Salmon Arm 5 Vernon 2

I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following Junior hockey in Vernon my entire life. My family watched Senior mens hockey in Vernon during the 1950s and has been watching Junior hockey in Vernon since it started in 1961. I have had season tickets since 1990 and missed 5 home games since 2004 and 46 home games since 1990. I'm not a journalist, writer, reporter or work for the Vernon Vipers. I don't get paid to do this blog and do this blog in my own personal time. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 2.1 million viewers. For anyone who couldn't watch or attend tonight's Vipers game, here are my thought's and views from tonight's game. You may agree or disagree but we all have our own opinion on the hockey game. I try to be professional and give a fare game recap from both sides. Thank you for visiting my blog.

I was at tonight's Vipers-Silverbacks game as Salmon Arm defeated Vernon 5-2 in front of 420 fans at the Shaw Centre.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon Vipers: Roan Clarke
Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Liam Vanderkooi

1st Period: The Vipers got off to a good start. The Vernon bench was up and banging sticks along the boards at the start of the opening puck drop and ready to roll. The Snakes with a few good shifts to start but it was Salmon Arm who needed three minutes to record the first shot on goal, while the Vipers needed almost four minutes to record their first shot of the hockey game. Neither team really had any chances in the opening few minutes. It took Nicholas Remissong about six minutes to get the games first quality chance. Remisson stepped over the Apes blueline forced Liam Vanderkooi to make a stop. About a minute later, Logan Lorenz with a hard shot from the circle would be denied by Liam Vanderkooi making a big stop off the Snakes second chance of the period. About a minute later, Mathieu Cobetto-Roy with a quality look/opportunity from the slot would be stopped by Roan Clarke on the S'Backs first chance of the 1st period. Just before the halfway mark, Luke Buss alone in the slot fired high and over the goal on a missed opportunity. The Vipers with several good chances in the first half. At the midway mark, Vernon would get the games first power play. The Vipers had one, maybe two shots struggled with the man advantage as SA killed off the minor. Shortly after the PP the Vipers went back to the power play for a second time. Ryan Shostak turned over the puck at the blueline almost giving up a Silverbacks odd man rush as the Vipers struggled with the PP. Just as the penalty expired, Luke Pakulak with a good opportunity couldn't solve Liam Vanderkooi. Towards the end of the period, Roan Clarke was forced to make a difficult save off a lengthy shot from well outside the blueline that looked to handcuff the Viper netminder. With three and a half minutes remaining, Zach Tonelli used his wheels to get in and around Lucas Matta winning the battle for the loose puck. Tonelli would get behind Matta for the partial breakaway but couldn't beat Liam Vanderkooi. About a minute later, Noah Serdachny spotted a wide open Simon Tassy in the faceoff circle, beat Roan Clarke shortside, giving Salmon Arm a late 1-0 lead at 17:39 Noah Serdachny & Owen Beckner drew the helpers. At the buzzer Danny Ciccarello took a penalty, sending the Snakes to the PP to start the 2nd period. The Silverbacks faithful were not happy with the call and let the officials know it when heading off the ice. It was 1-0 Salmon Arm after 20 minutes of play. This was a very good opening period on the road for the visiting Vernon Vipers. The Snakes with a lively bench, played with a lot of jump and emotion and I thought were the better of the two hockey teams. Vernon didn't dominate the play but had the better of the scoring chances and had more of an edge in play and more puck possession. At one point shots were 12-6 for Vernon. The Backs didn't get many looks/opportunities, gave up a lot of shots early and often. The Vipers with several good chances are having troubles scoring this season. Vernon outshot Salmon Arm 13-10.

2nd Period: The Snakes started the middle frame on the power play, that was awarded at the end of the 1st period. The Vipers struggled with the man advantage as the Silverbacks killed off the minor. Shortly after Zach Tonelli took a huge hit along the wall, went down hard and was a little dazed getting up. Tonelli joined the play without his stick, before going back to get his stick looked a little woozy, made his way to the Viper bench and went straight to the dressing room. Tonelli didn't return to the hockey game. Shortly after the Gorillas would get their first look with the man advantage and capitalize. Simon Tassy spotted Brandon Santa Juana for the easy tap in, into the open cage, giving Salmon Arm an early 2-0 lead at 6:04 Simon Tassy and Daniel Panetta collected the assists. They didn't even finish announcing the goal over the PA sound system when a turn over at the Viper blueline. Danny Ciccarello with a quick move, spotted Nathan Mackie who skated over the blueline and rip a shot top shelf past Vernon Vipers starting goaltender Roan Clarke, giving Salmon Arm a 3-0 lead at 6:39 This was Mackie's first career BCHL goal. Danny Ciccarello picked up the assist. Vipers Head Coach/GM Jason McKee seen enough and called a timeout. Roan Clarke's night was over after the Snakes switched goaltenders during the timeout. Roan Clarke gave up three goals on thirteen Salmon Arm shots. Ethan David was now in goal for Vernon. Less then two minutes later, the Silverbacks would head back to the PP, their second of the contest. Ethan David was put to the test early, forced to make two or three big stops with traffic at the top of the blue paint with the Apes swarming the front of the goal on the man advantage. It didn't take long for Nathan Morin to beat Ethan David fivehole, giving Salmon Arm a commanding 4-0 lead at 9:06 Mathieu Cobetto-Roy collected the helpers. The Wheels were falling off for Vernon and in a hurry. This was the end of the night for Ethan David who was pulled in favour of Roan Clarke. David gave up one goal on just three Salmon Arm shots. Shortly after Owen Beckner on a wrap around would be denied by Roan Clarke on a good chance for SA. Just over five minutes later, Aidan Lindblad took a good run at a Vernon player was getting a delayed charging penalty on the hit, while the play continued Jack Glen jumped Lindblad as the two dropped the gloves with the linesmen between the two, trying to break up the fight. In the mean time, two other players grabbed a hold of each other benhind Vernon's goal as tempers heated up in a hurry as a mini scrum took place before the two teams were split up. Glen & Lindblad were both tossed from the hockey game. This goal seemed to fire up the Snakes as ten seconds later Luke Buss setup Tyler Chan for his first career BCHL goal, cutting Salmon Arm's lead to 4-1 at 14:52 In the dying seconds on a goal mouth scramble, Matthew Culling banged home a loose puck just as the buzzer sounded. The Vipers celebrated while the officials gathered near the penalty box to discuss the play. There was no time left on the clock and the blue light come on when the Vipers scored. The referee went and talked to both benches as the teams skated off the ice. It wasn't until both teams and the officials were off the ice, when the PA announcer announced the goal. My question is, if they beat the clock why wasn't any time added to the clock and a faceoff had before the end of the period? It was 4-2 Salmon Arm after 40 minutes of play. The Silverbacks start the period having to kill off the penalty, before scoring three straight quick goals three minutes apart, to grab a 4-0 lead. This was a back breaker and basically put the game away. I know it was early and still almost a period and a half left but having to come from behind down 4-0 on the road vs one of the league's top teams, is a huge task. Salmon Arm looked very good in the first half and outplayed the Vipers. Vernon was chasing and playing a lot of the period in their own end. Jack Glen dropped the gloves in his first junior hockey fight, gave the Snakes some life and turned the game around as the Vipers responded with a quick goal and played a little better for the remainder of the period. Vernon didn't get many chances, didn't have much puck possession, didn't look very good after coming off a very strong 1st period. Vernon outshot Salmon Arm 15-10.

3rd Period: The Vipers had a good shift to start the final frame, before Ryan Shostak would be robbed in close at the top of the crease. Liam Vanderkooi with a solid inside the opening minute. Tempers heated up at the one minute mark as both teams with a little pushing and shoving. Vernon would get an early power play about four and a half minutes in. Griffen Barr with a nice dangle, went in and out of a few Salmon Arm defenders before being shutdown by Liam Vanderkooi. Vernon struggled with the PP. The Silverbacks with a solid PK killed off the minor. Shortly after more pushing and shoving after a whistle as both teams were showing signs of frustration. I think the Snakes were showing signs of being down two goals in the 3rd and the Apes showing frustration with the officiating. Simon Tassy got in behind the Viper defenders, looked to have Roan Clarke beat rang his shot off the crossbar from in close as SA come within inches of almost putting this game away. Within the next three minutes, Daniel Panetta and Owen Desilets also rang iron as Roan Clarke and the Vipers catching some breaks, were still only down two goals. With just over four minutes remaining Vernon would get a late man advantage. Ryan Shostak turned over the puck at the blueline, allowing Noah Serdachny in on an odd man rush who couldn't get the pass acoss decided to keep and shoot would be denied by Roan Clarke. The Vipers would eventually re-group before Cameron MacDonald making his return to the Viper lineup after being sidelined with an undisclosed injury would be stopped on a wrap around as Vernon was close to getting to within a goal. The Snakes then lost a battle and a race for the puck as Simon Tassy went in for the shorthanded breakaway, almost went in to deep but would be stopped by the pad of Roan Clarke who managed to stick with the play and somehow get his left pad out to make the stop. Still shorthanded Ethan Ullrick on an odd man rush with a chance on a wrap around, looked to have Roan Clarke beat. Clarke was able to get across to make the difficult save as the puck rolled under Clarke and laid in the crease before the Vipers cleared the puck from harms way. Vernon giving up several shorthanded chances would eventually get Roan Clarke to the bench with just over two minutes remaining as the PP was expiring. Vernon had a few looks before Noah Serdachny and Simon Tassy went in for the breakaway. Serdachny hit the open cage giving Salmon Arm a 5-2 lead at 18:37 Simon Tassy and Isaac Lambert picked up the assists. Inside the final minute the Silverbacks still pressing come very close to scoring in the dying the seconds. Salmon Arm would come away with the 5-2 victory. In a period down two goals the Vipers didn't have much push as Vernon struggled offensively. The Snakes only had two, maybe three quality chances had several shots blocked or redirected as the S'Backs played very well defensively. At one point neither team did much of anything. The Gorillas hit a crossbar and two goal posts this period had several good chances either five on five or shorthanded. The Apes PK was not only good through out the game, but forced and caused several turnovers and scoring chances. Salmon Arm was the better of the two teams, carried the better of the play, had the better of the scoring chances as the Vipers struggled to get much of anything going this period. Salmon Arm outshot Vernon 13-9.

Top Player's: Vernon Vipers

Griffen Barr I thought played well on the Vipers backend. Jumped into the play on a few occassions.

Cameron MacDonald Returned to the Snakes lineup after being out for a lengthy period of time with an undisclosed injury. Saw limited time/shifts at times but brought some jump/energy to the lineup. Had some looks/chances, looked good. 

Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers

I really liked Vernon's 1st period. I thought the Vipers played one of their better periods in a while, had several looks, were getting pucks to the net, carried the edge in play, just couldn't find the back of the net. After a very good opening frame, the wheels fell off early into the 2nd period. The Snakes give up three quick goals three minutes apart, fall behind 4-0 and the games basically over at this point. The Vipers come on a bit towards the end of the period, scored two goals to get back in the hockey game. The 2nd period was a killer. Giving up three goals in three minutes, was tough to swollow and the Vipers couldn't recover. In the 3rd the Vipers struggled and had troubles creating/generating chances. Vernon's shots were being blocked, redirected or just not getting pucks through. The Vipers couldn't get much of anything going in the 3rd. The Viper PP has struggled all season and again tonight. The Snakes went 0-5 with the man advantage. Not only did the power play struggle it was the amount of chances shorthanded Vernon surrendered. The Snakes gave up way too many shorthanded opportunities. Give Vernon credit for playing a very well disciplined game. The Vipers biggest problem is scoring and has been all season. Inconsistency is also another problem. This team can't string together three straight good periods. It seems like Vernon is always trailing in most games and having to climb from behind. The Vipers lose back to back games vs the Silverbacks are 1-6 vs Salmon Arm this season (preseason & regular season). I spotted about twenty or so Viper fans at tonight's game. Asssistant Coach Eric Morissette wasn't on the bench this evening. The Vipers struggles continue as Vernon has lost four straight and have one win in their last ten games. With the loss Vernon falls to 4-7-3-2 sit 7th in the Interior Conference. Only Cowichan, Merritt and Wenatchee have fewer wins then the Vipers. With only one win in their last ten games, why haven't we seen any changes? Why haven't they made some trades by now to try and improve the team? The schedule doesn't get any easier with Prince George (9-6-0-0) Penticton (12-2-0-0) West Kelowna (12-4-0-0 and Langley (10-3-1-2) all coming up next for the Vipers. All teams with good records. I really don't like this years schedule. Vernon has played Salmon Arm five times and Penticton once and has yet to play Merritt, Trail & Cranbrook. Viper fans don't get to see the Bucks until February.  

Top Player's: Salmon Arm Silverbacks

Noah Serdachny (1 goal & 1 assist) Was very good for the Backs. This kid can skate, move the puck, has some skill and dangerous with and without the puck.

Danny Ciccarello (1 assist) I thought played very well at both ends of the rink. I really liked his game. Plays smart, made some heads up plays this evening and plays with a bit of an edge.

Simon Tassy (1 goal & 2 assists) This kid has killed the Vipers all season and once again tonight, picking up three points. This kid is very dangerous, makes plays happen in a hurry and very skilled. Quick on his feet, wins a ton of races and in and around the goal. 

Daniel Panetta (1 assist) Another kid who has played well against the Snakes this season. Played very well in the win tonight.

Owen Beckner (1 assist) A bigger kid who plays heavy, goes to the goal and battles. Played well.

Ethan Ullrick Looked good and played well at times through out the hockey game.

Isaac Lambert is another kid with some size, that played well at times through out the contest. Physical, battles and competes.

Brandon Sanata Juana (1 goal) I have liked this kid from the first preseason game. Has played well against Vernon this year, plays hard, plays with a lot of energy and looked good in the win.

Liam Vanderkooi (35 saves) Was the busier of the two goaltenders. Was forced to make some key stops and big saves in the 1st period with the Snakes pressing. One of the league's bigger netminders, covers a lot of the crease, plays with a lot of confidence. 

Game Thought's: Salmon Arm Silverbacks

The Silverbacks didn't get off to the start they wanted, didn't have a lot of puck possession but got some key saves from their goaltender, stayed a float before scoring a late goal to open the scoring. I think in a game where the other team had more of the opportunities and an edge in play, scoring late but also opening the scoring, takes the wind out of the sails of the visitors. The Apes with a strong 2nd period, had to kill off a power play to start the middle frame before scoring three goals in three minutes. The S'Backs were the better of the two teams in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The 2nd period was a back breaker for the Snakes who were down 4-0 on the road vs one of the league's top teams. Specialty teams was a key factor as Salmon Arm goes 2-2 with the man advantage and has a strong night shorthanded killing off all of Vernon's five PP's as well as generating several quality chances shorthanded. SA played well defensively, got some big stops from their backup goaltender but also blocked a lot of Vernon's shots and didn't give up as many opportunities in the 2nd and 3rd periods. The Silverbacks has some very fast/skilled forwards who capitalized on their chances. The Gorillas having one of the best seasons in many years look very good and will challenge Penticton and West Kelowna for top spot in the Interior Conference. The Silverbacks have Vernon's number this year are 4-1 vs the Vipers this season. These two teams will meet again in a home & home series in early Janauary in their final two meetings of the regular season. A very small crowd tonight with just over 400 fans in attendance. The Silverbacks have won ten of their last thirteen games. With the win, Salmon Arm improves to 12-3-1-0 sit 2nd in the Interior Conference.

Scratches:

Vernon Vipers:

Liam Cavan
Kjell Kjemhus (Injured)
Seiya Tanaka-Campbell (Injured)
Nicholas Kent (Injured)

Salmon Arm Silverbacks:

Gabriel Murrells-Allaway
Kieran Ruscheinski
Lynden Hanvold
Matthieu Bourgault
Lian Gayfer
Matthew Johnston

Three Star's:

1st Star: Simon Tassy (1 goal & 2 assists)
2nd Star: Liam Vanderkooi (35 saves)
3rd Star: Luke Buss (2 assists)

Energy Player of the Game:

Brandon Sanata Juana (1 goal)

Boxscore-Game Summary,

| BCHL League Site

Game Report,

Game Report (hockeytech.com)

Text Box Score,

Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com (hockeytech.com)

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions in the comment box below. I always enjoy and post all comments as long as there tasteful. 

Here are some photo's I took before and during tonight's Vipers-Silverbacks game.