Day 2 Report From Vipers Spring Camp:

I have had season tickets for the past 29 years and been watching junior hockey in Vernon for over thirty five years. I have missed four Vipers home games since the 2004-05 season and eighteen Vipers home games since the 1999-2000 season. Here are my thought's and view's from todays camp.

I stopped by Kal Tire Place North this morning & this afternoon/evening to check out Day 2 from the Vipers Spring Camp. Each game/scrimmage is two thirty minute non-stop running periods, with a full ice clean in between periods. A penalty is an automatic penalty shot.

I missed the first game/scrimmage this morning between Team Black & Team White.

In the second game/scrimmage this morning saw Team Gold defeat Team Green 5-4 in front of a small crowd at Kal Tire Place North. This game/scrimmage was fairly evenly matched scrimmage. I thought both teams went back and fourth but with very little scoring chances at either ends of the rink. This was your typical scrimmage/game with not a lot of intensity or action in a fairly boring/dull game. Team Gold got three of their five goals from the backend. Ty Marchant was stopped on a 1st period penalty shot, while Adam Kydd was stopped on a 2nd period penalty shot.

Starting Goaltenders:

Team Green:

Ashton Billesberger (Allowed two goals in the 1st period)
Kyle Kozma (Started and played the 2nd period, allowed three goals)

Team Gold:

Xavier Cannon (Allowed two goals in the 1st period)
Tanner Johnson (Started and played the 2nd period, allowed two goals)

Team Green Scoring:

Tenzin Bogardis
Noah Bourassa (2 goals)
Missed one goal scorer

Team Gold Scoring:

Carter Belitski
Brandon Cleet (Scored on a penalty shot)
Kurt Hoogendoorn
Kaden Dempsey
Jason Carroll

Players I thought stood out-Played well

Team Gold:

Carter Belitski (1 goal) Caught my attention. Showed some skill, good skater, moved the puck well, has some soft hands in close, created/generated a few chances.

Brandon Cleet (1 goal) Scored on a 1st period penalty shot, Played well on the blueline.

In the third game/scrimmage of the morning saw Team Red defeat Team Blue 5-4 in front of about sixty or more fans in attendance. A very quick pace game to start before slowing down as the scrimmage continued. Team Blue jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Luke German and Jaxon Danilec. Team Blue was the better team and carried a lot of the play in the 1st period. Team Blue held a 3-1 lead after the first period. Team Red turned things around and dominated the 2nd period, were all over Team Blue. Team Red with three second period goals, come from behind for the 5-4 victory. Lachlan Griffin started the 2nd period and looked very shaky through out the final thirty minutes. Kabore Dunn looked to tie the game just before the halfway mark of the 2nd period but a quick whistle stopped the play just before the puck crossed the goal line. Not many players stood out to really catch my attention.

Starting Goaltenders:

Team Blue:

Kobe Grant (Started the game, allowed 1 goal in the 1st period)
Lachlan Griffin (Started the 2nd period, allowed three goals)

Team Red:

Gabriel Murrells-Allaway (Started the game, allowed three goals in the 1st period)
Tenzin Mint (Started the 2nd period, allowed one goal)

Team Blue Scoring:

Luke German
Jaxon Danilec
Tristan Zandee

Team Red Scoring:

Blake Bryce
Aiden Robson
Sean Michalevich
Kevin Milliken

Players I thought stood out-Played well

Team Blue:

Luke German (1 goal) Has some wheels, can move the puck, played well in the loss.

In the first game/scrimmage of the afternoon saw Team Black defeat Team Gold 3-2 in a shoot out in front of about forty or so fans in attendance. This was one of the more physical games as both teams come out hitting in a high tempo 1st period. Team Black was the better of the two teams in the opening frame only had a 1-0 lead after the 1st period. Bryan Brew was stopped on a 1st period penalty shot. In the 2nd period Team Gold battled back with two goals to force the shoot out. Team Gold had troubles scoring while Xavier Cannon played very well between the pipes for Team Gold in the 2nd period. Justin Scott hit the post with about four and a half minutes left in the 2nd period. Austin Ungurean was stopped on a 2nd period penalty shot.

Starting Goaltenders:

Team Gold:

Xavier Cannon (Started in goal, but left the game about two and a half minutes in, with looked like some kind of equipment issues. Started the 2nd period and finished the game in goal, allowing four goals)
Tanner Johnson (Replaced Xavier Cannon early into the opening period, finished the remainder of the 1st period, allowed one goal)

Team Black:

Cayden Hamming (Started in net, didn't allow a goal)
Ross Hawryluk (Started the 2nd period, allowed two goals)

Team Gold Scoring:

Gerrit Lindhout
Graham Skinner

Team Black Scoring:

Christopher Reinhardt
Ayden Third (penalty shot)

Shoot Out Scoring Summary:

Team Gold Shooters:

Bryan Brew
James Gibson

Team Black Shooters:

KT Walters (Scored)
Casey McDonald
Jaden Shumilak (Scored)

Players I thought stood out-Played well

Team Gold:

Brandon Cleet Has impressed me so far in Spring Camp.

Tanner Johnson Started the 2nd period I thought played well between the pipes.

Team Black:

Nicholas Kent Stood out and was one of if not one of the better players on Team Black.

In the second game of the afternoon/evening saw Team White defeat Team Blue 4-3 in front of a fairly large crowd, the biggest crowd yet at Spring Camp. Team White jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held that lead heading into the 2nd and final period of the game/scrimmage. Jojo Tanaka-Campbell was stopped on a 1st period penalty shot. Team White was the better team most of the game/scrimmage until Team Blue come on strong in the second half of the 2nd period, scored three goals, fell short in the end.

Starting Goaltenders:

Team White:

Johnny Derrick (Started the game and played the first period, didn't give up a goal)
Blake Wood (Started the 2nd period, gave up three goals)

Team Blue:

Lachlan Griffin (Started for Team Blue, allowed two goals)
Kobe Grant (Started the 2nd period, allowed one goal)

Team White Scoring:

Owen Barrow
Brett Moravec (2 goals-One scored on a penalty shot)
Owen Forfellow

Team Blue Scoring:

KC Kosgrove
Justin Nakagawa
Kabore Dunn (penalty shot)

Players I thought stood out-Played well

Team White:

Brett Moravec Didn't show much at the start, but as the game/scrimmage continued scored twice, one on a penalty shot, looked good. Has some quick-soft hands down low, was hard to contain in and around the goal.

Team Blue:

Justin Nakagawa (1 goal) Has some wheels, not the biggest kid but can skate and shoot the puck. I heard is from San Diego but played hockey this past season in Kelowna, BC.

In the third and final game of the evening saw Team Green beat Team Red 4-3 in front of about forty or so fans in attendance. Team Green dominated and outplayed Team Red for most of the scrimmage. Team Green had a ton of opportunities to put the game away but had troubles finding the back of the net. Team Green jumped out to a 3-0 lead and was up 3-1 after the 1st period. Team Red who didn't deserve to be in this game/scrimmage, managed to battled back in the final period, scoring twice before pouring on the pressure inside the final minute with the goaltender pulled. Ashton Billesberger was forced to make a handful of large saves inside the final minute, including three in the dying seconds, also had some luck go his way, to hold on to the 4-3 victory. Jakob Jones & Nicco Camazzola were both denied on 2nd period penalty shots for Team Green.

Starting Goaltenders:

Team Green:

Kyle Kozmas (Started in goal, allowed one goal)
Ashton Billesberger (Played the 2nd period, allowed two goals)

Team Red:

Tenzin Mint (Started in goal, allowed three goals)
Gabriel Murrells-Allaway (Played the 2nd period, allowed one goal)

Team Green Scoring:

Ty Marchant
Jakob Jones
Haden Nordick (penalty shot)
Kerfella Toure

Team Red Scoring:

Kobe Verbicky (2 goals)
Kevin Milliken

Players I thought stood out-Played well

Team Green:

Kerfella Toure (1 goal) I thought was one of the more active and offensive minded forwards for Team Green. A big body, that's physical and hard on pucks/bodies.

Tenzin Bogardis Played well, created/generated some chances

Asthon Billesberger Started and played the 2nd period, played very well down the stretch. Was forced to make several big stops inside the final minute with Team Red pressuring.

Team Red:

Kobe Verbicky (2 goals) Played very well, caught my attention. Has some speed and skill and can skate/move the puck. One of if not Team Red's best player.

Side Notes:

I wonder if Tristan Zandee is related to former West Kelowna Warriors/Vernon Vipers forward Hunter Zandee?

I was surprised to see very little Viper fans in attendance today. I spotted a small group of about seven or eight season ticket holders at camp this morning and then three or four later on this afternoon/evening.

Viper owners Tom & John Glen, along with new head coach/gm Jason McKee have been at camp along side several other fellas all wearing Viper jackets and holding binders with rosters.

I was told the players attending camp have been given a tour of both arena's/the Vipers dressing room.

The third and final day of Spring Camp continues tomorrow morning starting at 8:45am

Here are some pictures I took from Spring Camp this morning/this evening