(Game Preview) Vernon @ Prince George:

Vernon (24-8-4-8) @ Prince George (10-34-0-2)

Tonight is the fifth meeting of the season between the defending back to back Royal Bank Cup Champion Vernon Vipers & the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Vipers are coming off their second straight win with a 4-3 victory in Quesnel last night. The Spruce Kings are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Trail Smoke Eaters last night and are playing their fourth game of a six game home stand. You can listen to tonight’s game live with Todd Miller and Don Klepp starting with the pre-game show at 6:45pm on 107.5 Kiss FM

Last Game Played:

Friday, January 14th Vernon defeated Quesnel 4-3
Trail defeated Prince George 5-1

Next Game:

Tuesday, Januray 18th Merritt @ Vernon
Saturday, January, 22nd Merritt @ Prince George

Let's take a look at the Vernon Vipers:

Games Played: 45
Wins: 24
Losses: 9
Ties: 4
Overtime Losses: 8
Home Record: 9-4-2-4
Road Record: 15-5-2-4
Streak: Two game winning streak
Last Ten Games: 5-1-2-2
Goals For: 144
Goals Against:110
Standings: 2nd Place

Since the 2002-03 season Vernon is 30-14-1-4 vs. Prince George

Since the 2002-03 season Vernon has outscored Prince George 199-125

Since the 2003-04 season Vernon is 10-3-1-4 at home vs. Prince George

Since the 2003-04 season Vernon is 12-8-0-1 in Prince George

The Vipers are 7-1-0-2 in their last ten games at home vs. the Spruce Kings

The Vipers are 6-4-0-0 in their last ten games on the road vs. the Spruce Kings

The Vipers are 8-1-0-1 in their last ten games vs. Prince George

Vernon’s last loss in Prince George was a 3-1 loss back on September, 24th 2010

The Vernon Lakers changed their name to the Vernon Vipers to start the 1995-96 season. Here’s a look at the Vipers all-time regular season record

Games Played: 945
Wins: 607
Losses: 243
Ties: 15
Overtime Losses: 83

For more stats & former Vernon Junior Hockey Team rosters & lineups please visit Paul’s Vernon Junior Hockey History website,

http://members.shaw.ca/vernonfranchise/index.html

Returning Players:

Bryce Kakoske (90)
David Robinson (90)
Blake Voth (91)
Steve Weinstein (90)
Adam Thompson (90)
Dylan Walchuk (92)
Patrick McGillis (91)

Departing & traded players from last years team:

Connor Jones (90)
Mike Collins (90)
Braden Pimm (89)
Cory Kane (90)
Jonathan Milhouse (89)
Kellen Jones (90)
Rob Short (89)
Cole Ikkala (90)
Dan Nycholat (89)
Kevin Kraus (89)
Curtis Gedig (91)
Garrett Noonan (91)
Sahir Gill (92)
Darrin Robak (91)
Graeme Gordon (89)

Vernons Powerplay vs. Prince George this season:

1-18

Vernons Home record vs. Prince George this season:

1-0-0-1

Vernons Road record vs. Prince George this season:

1-1

Vernons scoring leaders vs. Prince George this season:

John Knisley (0-4-4)
Marcus Basara (1-3-4)
Bryce Kakoske (0-3-3)
Malcolm Lyles (1-2-3)
Dylan Walchuk (2-0-2)
Michael Zalewski (0-2-2)
Trevor Fitzgerald (2-0-2)
Aaron Hadley (1-1-2)
Darren Nowick (0-1-1)
David Robinson (0-1-1)
Kyle Murphy (1-0-1)
Colton Sparrow (0-1-1)
Adam Thompson (0-1-1)
Brett Corkey (0-1-1)

Blake Voth (1-1 Record)

Key’s and Notes to tonight’s game:

-The Vipers need to get more pucks on net

-Vernon needs to use their forecheck, as they are very hard to defend against when on the forecheck

-Goaltending will be key for both teams tonight

-Specialty teams will also be key for both teams tonight

-Blake Voth (19-10-3 Record) is third in the league’s top ten goaltenders with a 2.11 GAA

-Vernon’s powerplay is ranked 15th in the league

-The Vipers need to get off to a good start

-Tonight is the Vipers final visit of the regular season to the Prince George Coliseum

-The Vipers are ranked 9th in the league on the penalty kill

-Vernon needs to keep things simple and get lots of pucks and traffic towards the net

-1st place is once again on the line tonight, with the Vipers in PG and Penticton in Langley

-Blake Voth is 2-1-0-0 against Prince George in his career

-Vernon cant take the Spruce Kings lightly and have to be ready and focused for tonight’s game

-After tonight’s game Vernon play’s seven of it’s next eight games on home ice

Let's take a look at the Prince George Spruce Kings:

Games Played: 46
Wins: 10
Losses: 34
Ties: 0
Overtime Losses: 2
Home Record: 8-14-0-1
Road Record: 2-20-0-1
Streak: One game losing streak
Last Ten Games: 4-6-0-0
Goals For: 122
Goals Against: 219
Standings: 8th Place

For more coverage and info on the Prince George Spruce Kings, please visit the Spruce Kings Crusader blog, http://sprucekingscrusader.blogspot.com/

Prince George unloaded some of their veteran players come last week’s BCHL trade deadline. Let’s take a look at PG’s moves,

10-Jan-11 The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club transfers the playing rights of Ryan Renz (93)(D) to the Vernon Vipers Hockey Club in exchange for the playing rights of Todd Skirving (92)(F) and future considerations.

10-Jan-11 The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club transfers the playing rights of Derek Henderson (90) to the Grande Prairie Storm Hockey Club of the AJHL in exchange for future considerations.

10-Jan-11 The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club transfers the playing rights of RJay Berra (90)(F) to the Grande Prairie Storm Hockey Club of the AJHL in exchange for the playing rights of Ben Woodley (91)(D) and Dustin Beairsto (92) and future considerations.

10-Jan-11 The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club transfers the playing rights of Nic DeSousa (90)(F) to the Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey Club in exchange for future considerations.

10-Jan-11 The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club transfers the playing rights of Mike Puddifant (91)(D) and the recently acquired Dylan Nowakowski (91)(F) to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Hockey Club in exchange for the playing rights of Ryan Renz (D)(93).

10-Jan-11 The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club transfers the playing rights of Justin Fillion (90)(D) to the Victoria Grizzlies Hockey Club in exchange for the playing rights of Dylan Nowakowski (91)(F) and future considerations.

Returning Players:

Kyle Manlow (91)
Jeff Earnest (91)
Jeff Datoff (92)
Luke Hannas (91)
Jeremy Wiebe (91)

Departing & traded players from last years team:

Nic DeSousa (90)
Justin Fillion (90)
RJay Berra (90)
Sam Muchalla (90)
Zac Rasmussen (89)
Joe Morgan (89)
Brad Bourke (89)
Jonathan Gibson (90)
Jesse Scrimbit (0)
Stewart Lambert (90)
Reid Blinkhorn (91)
Kyle Nielsen (90)
Andrew Walsh (90)

Prince Georges Powerplay vs. Vernon this season:

4-14

Prince Georges Home record vs. Vernon this season:

1-1

Prince Georges Road record vs. Vernon this season:

1-1

Prince Georges scoring leaders vs. Vernon this season:

Chris Bodo (2-0-2)
Jujhar Khaira (0-2-2)
Trent Murdoch (0-1-1)
Kyle Manlow (0-1-1)

Kirk Thompson (1-1 Record)

Key’s and Notes to tonight’s game:

-Tonight is the Spruce Kings fourth game of a current six game home stand

-Prince George has the league’s 12th ranked powerplay

-The Spruce Kings have league’s worst penalty kill

-PG has won four of it’s last five home games

- Bennett Hambrook and Todd Skirving both face their former team

-These same two teams will face off against one another in two weeks on January, 28th in Vernon

-The Spruce Kings have confidence playing Vernon, after knocking off the defending RBC Cup Champs twice this season

-PG has troubles keeping the puck out of their own net, giving up a league worst 219 goals

Here’s a look at the season series between these two teams:

Friday, September 24th @ Prince George: Prince George wins 3-1

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

Prince George Spruce Kings at 10:13 (PP) - Chris Bodo from Jujhar Khaira
Prince George Spruce Kings at 17:08 (PP) - Chris Bodo from Jujhar Khaira and RJay
Berra

PERIOD 2

No Scoring

PERIOD 3

Vernon Vipers at 12:52 - Elliot Richardson from Marcus Basara and Bryce Kakoske
Prince George Spruce Kings at 14:58 - Justin Fillion from Kyle Manlow

Vernon outshot Prince George 45-15. Ryan Bentiez made 44 saves for the win, while Blake Voth made 10 saves in the loss.

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=840255&link=bchl

Sunday, September 26th @ Prince George: Vernon wins 6-0

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

Vernon Vipers at 0:31 - Malcolm Lyles from Aaron Hadley and John Knisley

PERIOD 2

Vernon Vipers at 6:38 - Trevor Fitzgerald (unassisted)
Vernon Vipers at 15:24 - Todd Skirving (unassisted)
Vernon Vipers at 17:48 - Dylan Walchuk from Darren Nowick and Bryce Kakoske

PERIOD 3

Vernon Vipers at 13:07 (SH) - Trevor Fitzgerald (unassisted)
Vernon Vipers at 16:54 - Kyle Murphy from Marcus Basara

Vernon outshot Prince George 40-16. Blake Voth made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season, while Kirk Thompson made 34 saves taking the loss.

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=840256&link=bchl

Sunday, October 24th Prince George @ Vernon: Prince George wins 3-2 in overtime

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

No Scoring

PERIOD 2

Vernon Vipers at 10:16 - Aaron Hadley from John Knisley and Michael Zalewski
Vernon Vipers at 12:39 - Dylan Walchuk from Marcus Basara and Malcolm Lyles
Prince George Spruce Kings at 15:22 - RJay Berra from Zac Ashdown and Justin Fillion
Prince George Spruce Kings at 18:59 (PP) - Justin Fillion from Trent Murdoch and Zac Ashdown

PERIOD 3

No Scoring

OVERTIME PERIOD 1

Prince George Spruce Kings at 1:25 (PP) - Zac Ashdown from RJay Berra and Chris Bodo

Vernon outshot Prince George 41-32. Kirk Thompson made 39 saves picking up the win, while Bryton Udy made 29 saves in the loss.

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=840116&link=bchl

Saturday, November 6th Prince George @ Vernon: Vernon wins 3-1

SCORING SUMMARY

PERIOD 1

No Scoring

PERIOD 2

Prince George Spruce Kings at 6:28 - RJay Berra from Nic DeSousa and Zac Ashdown
Vernon Vipers at 12:28 (PP) - Aaron Hadley from John Knisley

PERIOD 3

Vernon Vipers at 1:13 - Aaron Hadley from John Knisley and Brett Corkey
Vernon Vipers at 6:00 - Marcus Basara from Michael Zalewski

Vernon outshot Prince George 34-16. Bryton Udy made 15 saves for his first career BCHL win. Alex Wright made 31 saves in the loss.

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=840117&link=bchl

Here's a look at both teams rosters:

Vernon:

Dylan Walchuk (18-26-44)
Bryce Kakoske (13-24-37)
David Robinson (19-14-33)
John Knisley (7-22-29)
Michael Zalewski (12-17-29)
Kyle Murphy (13-14-27)
Adam Thompson (6-17-23)
Aaron Hadley (9-12-21)
Malcolm Lyles (5-16-21)
Marcus Basara (10-11-21)
Brett Corkey (0-16-16)
Trevor Fitzgerald (7-9-16)
Steven Weinstein (3-13-16)
Patrick McGillis (7-8-15)
Darren Nowick (5-10-15)
Max Mowat (1-11-12)
Ryan Renz (3-7-10)
Colton Sparrow (0-5-5)
Zach McPhee (2-1-3)
Philip Patenaude (0-1-1)
Dane Muench (1-0-1)

Kirby Halcrow With Quesnel (5-18-1 Record, 3.56 GAA)
With Vernon (4-2-1 Record, 2.46 GAA)
Blake Voth (19-10-3 Record, 2 Shutouts, 2.11 GAA)

Prince George:

Jujhar Khaira (9-24-33)
Faiz Khan (10-13-23)
Jeff Earnest (5-12-17)
Connor Tiechko (8-8-16)
Trent Murdoch (3-11-14)
Kyle Manlow (5-6-11)
Todd Skirving (4-5-9)
Stephen Ryan (0-6-6)
Chase Golightly (0-5-5)
Trevor Esau (0-4-4)
Brandon Watson (1-1-2)
Bennett Hambrook (1-0-1)
Isaac Davies (0-1-1)
Dustin Beairsto (0-0-0)
Sam Waterfield (0-0-0)
Ben Woodley (0-0-0)

Kirk Thompson (4-18 Record, 4.33 GAA)
Cameron Large (2-2 Record, 4.45 GAA)