Vipers cash in two road Cents
Kevin Mitchell
Nov. 19, 2017
The Vernon Vipers are back in first place in the B.C. Hockey League’s Interior Division.
The Snakes held off the Merritt Centennials 3-2 before 400 fans Friday night at Nicola Valley Arena, improving to 17-5-4, one point ahead of the Trail Smoke Eaters. Trail upended the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 6-4 Friday night.
Jordan Sandhu and Josh Prokop, each with their ninth snipes of the season, and Jimmy Lambert with his 11th, handled the Vernon offence in front of Ty Taylor (21 saves).
Henry Cleghorn (eighth) and Brendan Schneider (fifth) replied for the Cents, who trailed 1-0 and 3-1 by periods.
D-man Chris Jandric and Lambert drew assists on Sandhu’s goal at 7:56 of the opening stanza. Cleghorn levelled the score just 45 seconds into the second period on a powerplay.
Jesse Lansdell earned the helper as Prokop put the Vipers ahead 10 minutes later. Brett Stapley and Jandric combined to set up Lambert’s winner with 1:53 to play in the period.
Austin Roden recorded 53 saves to rate first star ahead of Jandric and Colten Gerlib of the Cents (8-12-2-1).
Meanwhile, NHL Central Scouting has put Stapley on notice. The pro bird-dog bureau unveiled its players-to-watch list this week and of the 18 Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) players included, eight are from the BCHL.
Stapley, a centre, is listed as a C-level prospect, meaning a possible fourth-, fifth- or sixth-round selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, June 22-23 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Stapley, who turns 19 in February, is a Campbell River product in his third year with the Vipers.
He is fourth in league scoring with 14 goals and 34 points in 26 games. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound dangler has locked up a scholarship with the University of Denver Pioneers for next season. He rang up 138 points in his final Bantam season with North Shore Winter Club.
“He’s creative, he’s quick, he’s shifty and he sees the ice well,” said Marty Stein, a Vernon-based scout with the Detroit Red Wings. “He’s going to a good program in Denver; they won it last year.”
There were just five BCHLers listed on the Central Scouting report published in early October.
Josh Prokop and Sandhu, there like hidden little pieces of the puzzle that other teams miss as there usually concentrating on lambert,williamson,stapley , etc. but they are so very important.In my opinion us vernon fans are very lucky to have such skilled players as they really make the difference between winning and losing at times. Keep up the good work Josh and Sandhu.
ReplyDeleteThe article said Ty Taylor made 21 saves in the win. It was actually Anthony Yamnitsky who was in goal & got the the win in Merritt.
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