Game Recap - Vernon 4 Cranbrook 0

I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following Junior hockey in Vernon my whole life. My family watched Senior men's 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 2.7 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 Vernon Vipers-Cranbrook Bucks game as the Vipers beat the Bucks 4-0 in front of 2,222 fans at Kal Tire Place.

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon Vipers: Colin Reay

Cranbrook Bucks: Braeydan McIntosh

1st Period: This was a pretty tight defensive game early and often as both teams played hard, were skating and full of energy but not a whole lot of room for either team to create/or generate offence. The Bucks needed five and a half minutes to get the games first shot on goal, while the Snakes needed six or so minutes to record their first shot of the period. I thought Vernon played with a lot of jump/energy and had a slight edge in play in the first six or seven minutes before the visiting Bucks were the better team for the remainder of the 1st period. The Vipers struggled offensively, had two good looks/opportunities by Hank Cleaves but other then that, had troubles getting pucks to the net and didn't generate a whole lot of scoring chances. Vernon turned the puck over at least four or five times in their own end and tried getting too cute on offence, instead of driving to the net or getting a shot on goal, they tried to make a pretty pass or drop pass and the play come back the other way. I liked Cranbrook's opening period, I thought the Bucks are a hard working, quick skating, puck moving team that play with pace and an aggressive forecheck. The Bucks had the better of the chances and more looks/opportunities. Colin Reay had to be sharp, was forced to make at least three large saves. It was 0-0 after 20 minutes of play. The Bucks go 0-1 with the man advantage. Cranbrook outshot Vernon 7-5.

2nd Period: I thought the Bucks had a bit of an edge in play early before Cranbrook got into penalty trouble, giving the hometown Vipers five straight power play's. The Vipers PP struggled as Vernon would get no shots on the first two power play's before getting three shots on their third man advantage but unable to get any looks/or chances. The Bucks PK was very aggressive, forced the Viper PP into turning over pucks and not being able to setup. Cranbrook had a couple of looks killed off the minors. Vernon had the better of the play and more puck possession due to all the penalties but only had a couple of looks/opportunities. Both teams went several minutes without a shot on goal. It was 1-0 Vernon after 40 minutes of play. The Snakes went 0-3 with the man advantage. The Vipers outshot the Bucks 15-7.

3rd Period: I thought the Snakes were the better team and played their best hockey of the evening in the final twenty minutes. Vernon would get some insurance scoring back to back power play goals less then two minutes into the final frame. The Vipers had the better of the play at times, had more puck possession and scored three third period goals. Cranbrook would take three more penalties in the period, while the Bucks would get starting goaltender Braeydan McIntosh to the bench while both teams were four on four with nine minutes remaining in the period. The Bucks would call a late timeout and get McIntosh back to the bench with just under three minutes remaining. Cranbrook had some good looks/scoring chances and a little zone time but couldn't solve Vipers starting netminder Colin Reay. The Vipers went 0-2 with the PP, while the Bucks went 0-1 on the man advantage. The Vipers come away with the 4-0 victory. Cranbrook outshot Vernon 11-7.

Vernon Vipers Top Performers:

Georgios Stavrianeas (1 goal) Was one of the better Vipers this evening. Not the biggest kid but comes to play almost every game, never takes a shift off, one of the hardest working kids on the team. Played a hard fought game at both ends of the rink tonight

Etienne Lessard (1 goal) Made his Viper debut tonight, scored on a 3rd period power play, isn't the biggest kid but can skate, move the puck and sees the ice well. Played well after signing with the Snakes on Wednesday. I really liked this kids attitude, fist pumping all of his team mates before the period started, talking on the bench and a lot of communicating on and off the ice

Hank Cleaves (1 assist) I thought had a couple of real good opportunities in the 1st period, played well

Anthony Cliche (2 assists) What a season Cliche is having. Picked up two helpers tonight, was very good on the blueline.

Colin Reay (25 saves-Shutout) Stopped all twenty five Cranbrook shots for his first career BCHL shutout. I thought was the busier of the two goaltenders. Had to be sharp in the 1st and 3rd periods with the Bucks pressing. Reay made a couple of large saves in the 1st and towards the end of the 3rd period. Was very solid between the pipes, looked confident and played his position well

Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers

- Tonight's the third game of a four game home stand

- The Vipers are 4-1 vs Cranbrook this season

- Vernon went 2-7 with the man advantage

- 19 yr old defenceman Etienne Lessard made his Vipers debut this evening

- This wasn't one of the Snakes better games. Vernon played with lots of jump/energy struggled through out a lot of tonight's game, missing passes, turning pucks over in their own end, struggled with the power play, struggled getting pucks to the net in the 1st period, were passing instead of shooting

- The Vipers next game is Saturday vs the Trail Smoke Eaters

- With the Bucks only eight points behind the Vipers prior to tonight's contest, this was a big game and a big win

- Vernon has won two of their last three games

- I heard the Vipers have traded defenceman Maks Percic

- I thought Vernon played it's best hockey in the 3rd

- This wasn't the Vipers best performance tonight but at the end of the day they managed to capitalize on a couple of early 3rd period power play's and come away with the 4-0 victory

- A fair size crowd on hand this evening to watch the Cranbrook Bucks. Tonight's attendance was announced at 2,222

- I thought the Snakes struggled offensively in the first two periods. Vernon had troubles getting pucks to the net and creating/generating opportunities

- The Viper PP struggled in the 2nd period. The Snakes with three straight back to back to back power play's would get no shots on the first two, while three shots on the final one. Vernon would get zero chances or even a sniff on either of the three PP's gave up several shorthanded rushes

- The Vipers have outscored the Bucks 24-9 in five games 

- The Vipers improve to 10-4-1-0 at Kal Tire Place

- The Snakes have lost five of their last seven games and lost seven of their last eleven games

- I have heard the Snakes have acquired a forward who is from the Czech Republic was playing in the Western Hockey League and was at tonight's game

- The Snakes are three points back of 3rd place Salmon Arm 

- I thought the Vipers played well and played with a lot of jump/energy the first six or seven minutes into the 1st period then struggled and were outplayed for the remainder of the opening frame

- These two teams will meet again January 28th in Cranbrook

- The Vipers play four of their next six games on the road

- The first two periods saw a lot of defensive play and not a whole lot of open ice/opportunities

- The Viper power play struggled in the 2nd period but was much better in the 3rd

- With the win, Vernon improves to 18-11-1-0 sit 4th in the Interior Conference

Cranbrook Bucks Top Performers:

Joseph Blackley saw a lot of ice time, played well on the Bucks backend

Nic Leggett a former Salmon Arm Silverbacks defenceman, saw a ton of ice time, played well five on five and on the man advantage. 

Jack Silich Was shifty, hard to defend, made some plays and made things happen with the puck

Donovan Frias was one of the more consistent Bucks forwards, played hard, battled/competed

Game Thought's: Cranbrook Bucks

- The Bucks are 0-3-0-0 in Vernon this season

- Cranbrook went 0-2 with the power play

- The Bucks were down 1-0 heading into the 3rd, gave up two early back to back power play goals, couldn't recover. Cranbrook did get some zone time/quality chances in the 3rd but couldn't capitalize on their opportunities

- The last time these two teams met, the Bucks won 3-1 December 15th in Cranbrook

- The Bucks have won three of their last five road games

- Other then being undisciplined, I thought the Bucks are a hard working team, aggressive on the forecheck and PK can skate, move the puck, have some size and created some chances

- Cranbrook has lost four straight games

- Tonight's the first game of a five game road trip

- Bucks Assistant Coach Roman Vopat played four seasons in the NHL with Los Angeles, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Chicago

- Cranbrook got into penalty trouble, taking several undisciplined penalties in the 2nd period cost them the hockey game

- The Bucks are ten points back of Vernon in the standings

- I really liked the Bucks PK. Cranbrook with an aggressive penalty kill, forced the Snakes into making a poor pass, turning pucks over & creating offensive chances

- The Bucks next game is Saturday in West Kelowna

- Is Bucks forward Kaslo Ferner related to former Vernon Vipers Head Coach/GM Mark Ferner?

- Cranbrook couldn't solve Vipers starting goaltender Colin Reay, couldn't capitalize on their opportunities

- The TSN turning point was when Bryce Sookro took a undisciplined roughing minor towards the end of the 2nd period, sending Vernon to a late five on three. The Vipers would score early into the 3rd on the two man advantage, to take a 3-0 lead

- The Bucks started the season with only three wins in their first fifteen games. Since then, Cranbrook has won ten of their last seventeen games

- I thought Cranbrook played well in the 1st period, seemed to gain some momentum and take over the edge in play and finish the 1st on a strong note

- With the loss, Cranbrook falls to 13-18-1-0 sit 6th in the Interior Conference

Scratches:

Vernon Vipers:

Jordin Palmer (Injured)

Noah Dorey (Injured)

Julain Facchinelli (Injured)

Maks Percic

Bronson Ross

Cranbrook Bucks:

Loke Sodergren

Jarrod Smith

Danick Leroux

Energy Player of the Game:

Georgios Stavrianeas (1 goal)

Three Star's:

1st Star: Colin Reay (25-saves-shutout)

2nd Star: Hank Cleaves (1 assist)

3rd Star: Etienne Lesard (1 goal)

Boxscore-Game Summary,

Cranbrook Bucks @ Vernon Vipers Friday, January 05, 2024 | BCHL League Site

Game Report,

Game Report (hockeytech.com)

Text Box Score,

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

Vernon Junior Hockey History website,

VernonJrAHockey.CA

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