Vernon 7 Surrey 3

I was at todays BCHL game as Vernon defeated Surrey 7-3 in front of 2,804 fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Graeme Gordon
Surrey: Mike Chan

1st Period: A bit of a slow start as it looked as if both teams were trying to get to know one another. Some chances at both ends of the rink in the first few minutes. Surrey with the best chance early, Erik Cooper & Paul Levarsky went in two on one, Cooper decided to shoot, but hit the post. Shortly after the Vipers speed and skill took as Vernon dominated the opening period. The Vipers with their first quality scoring chance, a big shot from the point was tipped in front by Kellen Jones that just missed the net. Vernons cycle and puck movement was real good down low as the Eagles had troubles with Vernons cycle all night. The Vipers would open the scoring after Connor Jones got in behind the Surrey defence, turned on his wheels and went in all alone on the breakaway, going fivehole on Mike Chan at 6:58 David Robinson & Graeme Gordon with the assists. Off the draw Cory Kane setup Sahir Gill at 7:26 putting Vernon up 2-0 Kane & Curtis Gedig with the assists. The Eagles would take back to back penalties. The Vipers got a bit of a scare on the first man advantage after a point shot came up and hit Cole Ikkala in the head, Ikkala went down but got up on his own and headed to the bench. Ikkala stayed on the Vipers bench for a while before leaving the game and not returning. Surrey would kill off the first powerplay, with the Vipers on the second man advantage Wes Vannieuwenhuizen took a slap shot from the point off the head and went down, needing some help on his feet, Vannieuwenhuizen was helped off the ice and headed to the Eagles dressing room. Dylan Walchuk at the side of the net hit the edge of the post as the Vipers come very close to making it 3-0 on the powerplay. Surrey would kill off the minor. Vernon carried the edge in play as Surrey couldnt generate no offence. The Eagles looked very frustrated with Vernons cycle and the Jones Twins, taking any shot they could at the two brothers. Connor Jones with a tip in front couldnt get the puck past Chan. Vernon with several good chances was skating circles around the Eagles. Patrick McGillis had two real good chances driving towards the net but couldnt connect on the crease pass. The Vipers would get a late powerplay but again the Eagles penalty kill would get the job done killing off the minor. The Vipers outplayed the Eagles and were up 2-0 after 20 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Surrey 18-4.

2nd Period: The Eagles welcomed back Wes Vannieuwenhuizen to the bench after taking that slap shot to the head in the 1st period. Vernon started the 2nd period right where they left off from the 1st period. The Vipers waisted very little time hitting the back of the net. Just 1:22 into the period "AP" Trevor Fitzgerald scored his first BCHL goal giving Vernon a 3-0 lead. Adam Thompson and Bryce Kakoske with the helpers. Vernon once again carried the edge in play for the first few minutes before getting a little sloppy in their own end. Adam Basford with a great chance in close was stopped by Graeme Gordon who was making his first start since falling 3-1 to Westside back on January 23rd. The Eagles with a little pressure created their first real good chances all night. Richard Vanderhoek beat Gordon but hit the post. The Vipers would get called for too many men just past the midway mark as the Eagles with their first powerplay of the afternoon. Some very careless passing by the Eagles and Vernons strong forecheck on the penalty kill forced a turnover in the Surrey zone, wich allowed for Captain Kevin Kraus to walk in from the slot and then roof a high shot over the glove of Mike Chan putting the Vipers up 4-0 shorthanded. Jonathan Milhouse & Dylan Walchuk with the assists. This was Vernons league high 23rd shorthanded goal of the season. The Vipers would kill off the minor and take control for the remainder of the period. Vernon would get another powerplay but again couldnt find the back of the net. Shortly after Andrew Wallace skated in all alone on the breakaway but was stopped by Graeme Gordon who made the nice pad save. The Vipers again got the puck in deep and with some good puck movement created several good scoring chances. The Vipers thought they did score after Patrick McGillis and the puck was pushed into Mike Chan, but the play was waived off. McGillis with a few good chances come very close to finding the back of the net. David Robinson would put Vernon up 5-0 and in full control at 17:39 Rob Short with the lone assist on the Robinson goal. Surrey managed a few good chances early to start the 2nd but overall for the second straight period Vernon was by far the better team. The Vipers were up 5-0 after 40 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Surrey 14-10.

3rd Period: Again the Vipers got off to a quick start, Bryce Kakoskes blast from the slot beat Chan fivehole at 2:28 giving Vernon a 6-0 lead. Jonathan Milhouse & Adam Thompson with the helpers. Shortly after the Vipers would head back on the powerplay but couldnt find the back of the net. Sahir Gill was in the slot but couldnt beat Mike Chan who made a huge save on the Vipers powerplay. Again it was all Vipers as they were skating circles around the Eagles. Cory Kane put Vernon up 7-0 at 5:27 with Curtis Gedig & Rob Short collecting the assists. Off the draw Erik Cooper walked in over the blueline and wired a wicked shot past Gordon at 5:36 breaking the shutout. Jamus Lane with the lone assist. Off the draw Jonathan Milhouse and Patrick McGillis went in two on one, Milhouse decided to keep and shoot beating Chan but rang his shot off the post. Shortly after tempers started to heat up a little through out tonights game. Jeff Regier & Michael Krgovich didnt seem to like the Jones Twins and Gill line, giving little shots during and after the play, trying to rough up the Vipers top line. Surrey played very chippy through out this afternoons game taking some liberty shots at some of the more skilled Vipers. Vernon would get a long two man advantage but by this point had already taken their foot off the gas and passed the puck around during most of the powerplay. During the powerplay Surrey was given a misconduct after someone from the Eagles bench was yapping away towards the ref. Surrey would kill off the long two man advantage and then with the game out of reach the Eagles had some of their better chances all afternoon. Jeff Regiers shot took a funny bounce at the last minute that fooled Graeme Gordon at 14:25 Michael Krgovich & Bradley McGowan with the assists. Just four minutes later Surrey with some good pressure, Bradley McGowan with a good chance inside the blueline was stopped by Gordon, the Eagles kept the play in the Vipers zone before the puck come back to McGowan who beat Gordon at 18:46 making it 7-3 Vernon. Tyler Morley with the lone helper. In the end Vernon would win their 8th straight game knocking off the Eagles 7-3. Vernon outshot Surrey 21-9.

Top Players: (Vernon)

The Vipers top line of Connor Jones (1 goal), Kellen Jones, & Sahir Gill (1 goal) played very well up front. With Braden Pimm, Dan Nycholat & Mike Collins all healthy scratches today Mark Ferner had some line juggling to do. Sahir Gill was added to the Vipers #1 line with the Jones twins. This line took a while to get going but as the game went on, were very hard to knock off the puck down low and in and around the net. All three were very good on the cycle. All three also took a beating with the Eagles laying some cheap shots on the three.

Curtis Gedig (2 assists) Played well at both ends of the rink. Gedig jumped up into the play on a few rushes.

Cory Kane (1 goal & 1 assist) Played another strong game.

Jonathan Milhouse (2 assists) Looked very comfortable up front, was skating very hard. Hit the post in the 3rd period. Made some nice heads up plays.

Rob Short (2 assists) Played another solid game. Shorts really been putting up some numbers in the last few weeks.

Adam Thompson (2 assists) Played a very strong game on the Vipers backend. This kid looks so smooth and calm with or without the puck.

Top Players: (Surrey)

Bradley McGowan (1 goal & 1 assist) Was one of Surreys better players, had two good scoring chances and played well.

Andrew Wallace played well at times, this kid has some nice hands. Was stopped on a breakaway in the 2nd period.

Jeff Regier (1 goal) Was very physical and fiesty on the Eagles blueline. Regier didnt like the Jones-Gill line, was laying a hit on these three kids any chance he had, laid out several wacks or hacks against the three several times.

Game Thoughts: (Vernon)

The Vipers ended the regular season on a eight game winning streak with a final record of 51-6-0-3 This is just the second Vernon team ever to win more then 50 games in a season. The only other two Vernon teams that managed to come close to 50 wins was the 1975-76 Vernon Vikings and the 2002-03 Vernon Vipers, both these two teams won 47 games those years. Only the 1989-90 New West Royals and the 1998-99 Royal Bank Cup Champion Vernon Vipers have more wins with 52 (BCHL Record) The Vipers fell one win short of tying the BCHL Record. The Vipers did set a new record for fewest goals allowed. They surrendered just 119 this season. The previous BCHL record of 137 was set by the Penticton Vees in 2005-06. Blake Voth also set a new BCHL record with the lowest GAA wich was 1.78 the previous BCHL Record was held by Nanaimo’s Simon Nolet, had a GAA of 1.98 in 2004-05. I must say this has to be one of the best Vernon teams in history. Give full credit to the Vipers this afternoon for never quitting and coming ready to play in a mean nothing game, other then team pride. This past week-weekend was going to be a very very tough test with three tough road games all vs the top three teams in the Interior Division and then having to play four games in five nights, two of the final games were mean nothing games. Yet they managed to win all four games. Mark Ferner and Jason Willimson have this team primmed and ready for the Playoffs. The two of them have done a very remarkable job this season in once again putting together an amazing team on and off the ice. Id like to take this time to thank the Vipers coaching staff, players and management on one heck of a regular season and wish them nothing but sucess in the Playoffs. Going back to this afternoons game, Vernon was by far the better team, for most of the game the Vipers speed, skill and overall work ethic was the difference. Lets hope Cole Ikkala is ok and will be ready to go for the Playoffs. Great to see a huge crowd on hand this afternoon, wow one of the biggest crowds of the season.

Game Thoughts: (Surrey)

I wasnt overly impressed with the Eagles this afternoon. Surrey was outplayed, outcoached and outworked in all aspects of the game. The Eagles had troubles all afternoon trying to stop the Vipers on the forecheck and cycle, Vernon was skating circles around them, it looked at times that the Vipers had the puck on a string. I was surpised the Eagles left Mike Chan in for all seven goals and the entire game. Surrey played a very chippy game, laying out several cheap shots and shots after the whistle on the Vipers top players.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Braden Pimm
Dan Nycholat
Mike Collins

Surrey:

Manraj Mayer
Grant Toulmin
Andrew Hunt

3 Stars:

1st Star: Jonathan Milhouse (2 assists)
2nd Star: Cory Kane (1 goal & 1 assist)
3rd Star: Adam Thompson (2 assists)