Vernon 4 Trail 1

I was at tonights BCHL game as Vernon defeated Trail 4-1 in front of 1,789 fans at the Wesbild Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon: Blake Voth
Trail: Kiefer Smiley

1st Period: Not much action in the opening few minutes before David Robinson got the Vipers on the scoreboard early. Bryce Kakoske setup the Vipers captain who ripped a shot past veteran goaltender Kiefer Smiley at 3:15 on the Vipers first shot on goal, giving Vernon a 1-0 lead. Kakoske and Marcus Basara collected the assists. On the next shift Vipers forward Mike Zalewski took a missed high stick in the mouth, Zalewski went down and then headed straight for the dressing room but did return later on. Just over a minute after Vernons goal, Sam Mellor with a nice move in close setup, Clayton McEwan who beat Blake Voth at 4:17 as Trail tied the game 1-1. Mellor with the lone helper. On the next shift Smokies backup goaltender, Matt Larose took a puck to the mouth, as Vipers owner Ducan Wray was in the Trail tunnel taking a look at the Trail netminder. Larose holding a towel over his mouth would stay on the Smoke Eaters bench. Some good back and forth action at both ends of the rink, but with very little scoring chances. Colton Sparrow then took a missed high stick to the side of the face-head, Sparrow headed off to the Vernon bench but stayed in the hockey game. Vernon would grab a 2-1 lead after Elliott Richardson's shot was tipped in front by Kyle Murphy at 8:03 Richardson and Adam Thompson picked up the assists. Kiefer Smiley then made a nice glove save on Vipers captain David Robinson just after the midway mark. Just three minutes later Blake Voth come up with two big saves down low on Travis St. Denis & Cullen Bradshaw. Vernon slowly started to take over the period in the second half controlling the better of the play. Vernon rookie defenceman, Brett Corkey with a slick move cutting in front of his own net, carried the puck up ice before getting off a quick shot inside the Trail zone but was stopped by the pad of Kiefer Smiley. Vernon who played physical most of the night, were finishing their checks and letting the Smokies know they were there. Marcus Basara then tried sneaking inbehind the Smokies defence, getting a parcial breakaway but couldnt handle the puck and was unable to get a shot off. Brett Corkey with a shot from the point missed the net, rebouding off the back boards right to a wide open Dylan Walchuk who tried going for the quick wrap around but Smiley slide across making a huge left toe save off the second year Viper. The Vipers with some good chances in the final six or so minutes couldnt capitalise. David Robinson with a chance in front in the dying seconds was stopped by Smiley. The Vipers with a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. Vernon outshot Trail 14-8.

2nd Period: Off the opening draw Mike Zalewski with a great chance from in close but just ripped his shot high and over the top corner. Vernon come out strong hemming Trail in their own end in the opening few minutes. The Smokies who looked flat looked like a much different team come the middle frame. The Vipers who were skating hard were moving the puck well most of the night. The Vipers would get the games first powerplay, coming up with three real good chances in close as Smiley was down and out but Vernon couldnt get the puck up and over the second year Smoke Eater. Trail would kill off the minor before jumping on their first powerplay of the night. The Smokies with just a single shot in the first half of the period managed just one shot on the man advantage as Vernon would kill off the penalty. The Vipers would head back on the powerplay and this time capitalize. Marcus Basara with his second helper of the night, setup David Robinson in front who beat Smiley at 13:25 giving the Viper captain his second of the night and Vernon a 3-1 lead. Basara and Bryce Kakoske collected the assists. Just seconds later Vernon would go back on yet their third powerplay. The Vipers would struggle as Trail would kill off the minor. Just a minute later the Vipers would head back on the man advantage but again struggle. Cullen Bradshaw who was one of Trails more consistant players did a great job on the penalty kill as the Smoke Eaters killed off yet another Vernon powerplay. Vernon was by far the better of the two teams up 3-1 after 40 minutes of play. The Vipers outshot the Smoke Eaters 14-8.

3rd Period: Just two minutes into the period Logan Proulx would get a breakaway with Brett Corkey chasing him down, Proulx would get off a shot but was stopped by Voth. This wasnt a very entertaining 3rd as Vernon was just trying to get the puck in deep and kill off as much off the clock as possible without giving up a goal. The Smoke Eaters who were down by two goals couldnt seem to get much offence going with some good defensive play by the Vipers. Blake Voth made one of his two huge glove saves in the 3rd, one off of Eric Walker whos point shot got through and then robbed a Smoke Eaters play from the slot (didnt see who it was). The Vipers would then take a 4-1 lead at 8:03 after some strong forecheck by Aaron Hadley and Trevor Fitzgerald. Both Fitzgerald and Hadley battled hard down low along the boards, Hadley who did all the work inbehind the Trail goal, fed Fitzgerald in the slot who beat Smiley fivehole gave Vernon a three goal lead. Hadley with the lone assist on the play. Travis St. Denis who was pretty quiet most of the night was starting to get frustrated, St. Denis took a good run at Bryce Kakoske along the side wall, giving the Vernon forward a few crosschecks in the back, before getting involved with David Robinson wich gave both players minors on the play. Vernon who has had trouble holding leads in the final period played a pretty good 3rd. Trail would get a late powerplay but with very little presure was unable to capitalize. The Vipers would then get a late powerplay in the dying seconds but Vernon just allowed the clock to tick down giving them a huge 4-1 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters. Vernon outshot Trail 8-6.

Top Players: (Vernon)

Malcolm Lyles who carried the puck several times tonight, tried jumping up into the play on several rushes. I thought the first year Viper played very well at both ends of the rink.

Brett Corkey was by far Vernons best defenceman tonight. Corkey also played and looked very strong at both ends of the rink. Corkey who showed good hustle looked very good defensively.

Elliot Richardson (1 assist) Started out slow to start the season, making several turnovers in his own end but has slowly started to come along and been playing much better as of late. I thought Richardson played fairly well tonight, seemed to have a little confidence through out tonights game, carrying-rushing the puck on several occasions.

The line of David Robinson (2 goals), Bryce Kakoske (2 assists) & Marcus Basara (2 assists) was the Vipers most dangerous line. Robinson played very well up front, getting some good chances. Basara who was another Viper rookie who started out a little slow to start the season, seems to be coming along the past few weeks. Basara who didnt really have any scoring chances, seemed to do a few of the little things that made him stand out. I really thought he used his speed down low getting around a few Smoke Eaters d-men.

Blake Voth (15 saves) Played his best game of the season last Sunday afternoon making 30 saves in a 2-1 victory in Surrey. Well even though he wasnt tested much tonight, I thought Voth come up with the big saves when needed & looked very strong tonight. After struggling to start the season (not making the big saves when needed) and allowing two soft goals against Salmon Arm in a 3-2 loss at home a few weekends back, Voth seems to be playing much better and seems to have some confidence latley. This is the goaltender that Viper fans saw last season and I think both the Vipers and their fans figured we would see again this year. Blake Voth has to be sharp, have the confidence and come up with the big saves when needed for the Vipers to have any kind of sucess this season.

Top Players: (Trail)

Eric Walker was Trails best defenceman. I thought Walker played a solid game on the Smokies backend. Walker looked very strong and mobile on the blueline most of the night.

Cullen Bradshaw was the Smoke Eaters most consistant player up front. Bradshaw played well on the penalty kill and looked good with the puck. Bradhsaw & Walker were the only real Trail players that stood out tonight.

Game Thoughts: (Vernon)

Other then the first opening ten or so minutes tonight was a pretty convincing 4-1 victory for the Vipers. Vernon who lost the first two games to the Smokies (Both games in Trail) have now won the last two games vs Trail (both games in Vernon) This was a pretty big game for both hockey clubs, as Vernon with the win now jumps up into 3rd place in a very tight Interior Division and are now just two points back of 1st place. After coming home with a 2-3 record on a five game road trip, the Vipers have now played to very well back to back games wich both have ended up in wins. Lets hope now the Vipers can start playing with a little more consistancy and get on a bit of a roll here, something they have had troubles with all season. I thought Vernon played and looked fairly good tonight playing against one of the top teams in the Interior Division. I really liked the physical play, well more of the team finishing their checks and just letting the Smokies know they were out their. Nice to see the goaltening playing with a little more confidence and making the big saves when needed. Giving up just 16 shots against one of the leagues highest scoring teams has to be very pleasing for the Vernon coaching staff. Its also nice to see the team put up four goals on the scoreboard, scoring goals have been hard to come by this season for the Vipers so to score four goals and against a top goaltender in Kiefer Smiley will add a little confidence in the forwards. Give credit to the Vipers defence who did a great job at shutting down Trails top players. Vernons defence played very well all game. Vernon product Zach McPhee who wore Cory Kanes old jersey #11 looked pretty good in his Vipers debut after being re-assigned last week from the WHL Tri-City Americans. McPhee who is one of the bigger Vipers played physical, always finished his checks and didnt back down from the corners or battles in front of the net. Played on a line with Darren Nowick and Colton Sparrow didnt really get too involved offensively. I think with his size and physical play McPhee will add some toughness and grit to the Vipers roster.

Game Thoughts: (Trail)

I thought Trail played and looked fairly well in the games first ten minutes or so but seemed to go in a different direction as the period and game went along. The Smokies looked very flat and didnt have any jump-energy in the 2nd period getting just two shots on goal the entire period. In the third down two two goals couldnt get much offence going. You can bet Jim Ingram wont be pleased with his clubs effort and performance tonight. Trails top players were no where to be seen and didnt produce. I didnt think the Smoke Eaters battled or competed hard enough to compete and play with Vernon tonight.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Max Mowat (Injured)
Patrick McGillis (Injured)
Todd Skirving

Trail:

Jake Baker
Ryan Dixon
Scott Jacklin
Rejan Sidhu
Joey Baker

3 Stars:

1st Star: David Robinson (2 goals)
2nd Star: Marcus Basara (2 assists)
3rd Star: Bryce Kakoske (2 assists)