Saturday, September 28, 2013

Surrey 7 Vernon 4

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 Surrey defeated Vernon 7-4 in front of 1,625 fans at Kal Tire Place.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon:  Austin Smith
Surrey:  Victor Adamo

1st Period:  The Vipers got off to a good start and seemed to set the tone early jumping out to a quick 1-0 lead after former Surrey Eagles forward Demico Hannoun was hard on the puck, won the race and battle down low, got the puck out front to a wide open Michael McNicholas who beat Eagles starting goaltender Victor Adamo at 2:09 Hannoun with the only assist.  Vernon kept coming, with some hard work and a good forecheck down low the Vipers all over the Eagles in the opening few minutes.  This hard work and forecheck would pay off as just over three minutes later Craig Martin setup former Surrey Eagle Mason Blacklock who put Vernon up 2-0 at 5:42 Martin and Dallas Calvin picked up the helpers.  Surrey would then get the games first powerplay and capitalize.  Ryan Fraser Lee setup Jonah Renouf who beat Vipers starting goaltender Austin Smith at 7:57 making this a one goal game.  Fraser Lee and Nicolas Pierog collected the assists.  The Eagles would jump right back on the powerplay before tying the game 2-2.  Matthew Dawson setup Nicolas Pierog who beat Smith at 9:58 Nicholas with the only helper.  Surrey who was outshot 7-3 at this point kept coming, with a few solid shifts the Eagles had their best pressure of the night coming back with three quick shots.  The Eagles come close to going ahead after Danton Heinen would get a chance behind the Viper net but couldnt beat Austin Smith. The Vipers didnt quit and come right back with another hard working shift, with some good forecheck down low the Vipers moved the puck around Michael McNicholas with a wrap around couldnt beat Adamo who made a big pad save keeping this game tied.  Surrey would take their first lead of the night after Jonah Renouf with a nice pass setup Ryan Fraser Lee who went high far corner beating Austin Smith giving the Eagles a 3-2 lead at 12:54 Renouf and Danton Heinen with the assists.  Just a minute later Vernon would get their first powerplay, Jason Bird's point shot beat Victor Adamo but went off the post as the Eagles would kill off the minor. With three and a half minutes remaining TJ Dumonceaux couldnt handle a pass before collecting the loose puck before setting up Mike Iovanna on a two on one but Iovanna couldnt beat Adamo.  Surrey would get a late powerplay but unable to capitalize as Vernon would kill off the penalty.  The Vipers would get a man advantage in the final seconds wich would carry into the second period.  The Vipers carried the better of the play and had the better of the scoring chances but were down 3-2 after 20 minutes of play.  Shots were even 10-10.

2nd Period:  The Vipers started the middle frame with the man advantage that was carried over from the 1st period.  A very strong penalty kill by the Eagles would kill off the minor.  The Vipers didnt quit and kept coming, Demico Hannoun won the draw back to Michael McNicholas who beat Victor Adamo with a soft looking shot from the circle that went fivehole on Adamo for McNicholas's second goal of the night tying the game 3-3 at 5:42 Hannoun with the lone assist.  The Vipers with most of the play early and often didnt generate as much offensive chances as in the opening period but did carry the better of the play.  It wasnt even a minute later before Surrey would re take the lead after Jonah Renouf with his second goal of the night on a shot Austin Smith would like to have back put the Eagles up 4-3 at 6:55 Ryan Fraser Lee with the helper.  Former Westside Warriors forward Brett Mulcahy would leave the game before returning to the Eagles bench later on.  Just past the halfway mark Demico Hannoun with a burst of speed beat his man before going in for the breakaway tried beating Adamo shortside but hit the post.  Both teams went back and fourth with two powerplays but neither team could capitalize.  Late in the period Mark Hamilton's point shot went through a crowd before Victor Adamo made a huge right pad save kicking out Hamilton's blast from the blueline.  Vernon once again carried most of the play but didnt generate many opportunities outshooting the Eagles 13-8.  Surrey with a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes of play.

3rd Period:  The Vipers started the third with the powerplay that was carried over from the second period.  Surrey playing man on man with one man high did a very good job on the penalty kill limiting Vernon's shots as the Vipers without a shot couldnt capitalize.  But just as the penalty expired Jason Bird's shot from the point missed the net before Demico Hannoun jumped all over the rebound off the back boards before tapping the puck into the open cage tying the game 4-4 at 1:25 Bird with the lone assist.  Just over two minutes later Surrey would get a great opportunity with a full two man advantage.  The Vipers with a solid penalty kill played man to man limiting the Eagles shots as Surrey with just one shot missed a major opportunity to take the lead.  Michael Statchuk with a huge shot block in the dying seconds of the powerplay would need help off the ice.  Good news for the Vipers Statchuck would return to the game.  Just a minute later the Vipers would get a chance with the man advantage.  Again Vernon having troubles getting pucks to the net as the Eagles with a great penalty kill.  Dallas Calvin with two chances at the side of the net in the dying seconds was robbed by Victor Adamo who somehow come up with two huge saves while down and out.  Just as the penalty expired Phillippe Johansson setup Ryan Fraser Lee who just got out of the penalty box.  Fraser Lee went in for the breakaway with Michael McNicholas chasing him down, Fraser Lee would be stopped by Smith on the first shot shutting the fivehole before Fraser Lee beat Smith on the rebound giving Surrey a 5-4 lead at 8:40 Phillippe Johansson with the helper.  Just over two minutes later Vernon would get another powerplay but again a strong penalty kill by the Eagles as the Vipers were once again limited with pucks to the net as Surrey would kill off the minor.  Just as the penalty expired Kenny Citron's point shot got through taffic but Adamo with a big right pad save kicked the puck out on a tough save.  Again the Vipers with most of the play all night just couldnt capitalize on their chances.  Vernon would get one last chance with a late powerplay.  With Austin Smith on the bench for the extra attacker former Coquitlam Express Mitchell Fyffe hit the empty net for the shorthanded marker giving Surrey a 6-4 lead at 18:46 Fyffe's goal was unassisted.  With Smith still on the bench and the Vipers still on the man advantage Phillippe Johansson  would go in for the breakaway hitting the open cage for the Eagles second shorthanded goal of the night putting Surrey up 7-4 at 19:31 Johansson's goal was unassisted.  The Eagles would kill off the penalty and come away with a 7-4 win in another period where Vernon was the better of the two teams.  The Vipers once again carried most of the play and had the better of the opportunities.  Vernon outshot Surrey 14-12.

Top Players:  (Vernon)

Mark Hamilton who is really starting to come into his own as of late played another strong game on the Vernon blueline.  Hamilton played very well at both ends of the rink, was jumping up into the play, playing physical and making some smart plays.

Michael McNicholas (2 goals)  Was very strong up front for the Vipers.  McNicholas with some good opportunities played very well.

Demico Hannoun (1 goal & 2 assists)  Looked very good for the Vipers tonight.  Facing his former team Hannoun was very dangerous most of the night.  A very smooth, slick skating forward put on a clinic at times tonight weaving in and out of some of his former team mates.  Very soft hands in and around the net.

Game Thoughts:  (Vernon)

After two huge wins over Penticton & Surrey the Vipers fell short in a tough loss in a game where I thought they fully deserved the win.  The Vipers got off to a quick start, seemed to set the tone early, jumping out a a quick 2-0 lead Vernon got into some penalty trouble and it cost them.  The Eagles with two quick back to back goals of their own rallied to tie the game before jumping ahead shortly after.  The Vipers just couldnt seem to recover after the opening period.  It seemed like everytime Vernon tied the game, Surrey come right back a few minutes later to re take the lead.  Other then a few defensive mistakes and getting into penalty trouble I thought the Vipers were by far the better team tonight.  Vernon outplayed and outchances the Eagles all night.  The Vipers missed on several opportunities couldnt capitalize on their chances and didnt have any puck luck tonight.  Most of the night it looked like the Vipers were going for the highlight real goal, instead of just getting shots-pucks to the net and looking for rebounds.  The Vipers needed to get more bodies in and around the Eagles net.  Specialty teams was the difference as Vernon went 0-7 with the powerplay while Surrey went 2-7 also scoring two shorthanded goals.

Top Players:  (Surrey)

The Eagles line of Jonah Renouf (2 goals & 1 assist), Nicolas Pierog (2 goals & 1 assist) & Danton Heinen (1 assist) was Surrey's top unit by far.  These three were the only real bright spots for the Eagles other then Victor Adamo.  Renouf, Heinen and Pierog seemed to barly touch the puck before it was in the back of the net.  This line was very good, saw a ton of icetime and was the Eagles only real scoring threat.  I was very impressed with Renouf, not the biggest kid but very quick, soft hands and moves the puck well.  Always in and around the play.

Ryan Fraser Lee (2 goals & 2 assists)  Played very well on Surrey's blueline.  Played very well defensively and chipped in with four points. 

Victor Adamo (33 saves)  Played very well between the pipes for the Eagles tonight.  Adamo isnt the biggest goaltender but made some big saves through out tonight's contest. 

Game Thought's:  (Surrey)

The Eagles snapped the Vipers two game winning streak and took one out of the three meetings between these two teams as the Vipers won the season series 2-1.  Surrey's last win in Vernon was a 3-2 victory back on Wednesday, September 26th 2007  For a first place team I wasnt overly impressed with the Eagles tonight.  Like I said earlier I thought the Vipers were by far the better team, outplayed, outhit and outchanced the Eagles all game.  Other then their seven goals the Eagles maybe had two or three quality scoring chances all night.  It seemed like whatever the Eagles put on net went in.  Surrey with very little pressure or offence at all. Surrey capitalized and scored on their chances, took advantage of Vernon's few mistakes and capitalized on specialty teams.  Surrey couldnt seem to generate any offensive chances most of the night.  I did like the Eagles penalty kill, very very good.  Playing man on man with a player high the Eagles limited Vernon's shots, wich gave the Vipers all kinds of trouble trying to create any offensive chances.  I really like the Eagles new road jersey's, very sharp.

Scratches:

Vernon:

Josh Bryan (Injured)
Colton Sparrow (Injured)
Ryan Renz (Injured)  

Surrey:

Brayden Park
Joseph Drapluk
Nathan Renouf

Energy player of the game:

Riley Guenther

Three Stars:

1st Star:  Ryan Fraser Lee (2 goals & 2 assists)
2nd Star:  Jonah Renouf (2 goals & 1 assist)
3rd Star:  Michael McNicholas (2 goals)

For more on tonight's game visit the BCHL boxscore,

http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/hockey_boxscores.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&gameID=1231188&link=bchl

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