I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following Junior hockey in Vernon my whole life. My family watched Senior mens hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching Junior hockey in Vernon since it started in 1961. I have two family members that played Junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990 and missed 5 home games since 2004 and 46 home games since 1990. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 2.2 million viewers. For anyone who couldn't watch or attend tonight's Vipers game, here are my thoughts and views from tonight's hockey game. You may agree or disagree, but we all have our own opinion on the hockey game and see things differently. 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-Wild game as Vernon defeated Wenatchee 4-2 in front of 1,687 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Ethan David
Wenatchee Wild: Andy Vlaha
2nd Period: Twenty four seconds into the middle frame, the Snakes sprung leading scorer Reagan Milburn in for the breakaway, would be denied by Wenatchee Wild starting netminder Andy Vlaha. About six and a half minutes into the 2nd period, the Wild would get an early PP. Wenatchee didn't really do much with the man advantage, until leading scorer Ean Somoza would be stopped from Ethan David from the slot on a quality chance. The hometown Vipers would kill off the penalty. Just over three minutes later, the Snakes would go on the man advantage. Vernon didn't do much on the PP as the Wenatchee Wild kill off the minor. The Vipers went back to the power play, just over a minute later. Within the first minute, Vernon would take a penalty, sending both teams to four on four before the Wild would get a late but shortened PP. In the dying seconds of the man advantage, a shot from the blueline would be stopped by Vernon Vipers starting goaltender Ethan David, before Parker Murray looked to have an open net on the rebound, somehow missed as the penalty expired with the game still scoreless. It was 0-0 after 40 minutes of play. Another very boring period with very little action. The Vipers would get one real good opportunity with Reagan Milburn's breakaway, while the Wenatchee Wild would get two good looks with the man advantage but other then that this wasn't a very exciting or entertaining hockey game. Neither team really looked good or played good in a period where the play was evenly matched. Shots were 9-9.
3rd Period: About two and a half minutes into the final period, Ethan David was handcuffed on a shot that the puck turned or changed direction and got behind the Viper goaltender, looked to go in but David somehow reached back and cleared the puck from going in on a very close call. The one official was to the left of the Vernon goal and on the goal line, saw everything. About a minute or so later, Lee Parks on an odd man rush, decided to keep and shoot, but missed the goal. Shortly after Micah Berger opened the scoring from the slot, giving the Wenatchee Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:46 Gabe Dombrowski & Cade Littler drew the helpers. Less then two minutes later, Luke Ashton's seeing eye point shot found it's way to the back of the net, tying the game 1-1 at 8:34 This was Ashton's first career BCHL goal. Anson McMaster and Hank Cleaves with the assists. Around the halfway mark, the Wild with a good opportunity to regain the lead, couldn't capitalize on a goal mouth scramble, as Ethan David had to be sharp, making a tough save on a scramble in and around the goal. On the following play, former Wenatchee Wild forward Jonathan Horn would be denied by Andy Vlaha before Ethan Sundar with a quick shot from the slot, would be stopped by Vlaha. Two good looks/chances for Vernon but two big stops from the Wild goaltender. Shortly after, Luke Ashton with another seeing eye shot from the point, gave Vernon a 2-1 lead at 13:06 Ashton's goal was almost a duplicate of his first goal and from the exact same spot. Ethan Sundar with the helper. Just over a minute later, Max Borovinskiy gave the Vipers a little insurance, beating Andy Vlaha from in close, giving Vernon a 3-1 lead at 14:13 Ethan Sundar and Julian Facchinelli picked up the assists. The Wild would get Andy Vlaha to the bench for the extra attacker with about 2:40ish remaining in the contest. Good pressure and drive to the goal, allowed Cade Littler to cut Vernon's lead to 3-2 at 17:36 Littler's goal was unassisted. The Wild would keep Andy Vlaha on the bench for the extra attacker, before Lee Parks won the race, hitting the open cage, giving Vernon a 4-2 lead at 18:05 Reagan Milburn & Luke Pakulak collected the assists. The Wild would keep the net empty, and press to try and get to within a goal. Wenatchee had some looks inside the final minute and one last push at the buzzer but the Vipers would hang on for the 4-2 victory. After two pretty boring periods with no real action/scoring chances the 3rd period saw both teams with opportunities. Both teams had some looks/chances as no goals were scored in the first two periods but six were scored in the final period. Both teams were pretty even with the Vipers holding a slight edge at times. The Snakes caught a few breaks on a couple of plays where Wenatchee could have scored. Shots were 11-11.
Vernon Vipers Top Player's:
Luke Ashton (2 goals) I don't know if Ashton had a strong game or not but scoring two goals and his first two career BCHL goals in the same game, have to count for something.
Ethan David (22 saves) Made two big saves on the PK in the 2nd period and come up large on at least three saves in the 3rd.
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- This was a very boring and non exciting game until the 3rd period where we actually saw some action
- The Vipers have won five of their last six home games
- Former Vernon Vipers Assistant Coach & Head Coach/GM Joe Oliver was in attendance
- Newly acquired forward Gavin Schmidt was a healthy scratch
- Jonathan Horn played his former team for the first time
- The Vipers next game is a home & home series next weekend vs Salmon Arm
- Very little to no contact through out the game
- I saw several scouts in the arena tonight
- The Snakes didn't look very good or play with much pace/energy in the first two periods
- With all the amount of trades/roster moves, you need to buy a program just to follow the team/players these days
- Vernon went 0-3 with the man advantage
- This wasn't a very good game overall
- The Snakes have lost three of their last five games, and lost six of their last ten games
- With the win, Vernon improves to 10-10-0-4 sit 6th in the Interior Division
Wenatchee Wild's Top Player's:
David Hejduk I thought played very well on the Wild blueline
Game Thought's: Wenatchee Wild
- Tonight was the first of five regular season meetings vs the Vernon Vipers
- Tonight was the third and final game of a three game road trip
- The Wild didn't impress me. They don't look very good
- Wenatchee went 0-3 on the power play
- The Wild have lost three straight road games
- The Wild & Vipers play again December 13th in Wenatchee
- Wild Head Coach Chris Clark was a goaltender with the Victoria Salsa & Salmon Arm Silverbacks from 2000-2002
- The Wild's next game is December 9th at home vs the Penticton Vees
- The Wild were playing their third game in four nights
- The Wild went 3-2 vs Vernon last season
- Dane Weston played the Vipers for the first time after being traded to Wenatchee November 28th
- The Wild have lost four straight and have one win in their last five games, have won six of their last ten games
- With the win, Wenatchee falls to 9-13-0-2 sit 8th in the Interior Division
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Connor Welsh
Gavin Schmidt
Anthony Cliche (Injured)
Wenatchee Wild:
Connor Overson
Luke Weilandt
Jeremiah Slavin
Garrett Szydlowski
Energy Player of the Game:
Seiya Tanaka-Campbell
Three Star's:
1st Star: Luke Ashton (2 goals)
2nd Star: Cade Littler (1 goal & 1 assist)
3rd Star: Ethan Sundar (2 assists)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions in the comment box below. Please be respectful when leaving comments.
6 comments:
I can't believe it, fans are so discouraged with the Viper and the so called coach that they don't even comment anymore! Guess they tired of wasting their breath!
Actually it is more like the so called fans don't know how to handle a win. They bitch like crazy when we lose but shut up when we win. I have come to realize that many posters on this site just want to rant. They certainly do not want to rave. They bitch about all the trades. Last year this time they bitched about the lack of trades. They bitch that we don't win a lot of games but forget that Ferner's team didn't usually come together until after Christmas. They forget their conversations about Ferner being here too long and a need for a fresh face (ie : coach) behind the bench. They bitch about the owners but did not put in an offer to buy the team themselves. Were there even any other offers on the table. I seem to remember A time when diehard was actually a fan. Now he has succumbed to all the negativity. I for one am fed up with all this the bitching. I will continue to attend the games and support the kids who are working to secure scholarships. I don't know if I will bother with this blog anymore as the negativity is just stupid. It doesn't do anything except create even more negativity. Enjoy chasing your tails with your bitch sessions. I much prefer positivity.
Good, don't bother, support the coach and gm who get rid of players like tossing out garbage, they have not chance to get a scholarship, they aren't here long enough.
AMEN!!! Well said! Yes to positivity! So much negativity and it’s such a downer. RAVE to you! Let’s support this team and what we have here. Go Vipers Go!!
This blog is just a bitch fest. Sad and So negative. Totally disappointing and instead of being educational it’s the exact opposite. Come and enjoy a game and support the players and organization and you will see a shift. Go Vipers Go!!
They barely scratched out a couple wins against teams below them in the standings but can they beat a team with a winning record?
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