kid who was at the Vipers training camp this season had a great chance in front but couldnt beat Voth. The Vipers would kill off the minor. Mike Collins, Braden Pimm & Cole Ikkala with a three on one couldnt connect after some good hustle by the Merritt defenceman who come back to break up the play. Derek Hills would get a parcial breakaway, but couldnt get off a good shot as Curtis Gedig with a great defensive move slowed down Hills. The Vipers would get another powerplay but it would be the Centennials who would take advantage, Jeff Jones come flying down the wing and then ripped a quick shot from the circle wich beat Voth at 15:14 as Merritt jumped ahead 2-1. Jones goal was unassisted. Before the minor was up Kellen Jones was called for goaltender interference and then was given a ten minute misconduct for slamming the penalty box gate. Late in the period Kameran Crawford setup Lucas Daoust at 18:14 giving the Cents a 3-1 lead. Crawford & Stephen Wall with the assists. A fairly even played period but it was the Cenntenials who capitalised on their chances. Merritt was up 3-1 after 20 minutes of play. The Vipers outshot the Centennials 12-9.

2nd Period: Vernon would get an early powerplay just a minute and a half into the period but would struggle as the Cents with two odd man rushes created two good scoring chances. The Centennials penalty kill was solid as they would kill off the minor. Vernon looked a little slow to start the 2nd, some poor passing and indivudual play caused for several turnovers early on. The Vipers carried most of the play this period but couldnt seem to get much of anything going in the first half of the 2nd, alot of puck movement but no real good chances. Most of Vernons shots were from the outside wich Hamilton saw all the way. Give credit to Merritts defence who was doing a great job at keeping the Vipers to the outside allowing Hamilton to see all shots. The Cents struggled offensively in the middle frame having troubles getting the puck out of their own end. Vernon would get its second powerplay of the period but once again would struggle as the Cents would kill off the minor. David Robinson had Vernons best scoring chance of the period but couldnt beat Hamilton in front. Vernon would get its third man advantage of the period, Adam Thompson would beat Keith Hamilton but hit the post as the Vipers come close. Merritts penalty kill was solid killing off the minor. This is when the Vipers started to get rolling, Rob Short with a great chance was stopped in front. The Vipers started to get their legs going and picked up the pace creating all kinds of chances. Mike Collins setup Braden Pimm at 14:58 cutting the lead to 3-2 as Collins and Cole Ikkala with the assists. The Vipers didnt quit and kept coming in waves, on a nice three way passing play David Robinson beat Hamilton at 17:04 as Vernon now tied the game 3-3 Connor Jones & Steve Weinstein added the assists. On the next play another nice three way passing play with Mike Collins, Cole Ikkala and Braden Pimm, Ikkala was all alone in front and missed on the wide open goal. Merritt now was just trying to hang on and get out of the period still tied. The Vipers carried most of the play and were the better of the two teams as the game was tied 3-3 after 40 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Merritt 18-8.

3rd Period: The Vipers with some good sustained pressure in the first few minutes couldnt get any real good chances. Merritt come back with a few good shifts but again no real good chances. With the Vipers on the powerplay, David Robinson would get his second of the night at 8:11 giving Vernon a 4-3 lead. Kellen Jones & Connor Jones with the assists. Dustin Johnson with a real nice inside outside move at the Vipers blueline would get stopped by Voth as the Cents come very close to tying the game. Back come Vernon just minutes later, Connor Jones beat Hamilton at 12:31 taking a 5-3 lead. David Robinson with the lone assist. Shortly after Voth made a save and after the whistle Dustin Johnson pounced on the loose puck firing it into the empty net, Curtis Gedig went after Johnson as some pushing and shoving took place with both teams starting to get a little heated. From here on in it was mostly Vernon as the Vipers speed and skill took over and controlled the edge in play for most of the remainder of the period. Alex Valenti with a quick shot from in close just missed the far corner. Late in the 3rd with Vernon on another man advantage David Robinson would get his third goal of the night at 17:35 putting Vernon up 6-3 and in full control. Curtis Gedig and Connor Jones with the assists. The Vipers got a bit of a scare late in the game after Blake Voth took a Dustin Johnson slapshot high up in the neck area, and went down hard. Voth took a little bit of time to recover from the shot and was a little slow to get up but stayed in the hockey game and finished off the game between the pipes. The Vipers would get a late goal as Rob Short would beat Hamilton at 18:19 giving the Vipers a 7-3 lead. Sahir Gill & Cory Kane with the assists. Vernon would defeat Merritt 7-3 and win the season series 7-0. The Vipers outshot the Cents 14-8.

Top Players: (Vernon)

The line of Connor Jones (1 goal & 3 assists), Kellen Jones (1 assist) & David Robinson (3 goals & 1 assist) lead the Vipers attack. It took this line a while to get going tonight, but once they found their stride, look out. Robinson looked very good down low and was dangerous anytime he had the puck. Robinson with a great chance in the first period rang his shot off the crossbar. Connor Jones was flying once he got his wheels going, Connor with some great moves, setup two real nice goals.

The line of Mike Collins (1 assist), Cole Ikkala (1 assist) & Braden Pimm (1 goal) was also very good and dangerous for the Vipers tonight. I thought not looking at the stats this was Vernons best line going tonight. Some real nice three way passing between these three young men, in the 2nd period was fun to watch.

Dan Nycholat (1 goal) Played very solid on the Vernon backend.

Curtis Gedig (1 assist) Played very solid defensively, this was on of his better games as of late.

Dylan Walchuk looked good in the 1st period especially but cooled off as the game went on. I thought he was skating hard, had some real nice moves he put on a few Centennials in the opening period.

Sahir Gill (1 assist) I thought played his best game as a Viper since coming back at the BCHL trade deadline. Gill who has taken a while to get his game back, has slowly started to come on the last few games but played very well tonight. Had three real good chances tonight.

Top Players: (Merritt)

Jeff Jones (2 goals) Jones was one of if not Merritts best player tonight. This kid scored two goals in the opening period, was skating hard, driving towards the net and dangerous with the puck most of the night. Played very well.

Dustin Johnson (1 assist) Played a very strong game up front for the Cents. Johnson who was being heckled by a group of young men all night looked very solid up front. Johnson has some size and some skill, made a few real nice moves, especially in the 3rd. Another Merritt player who was dangerous for most of the night.

Keith Hamilton (37 saves) Even though this kid allowed seven goals, he played very well between the pipes. Made some key saves early in the 2nd to keep his team in the game.

Alex Valenti (1 assist) Played very well for the Cents. Had a few good chances, good skater.

Game Thoughts: (Vernon)

How many times have we seen this before, the Vipers start off a hockey game come out with alot of shots on net, get some good chances but yet are either down a goal or the game is tied. Well thats what we saw again tonight, Vernon was up 5-1 in shots early but was tied 1-1. Vernon couldnt capitalise on their chances in the opening period, it also didnt help giving up a shorthanded marker. Did the Vipers maybe think they had this one won before the game started? Down 3-1 after 20 minutes of the play the Vipers took over and controlled the remainder of the game, give these kids credit they battled back to tie the game and then go on to win 7-3. I thought the Vipers played well but struggled at times in different areas also. Some very poor passing through out tonights game, the team looked a little flat, didnt seem to have their legs going to start the 22nd period, but managed to get going late in the period and seemed to take over from their. This team is so skilled and dangerous up front, who would have guess a 3-3 game heading into the 3rd would end up 7-3? Tonight was a must win as Penticton defeated Trail 6-5 in overtime to stay within two points of the first place.

Game Thoughts: (Merritt)

Merritt come ready to play, the Cents who looked very good in the 1st period battled hard, had some good chances and played Vernon fairly tight. The Centennials scored on their chances and gave the Vipers a bit of a scare. After all three goals the bench was standing, yelling and screaming, you could tell these kids were ready to go and wanting to knock off the Vipers. But what happened to the team in the final two periods? Sure they had some chances but were outplayed in the 2nd and 3rd. Maybe they couldnt only hold off the Vipers for so long before finally caving in? I was impressed with their effort in the 1st, even for most of the 2nd period they may not have got many scoring chances, but played well defensively until late in the period. In the end this team cant play a full 60 minutes against the Vipers.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Darren Robak
Patrick McGillis
Graeme Gordon (Injured)

Merritt:

Austin Baecker
Daniel Chang

3 Stars:

1st Star: David Robinson (3 goals & 1 assist)
2nd Star: Connor Jones (1 goal & 3 assists)
3rd Star: Jeff Jones (2 goals)