Friday, January 4, 2013

Salmon Arm 4 Vernon 2

For anyone who could not attend or watch tonight’s Vipers game here are my thoughts and views from tonight’s game. You may agree or disagree but we all have our own view and opinion on any game we watch. This is my opinion and my thoughts on how I saw tonight’s game. I try to be unbiased and give a fare recap on both sides. Thanks for stopping by & visiting my blog.

I was at tonight's BCHL game as Salmon Arm defeated Vernon 4-2 in front of 1,080 fans at the Shaw Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon:  Austin Smith
Salmon Arm:  Adam Clark

1st Period:  A fairly physical start to tonight's contest as both teams come out laying out some big checks.  Salmon Arm seemed to have a slight edge in jump as it was the Backs who seemed to have a little more energy in their game.  Just a few minutes into the game the Backs would get a great chance with a two on one rush after Anthony Croston tried centering to former Westside Warrior Brayden Sherbinin who couldnt connect on the pass.  It took the Vipers four minutes to record their first shot on goal, and in the mean time Salmon Arm would take the games first penalty on the play giving the Vipers an early powerplay.  With just two shots and not much pressure with the man advantage the Backs would kill off the penalty.  Just as the penalty expired former Penticton Vee Evan Anderson on a three on two ripped a hard low shot from the left wing forced Vipers starting goaltender Austin Smith to make a big left pad save.  The Silverbacks were outshooting the Vipers 4-1 early before Vernon slowly got their game rolling climbing back in the shot department now outshooting Salmon Arm 5-4 with an edge in play.  The Vipers now carrying the better of the play for the next six to seven minutes looked good but were unable to get any real good offensive chances before the Silverbacks would get their first of three straight back to back to back powerplays.  One of those powerplays was Geoff Crisfield who dropped the gloves with Bryden Marsh.  The Vipers tried springing Colton Sparrow on the long stretch pass for a breakaway as the pass was just a little too ahead of Sparrow as Adam Clark come way out of his crease to play the puck.  The Backs with some good pressure at times moved the puck around but couldnt capitalize after a good Vernon penalty kill would kill off the first two before Evan Anderson beat Smith on the third powerplay giving Salmon Arm a 1-0 lead at 17:35 Vernon product Alex Gillies with the lone helper.  Both teams were fairly even with very little scoring chances at both ends of the rink.  The Backs with a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.  Salmon Arm outshot Vernon 10-7.

2nd Period:  The Vipers who had troubles breaking out of their own end most of the period couldnt seem to get through the neutral zone early and often as the Silverbacks aggresive forecheck was giving Vernon all kinds of trouble early and it cost them.  Just 1:54 into the middle frame Harlan Orr's shot from the right wing was stopped by Austin Smith who gave up a big rebound before Jeff Kennedy pounced on the rebound hitting the open cage giving Salmon Arm a 2-0 lead.  Orr with the lone assist on the play.  The Vipers who couldnt get much of anything going were being beat to the puck and losing the races.  The Backs would get the first powerplay of the period but couldnt capitalize after a strong Vernon penalty kill.  Just after the minor expired the Silverbacks would head right back to the powerplay after the Vipers would lose Braeden Russell who was given his second ten minute misconduct and tossed from the hockey game.  The man advantage wouldnt last long as Vernon would get their first powerplay of the second as both teams played four on four before the Vipers would get a late powerplay.  On the man advantage Mitch Ferguson setup Anthony Croston shorthanded on the two on one rush giving the Silverbacks a 3-0 lead and in full control of the game.  Ferguson with the only assist on the goal.  But just twenty six seconds later and still on the powerplay Brendan Persley at the side of the goal would beat Adam Clark making it a two goal game at 12:17 Colton Sparrow & TJ Dumonceaux collected the assists.  Five minutes later Vernon would get a late powerplay that wouldnt last very long as the Vipers would take a penalty sending both teams four on four.  Tempers began to heat up in the final few minutes as both teams started to get under one another with lots of pushing and shoving in and around the goal and after the whistle.  Alot of yapping going on as players were making line changes but with no real antics.   Late in the period Brendan Kennedy's point shot made its way through a crowd in front putting SA up 4-1 at 16:20 Brett Fagerheim collected the lone helper on the goal.  This was the end of the night for Austin Smith who was pulled in favor of Danny Todosychuk.  Smith gave up four goals on twenty Salmon Arm shots.  Again not alot of scoring opportunities at both ends but the Backs capitalized on their chances.  Salmon Arm was up 4-1 after 40 minutes of play.  The Vipers outshot the Silverbacks 15-12.

3rd Period:  The Vipers come out strong off the opening faceoff, getting the play in deep Vernon carried the play early getting lots of shots and traffic in front of Clark who had to be sharp making atleast three or four tough saves in the opening few minutes keeping this a three goal game.  Salmon Arm would then get an early back to back powerplays but couldnt capitalize after a pretty strong penalty kill by Vernon.  Just before the halfway mark Vernon would get a shot with the man advantage, Dexter Dancs with a great chance at the side of the net couldnt get the puck up and over the right pad of Adam Clark who come across the crease to make a huge pad save off the former Penticton Vee.  A good powerplay but the Vipers couldnt capitalize.  Just after the penalty expired Logan Mick's hard shot from the right wing was stopped by Clark who made the big pad save but couldnt stop TJ Dumonceaux who jumped all over the big rebound making this a two goal game at 12;21 Mick with the lone helper on the goal.  Then for a few minutes it looked like no team wanted to do anything as some sloppy play took over for a few minutes as it looked like shinny hockey game.  Danny Todosychuk made his biggest save of the night making a nice glove save off Brayden Sherbinin.  Again not alot of action at both ends of the rink before both teams got a little chippy towards the end of the game.  Salmon Arm would get a late powerplay but would just wind down the clock coming away with their fourth straight win over Vernon with a 4-2 victory.  The Vipers come out hard in the opening few minutes and showed some signs of life at times but overall it wasnt much of a period at both ends.  The Vipers outshot the Backs 10-5.

Top Players:  (Vernon)

TJ Dumonceaux (1 goal & 1 assist)  Made his return to the Vipers lineup after missing the last several weeks with an injury.  Scoring once and adding an assist the Kelowna Product showed alot of hustle and energy in his return.

Logan Mick (1 assist)  I thought Logan Mick played fairly well through out tonight's game.  Another kid who showed alot of hustle and grit.

Colton Sparrow (1 assist)  Played a very gritty-hard working game.  Was very strong and aggresive on the penalty kill coming up with atleast three or four big shot blocks.

Dexter Dancs played well for most of the game.

Brendan Persley (1 goal) Also worked hard, battled and competed all night.  Was going to the net hard all night.

Game Thoughts:  (Vernon)

Heading into 2013 the Vipers were five points behind Salmon Arm for the 4th and final playoff spot with just twenty one games remaining.  With the loss the Silverbacks jump ahead seven points of Vernon and make that hill to climb even more harder.  After back to back losses to Merritt before the Christmas break and then tonight's loss the Vipers have been outscored 15-2 in their last three games and have just two wins in their last ten games losing five out of their last six.  The Vipers are falling and falling fast.  A loss to West Kelowna tomorrow night followed by a Salmon Arm win over Cowichan Valley and the Vipers would be nine points back of Salmon Arm almost putting a nail in the coffen on the Vipers season.  The Vipers were losing most of the races to the puck and had troubles all night breaking out of their own end.  One positive was the Vipers penalty kill.  I didnt notice Pearce Eviston in the 3rd, not sure if he was hurt or just didnt play but I never saw him in the final period.  Jason Williamson's post game interview sounded pretty dejecting.  It sounds like Willy is frustrated and really feeling the pressure of being the first Vernon team to miss the playoffs back to back years.  The Vipers showed a few spurts of life in the 1st and 3rd but overall this wasnt a very exciting game with very little scoring chances.  Former Vipers defenceman Max Mowat was at tonight's game.

Top Players:  (Salmon Arm)

Brendan Kennedy (1 goal)  Was very good on the Silverbacks blueline.  Very steady, eats up alot of minutes on the backend. 

Blake Box also played well on the blueline.

Alex Jewell who was facing his hometown team played very well through out tonight's game.  I didnt notice him much in the 3rd but played well in the 1st and 2nd periods.

Brayden Sherbinin played very well on Salmon Arm's backend.

Evan Anderson looked very good in the opening period but I didnt really notice him much after the 1st period.

Anthony Croston (1 goal) Played very well up front for the Backs. 

Harlan Orr (1 assist)  Played well for SA, was involved in the play at times through out the contest.

Game Thoughts:  (Salmon Arm)

Well since the last time I saw the Vipers & Silverbacks play, way back in October I can tell you onething is Salmon Arm has improved and playing its best hockey of the season going 7-3 in their last ten games.  The Backs didnt get alot of great scoring chances tonight but capitalized on Vernon's mistakes and scored on their chances.  I thought SA was good on the draw, very aggresive on Vernon and good with nice crisp tape to tape passes through out most of the game.  This wasnt a very exciting game coming from both sides.  Two teams going in different directions.  Former Vipers Head Coach-GM Troy Mick was behind the bench tonight as the Silverbacks assistant coach.

Scratches:

Salmon Arm:

Adam Smith
Steven Iacobellis
Riley Hunt (Injured)

Vernon:

Mitch McAllister

Silverbacks Energy Player Of The Game:

Bryden Marsh

Three Stars:

1st Star:  Anthony Croston (1 goal)
2nd Star:  Colton Sparrow (1 assist)
3rd Star:  Harlan Orr (1 assist)

For more on tonight's game visit the boxscore,

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=1103029&link=bchl

For more on the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and tonight's game visit Scott Campbells Silverbacks blog,

http://silverbacksmack.blogspot.ca/

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