I was at tonights Game 5 of the BCHL Finals as Vernon defeated Powell River 4-2 in front of 2,128 fans at the Wesbild Centre.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon: Graeme Gordon
Powell River: Josh Watson
1st Period: The Vipers got off to a quick start, Cory Kane with a nice move setup David Robinson who waited, then cut towards the slot and beat Josh Watson at 2:01 giving Vernon the early 1-0 lead. Kane & Rob Short with the assists. Vernon with lots of jump, used their speed and strong forecheck outplaying the Kings the entire opening period. Vernon with some good sustained pressure in the first half of the period. Some nice two way passing between Connor & Kellen Jones created a good chance in front as the Twins couldnt convert on a good scoring chance. Cory Kane with some good wheels ripped a shot that was stopped by Watson. Powell River would get their first shot on goal seven minutes into the game as Vernon was outshooting the Kings 6-1 at this point. The Vipers on almost every play got the puck in deep, chased in after it and battled hard, winning the battles down low. Sahir Gill with a good chance couldnt sneak one past Watson. Late in the period Connor Jones cut hard towards the net and was hauled down in front, wich Jones was rewarded a penalty shot. Josh Watson come up with a huge pad save on Jones keeping the score 1-0. Vernon got a little sloppy coming out of their own end, after a turnover inside the blueline resulted in Cody Rainaldi with a great chance in front, but couldnt beat Graeme Gordon after being left all alone in front. Just over a minute later the Vipers with another turnover inside the blueline but the Kings were unable to get a shot off. Powell River with some late pressure had its best chances in the final three or two minutes. In the final minute and a half Rob Short setup Cory Kane on the two on one, but Kane was stopped by Watson. The Vipers dominated the 1st period. Vernon was up 1-0 after 20 minutes of play. The Vipers outshot the Kings 9-5.
2nd Period: Vernon would win the draw in the Kings zone in the first minute of play, a shot from the point took a funny bounce wich almost handcuffed Josh Watson as the Vipers could have made it 2-0 early. Powell River would get the games first powerplay early in the 2nd period. The Kings couldnt generate no offence as Vernons penalty kill was solid keeping the Kings to the outside killing off the minor. Just after the powerplay Sahir Gill and the Vipers thought they had gone up 2-0 after Gill with wich looked to be a wide open net was stoned by the pad of Watson. The reason why Gill and the Vipers thought they had scored was the horn and goal light had come on but it was Watson who made the big pad save keeping the score at 1-0. Give credit to the Kings who seemed to turn the ship around having a much better period. Both teams went back and forth with very little scoring chances at either ends of the rink. Grant Tyson was letting both teams play allowing several calls on either side go, as alot of activities going on behind the play. Just before the midway mark Kellen Jones was upended in the neutral zone, with no call on the play the Kings turned up ice setting up Captain Mat Bodie's goal at 9:00 getting the Kings on the board tying the game 1-1. Bodie with a nice shot beat Gordon over the glove hand, Bodie's goal was unassisted. This goal seemed to give Powell River some life as the Kings looked like a much better hockey team in the middle frame and now carried the edge in play in the second half of the 2nd period. Powell River with a few good chances were the better of the two teams in the second half. Powell River was now the team that was skating hard, and playing with some good jump. As the period went on I thought the Vipers looked a little tired at times. Late in the period Sahir Gill with a nice move cut towards the slot, setting up Kellen Jones who scored a beauty of a goal down low beating Watson at 16:31 giving Vernon the 2-1 lead. Gill & Connor Jones with the helpers. Just after the Vipers goal, Vernon would get it's first powerplay of the night. With some good puck movement the Vipers were unable to capitalize as the Kings come up with a huge penalty kill. The Vipers took a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Powell River 15-9.
3rd Period: Vernon come out skating hard, getting the puck in deep and playing aggresive, battling for the puck. The Vipers looked very good early and often playing just like they did in the opening period. The Vipers with some good sustained pressure in the Kings zone created some good chances. Cole Ikkala was stopped in front, Dylan Walchuk was setup in front but missed on a wide open net firing the puck through Josh Watson's pads wich come out the other end. Connor & Kellen Jones fed Sahir Gill in front who couldnt connect on the pass in front. The Vipers hard work would finaly pay off as Rob Short skated down the wing and then roofed his wicked shot high and over Watson at 5:58 giving Vernon a 3-1 lead. Cory Kane & David Robinson with the assists. Vernon dominated the most of the period as the Kings wouldnt get their first shot on goal until just before the midway mark as the Kings couldnt seem to get much of anything going. Ben Schmidt tried splitting the Vipers defence but was stopped. Vernon would get their first powerplay of the period but the Kings penalty kill was good killing off the minor. Most of the period was played in the Powell River zone as the Vipers were skating circles around the Kings. Jonathan Milhouse with some good hustle was stopped by Watson. Vernon was buzzing in and around the Kings net. Late in the game the Kings were trying to get Watson to the bench for the extra attacker but Vernons forecheck and relentless dump and chase style of play was forcing the Kings back into their own end, as Josh Watson was unable to get to the bench. Just before the final minute of the 3rd Watson was on his way to the Kings bench, before Watson got to the bench Chad Niddery beat Graeme Gordon at 19:02 glove side getting the Kings to within a goal. Mitch Labreche & Reid Campbell collected the helpers. Kent Lewis would call a timeout as the Kings would get Watson to the bench, Powell River would get the puck in deep and with traffic in front the Kings through the puck towards the front of the net twice before the puck come back to the point, Mat Bodie's screened shot couldnt get through a maze of players in front as the Kings were pressing with a ton of traffic in and around the Vernon goal. The Vipers were able to get the puck out, as Jonathan Milhouse was able to carry the puck outside the zone, over centre and then hit post and in getting the empty netter at 19:42 putting Vernon up 4-2. Dan Nycholat & Graeme Gordon with the assists. After the goal Chad Niddery was given a 10 minute misconduct and was not leaving the ice, as well as Kings head coach, Kent Lewis was tossed. Lewis and Niddery wouldnt leave the ice right away as both Lewis & Niddery were exchanging words with Grant Tyson. In the end Vernon would defeat Powell River 4-2 taking a 3-2 series lead. The Vipers outshot the Kings 17-8.
Top Players: (Vernon)
The Gill-Jones line was by far the Vipers best line tonight. Connor Jones (1 assist) was really skating well, buzzing in and around the Kings net. Connor was guilty of three turnovers after two blind passes wich ended up on the sticks of the Powell River Kings. Kelle Jones (1 goal) also skating hard and buzzing in and around the Kings goal scored a highlight real goal late in the 2nd period. Both Jones Twins played with alot of jump, and battled hard. Both kids took a beating down low. Sahir Gill (1 assist) also played very well. Gill had several good chances in close.
David Robinson (1 goal & 1 assist) Robinson was very strong up front for Vernon, atleast for a good 40-50 minutes. Robinson got a pretty feed from Cory Kane early in the opening period to score a nice goal to give the Vipers the 1-0 lead. I thought David battled and competed very hard all game, really played very well in and along the boards and around the net. Won several battles down low.
Cory Kane (2 assists) Kane was really skating well all night. Looked very good with the puck on several rushes up ice. Kane is so smooth when rushing up ice, this kid has some unreal hands at times and made some very nice moves cutting through the Kings zone.
Rob Short (1 goal & 1 assist) Short scored the game winner, played very well. Short who setup Cory Kane on a 1st period two on one, has a wick shot and should shoot more.
Braden Pimm battled hard all night, showed some good hustle, really worked hard down low and in the grey area's. Pimm who looked and played very well in the Quesnel series hasnt really put up the numbers in the Penticton and Powell River series.
Kevin Kraus played a very solid game on the Vipers backend.
Steve Weinstein also played a very strong game on the blueline. Weinstein just seems to be getting better and better as each game comes along.
Garrett Noonan played a solid defensive game. Noonan who has played very well in the playoffs, played well tonight.
Top Players: (Powell River)
Josh Watson (38 saves) Watson really kept his team in tonights game. This could have been a 5 or 6-2 final if it wasnt for Josh Watson. Tonight is the first game all series though where I did notice he was having troubles with some of his rebounds. The puck wich seemed to be taking some funny bounces all night, handcuffed the Kings goaltender on several occasions. I noticed where Watson had most of his trouble with the puck in the 3rd period.
Justin DaSilva played a very physical-punishing game on the Kings backend. DaSilva was very aggressive laying out some big checks.
Mat Bodie (1 goal) Bodie played a strong game on the Kings blueline.
Chad Niddery (1 goal) Niddery who has played very well all series to date, played very well up front. Niddery was in the face of several Vipers all night, trying to get under their skin.
Ben Schmidt I thought worked very hard for most of the night, battled his way through some traffic and was a workhorse down low for the Kings.
Game Thoughts: (Vernon)
The Vipers come ready to play, and dominated two out of the three periods coming away with a huge 4-2 victory. Vernon with some good jump in the 1st and 3rd periods played very well. The Vipers played with that aggressive forecheck down low, battled hard and won the races and battles. The Vipers seemed like they wanted it a little more, seemed hungry for the win. The Vipers found a way to get bodies towards the net and score on their chances. Vernons defence did a great job at limiting the Kings shots and chances. Played very well defensively for most of tonights game. Vernon was the better of the two teams and is now one win away from their record 11th BCHL Championship.
Game Thoughts: (Powell River)
Powell River just couldnt seem to get much of anything going most of the night. Outplayed and outworked for two of the three periods were limited in their scoring chances and shots on goal. The Kings didnt record a single shot on net until seven minutes into the opening period and then took the first ten minutes of the 3rd to get a shot on goal. Powell River seemed to have trouble's with Vernons speed and aggressive forecheck. Both teams looked tired at times as now travel comes into effect. The puck seemed to take several funny bounces through out tonights game, either hoping over guys sticks, bouncing towards the net or in and around the net. The puck just seemed to also be on edge alot tonight. Give the Kings credit a game where they shouldnt have been in, they made it close towards the end and made Vernon work for the victory.
Scratches:
Vernon:
Darrin Robak
Patrick McGillis
Trevor Fitzgerald (AP)
Powell River:
Jordan Grant
Brandon Formosa
Alex McDougall
Carter Shinkaruk
Robbie Bailey
3 Stars:
1st Star: Cory Kane (2 assists)
2nd Star: Rob Short (1 goal & 1 assist)
3rd Star: Chad Niddery (1 goal)
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