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 2.8 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 today's Vernon Vipers-Prince George Spruce Kings game as the Spruce Kings defeated Vernon 6-5 in overtime in front of 2,845 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Ethan David
Prince George Spruce Kings: Charlie Zolin
1st Period: I thought the hometown Vipers were ready to play, got off to a quick/strong start and were the better team for the first five to six minutes. Vernon was skating, moving the puck, playing with lots of jump/energy, had a couple of looks early before Julian Facchinelli opened the scoring at 5:56 The Snakes were ahead 8-2 in shots and everything looked good until Noah Dorey lost the puck at the blueline allowing Linden Makow in for the breakaway, tied the game on just the third shot of the period for PG and the game/momentum changed. From here on in until the buzzer the Spruce Kings gained life, started skating, moving the puck, carried the play, had more puck possession and zone time, were outskating Vernon, winning the races, winning the battles and overall the better team to finish the opening frame. This was a very chippy period with lots of pushing/shoving, trash talking, players getting under each others skin etc. It was 2-1 Prince George after 20 minutes of play. PG went 1-1 with the man advantage. Shots were 11-9 Spruce Kings.
Here are some photo's I took before and during today's Vernon Vipers-Prince George Spruce Kings game.
2nd Period: Just 0:53 into the middle frame, the Spruce Kings take an early 3-1 lead. Other then a couple of shifts, it was all Prince George as the Spruce Kings played very well at both ends of the rink. The Spruce Kings were skating, using their speed and strong forecheck to win the battles, win the races, force turnovers, carried the better of the play, outworked and outskated the Vipers. PG looked hungry and played with a lot of pace. I really liked the Spruce Kings effort and 2nd period. The Snakes didn't look good, didn't play good, turned over the puck way too often, weren't skating, were losing battles and races to the puck, caught standing around often, allowed PG forwards to skate into the middle of the ice and get a clear cut path/shot away. The Vipers were fumbling the puck, missing passes, not getting pucks to the net. Other then a couple of shifts, Vernon didn't look good or play well at all. It was 4-2 Prince George after 40 minutes of play. Spruce Kings go 0-2 with the PP. Shots were 13-8 PG.
3rd Period: 1:12 into the 3rd the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings looked to put the game away, jumping out to an early 5-2 lead. Shortly after the Vipers looked to get to within two goals but the official waved the goal off immediately. The officials said the goal was knocked in with a high stick. Shortly after the Spruce Kings get an early power play. The Spruce Kings can't capitalize with the man advantage. Four minutes later the Vipers get two quick goals forty nine seconds apart and the momentum quickly changes. The Vipers start skating, moving the puck, take over the edge in play, carry the puck for most of the remainder of the hockey game. With not a whole lot of shots but loads of pressure, Noah Dorey's second goal of the contest with 1.1 seconds remaining, forces overtime. It was 5-5 after 60 minutes of play. The Vipers show up to play in the second half of the period and play their best hockey of the evening. The Snakes were by far the better team to finish the game. Georgios Stavrianeas hits the post with about seven minutes remaining. Shots were 6-4 Vipers.
Overtime: The Snakes with a good start to the extra frame, have the early edge in play, get some good looks/opportunities but most of their four shots were fired right at Spruce Kings starting netminder Charlie Zolin. Vernon was skating/moving the puck just couldn't capitalize three on three before allowing Skogen Schrott to undress a Viper defender before going high over Vipers starting goaltender Ethan David, giving Prince George the 6-5 overtime victory on the Spruce Kings first shot of OT. Shots were 4-1 Vernon.
Vernon Vipers Top Performers:
The line of Julian Facchinelli (1 goal), Luke Bibby (1 assist) & Nick Mikan (1 assist) I thought looked real good to start the game. This line was the Snakes best line off the opening puck drop and had some good early shifts, one that opened the scoring. Once the momentum changed in the 1st period, this line wasn't nearly as good or looked good for a lot of the hockey game
Noah Dorey (2 goals) Lost the puck at the blueline in the opening frame, that resulted in Linden Makow's breakaway tying goal. Other then that one mistake I thought Dorey played well in the 3rd period and overtime
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- With Salmon Arm's 3-1 win over the Cranbrook Bucks this evening, the Vipers will finish 4th in the Interior Conference and host the 5th place Trail Smoke Eaters in the playoffs
- The Vipers went 6-1-1-0 vs Prince George this season
- Vipers forward Georgios Stavrianeas hit the post in the 3rd period
- Tonight was very frustrating watching a Viper team that come ready to play and looked good in the first five to six minutes before completely falling apart and looking so bad for most of the remainder of the game until they decided to show up for the final ten minutes, where they would manage to tie the game and force overtime. Very inconsistent
- The Snakes have won eight of their last eleven home games
- Vernon went 0-0 with the power play
- It seemed like the Vipers were trying to do too much at times, instead of keeping the game simple, get pucks to the net and look for rebounds or get traffic in front
- Vipers Interim Head Coach Lukas Lomicky was an Assistant Coach with the Spruce Kings from 2020-2022
- The Vipers next game is the final regular season game Saturday vs the visiting Powell River Kings
- I really liked Vernon's start and thought the Snakes looked very good early in the 1st period. I thought the Vipers had some jump/energy, were moving the puck, had a couple of early looks, opened the scoring before giving up the puck minutes after taking the lead and fell apart and didn't look the same for the remainder of the period. The Vipers quick skating, had just one shot in the final thirteen minutes of the opening frame, were outskated and outplayed
- Another large crowd on hand this evening. Tonight's attendance was announced at 2,845
- The Vipers have at least a point in five straight games
- Tonight's the first game of a four game home stand
- Vernon turned over the puck way too much tonight, struggled with the puck in their own end all night
- The Snakes didn't get a single power play
- In nine games this month, four of those nine games have been vs Prince George
- Colton Sparrow and Lukas Lomicky are 6-2-1-0 since taking over the Vipers bench after parting ways with Head Coach/GM Jason McKee
- Other then a couple of shifts, the Vipers didn't play well or look good in the 2nd period. The Snakes once again were turning over the puck often, gave up a goal fifty three seconds into the period, weren't skating, had trouble getting any kind of offensive pressure or pucks to the net. The Vipers were badly outplayed, outskated and outworked in the middle frame. The Vipers were losing most battles, races to the puck and played with no jump/or energy
- The Vipers have won four of their last five games and won six of their last ten games
- The Vipers had a goal disallowed early to start the 3rd period after the goal was waved off due to the high stick
- The Vipers are 4-2 in overtime this season
- The Snakes will open the playoffs at home April 5th vs the Trail Smoke Eaters
- I don't think you can blame Ethan David on any of the six goals but I don't think he looked very sharp. It seemed like PG had the better of the play often but not a whole lot of quality opportunities and then one shot and it's in the back of the net. I think at some point you need a save or two, to try and keep this a one goal game instead of falling behind two or more
- The Vipers have been inconsistent all season and tonight was another example. Vernon played well/looked good for maybe twelve-fifteen minutes tonight
- The Vipers are 17-6-1-0 at home this season
- Down 4-2 going into the 3rd, it didn't look good as PG scored 1:12 into the period. Down 5-2 and looking like the game was over, the Vipers get a huge penalty kill early to start the period before scoring two quick goals forty nine seconds apart to rally the team and force overtime. Noah Dorey's game tying goal with 1.1 second remaining, forced the extra frame
- The Snakes struggled to get pucks on goal or anywhere near the net as Vernon didn't record double digit shots in any of the four periods
- Vernon was the better team in overtime, carried the better of the play, had the puck on their stick most of the OT couldn't capitalize
- Tonight was the third straight game vs Prince George
- I will give the Vipers a little credit for battling back and playing hard in the final ten minutes to tie the game late/force overtime but tonight's effort wasn't good enough, especially a week away from the playoffs. If the Snakes play like they did tonight next weekend, the season will end quick
With the overtime loss, Vernon falls to 32-19-2-0 sit 4th in the Interior Conference
Prince George Spruce Kings Top Performers:
Kai Greaves (2 assists) I thought looked and played very well on the Spruce Kings backend. This kid has size and played well at both ends of the rink
Skogen Schrott (Overtime winner) I thought played very well. Not the biggest kid but can skate, move the puck, had some looks/chances, was hard to contain/defend and gave the Vipers trouble through out the contest
Linden Makow (1 goal & 1 assist) I thought was another forward that played well, gave Vernon trouble
Owen Goodbrand (2 goals) I thought played very well. Scored twice but also did the little things away from the play. Come up with a huge block in the dying seconds of the 3rd that looked to save the win in regulation but the Vipers get control of the loose puck and tie the game on the same play with 1.1 seconds left. A tough break for Goodbrand
Ben LeFranc Is another PG defenceman that played well, logged a lot of minutes
Charlie Zolin (22 saves) Wasn't tested much through out the first three periods but was sharp/confident in overtime. Was out to challenge, was at the top of the blue paint and forced the Snakes to shoot right at his belly/mid section
Game Thought's: Prince George Spruce Kings
- The Spruce Kings last regular season win in Vernon was a 8-0 victory on October 22nd 2022
- The Spruce Kings next game is the final regular season game Saturday in Merritt
- About fifteen-twenty or so Spruce Kings fans in attendance this evening
- Prior to tonight, PG had lost ten straight road games
- Prince George didn't get off to a good start, as the Vipers had the early edge in play. Vernon opened the scoring and were ahead in shots 8-2 It wasn't long after Linden Makow capitalized on a Viper turnover, tied the game and the Spruce Kings never really looked back as they were by far the better team for the remainder of the opening frame
- PG went 1-5 with the man advantage
- The Spruce Kings went 1-3-0-0 in Vernon this season
- Prince George will open the playoffs vs the 1st place Penticton Vees
- This was a very chippy game, especially in the 1st and 3rd periods. Lots of pushing/shoving, trash talking and players getting under the skin of each other
- For a team sitting last in the Interior Conference, the Spruce Kings are a much better team then their record shows
- Spruce Kings Head Coach Alex Evin is in his seventh season with PG, was a goaltender with Williams Lake, Powell River & Penticton from 2003-2008
- The Spruce Kings had the bounces and puck luck most of the night
- Prince George capitalized on several of Vernon's turnovers/defensive mistakes
- The Spruce Kings are 4-21-1-0 on the road
- PG with a strong 2nd period, outplayed and outworked the Snakes in the middle frame. The Spruce Kings scored twice to take a two goal lead into the 3rd, simply outskated and outworked Vernon that 2nd period. PG was winning the races, battles along the wall, forcing turnovers and played well defensively
- The Spruce Kings had the majority of the calls go their way this evening
- Give PG full credit in a game tonight that meant nothing to them in the standings, come to play and played hard for most of the contest other then a bit of a collapse in the 3rd period
- The Spruce Kings played well defensively, kept Vernon to the outside, limited their opportunities and took away the Vipers time and space
- PG has lost three of their last five games and lost seven of their last ten games
- With the overtime win, Prince George improves to 16-34-3-0 sit 8th in the Interior Conference
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Zhenya Miles
Payton Struck
Owen King (Injured-Out for season)
Simon Binkley (AP)
Linden Burrett
Cooper Cleaves (AP)
Luke Pakulak
Prince George Spruce Kings:
Trent Ballentyne
Aidan Carolan
Jared Langdon
Brogan McNeil
Ryan Sanborn
Markus Lam
Energy Player of the Game:
Carson McGinley (1 goal)
Three Star's:
1st Star: Owen Goodbrand (2 goals)
2nd Star: Noah Dorey (2 goals)
3rd Star: Hank Cleaves (1 goal & 1 assist)
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.
4 comments:
Great summary, Vipers had a solid comeback that was fun to watch. PG showed up for more of the game tonight. Officials were horrific. Same flavour as two weeks ago, wonder if the bias will persist through playoffs.
One of the refs (pavia) was also one of the refs at the alberni valley game. He did an even more horrible job at reffing then. It seems that the league needs to make a serious investment in educating the refs so that we see actual consistency and fairness in every game no matter who is playing. The current biases leave much to be desired. On another note, I felt the diehard gave a pretty accurate summary of the game. We really need to play 60 minutes or at least close to that. This nonsense of passing to no one or worse, the other team, and the dump and fetch play they seem to favour needs to stop. It is amazing how often they score when they actually decide to shoot at the goal.
Winer! If that's all you can do is complain about the reffing why bother to go to the game. They don't need to educate the refs they need to educate winners like yourself. Your argument that the refs are biased is stupid and assinine!
I coached hockey at all levels for 10 years not once did I think the refs were biased or changed the outcome of the game! To think this way shows the ignorance of the individual and denotes a sore loser who blames everything but the team play.
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