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-Prince George Spruce Kings game as the Vipers defeated the Spruce Kings 7-5 in front of 3,060 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Colin Reay
Prince George Spruce Kings: Ryan Sanborn
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2nd Period: The visiting Prince George Spruce Kings re-grouped and come ready to play in the middle frame as the Spruce Kings jumped on Vernon early and often. The Spruce Kings badly outplayed the Snakes for most of the 2nd period, outworked, outskated, outshot and outscored the Vipers. PG was skating, moving the puck, were winning battles, races to the puck and forcing the Vipers into making mistakes, turning over pucks and creating opportunities. The Spruce Kings with back to back goals thirty eight seconds apart tied the game 3-3 before Erik Pastro regained Vernon's lead 4-3 late in the period. The Vipers stopped skating, couldn't make a pass, were losing battles, losing races to the puck, turning over pucks, were caught flat footed saw a lot of action in their own end. Vernon struggled and didn't look good or play good in a terrible period. The Snakes went a lengthy period of time without a shot on goal. It was 4-3 Vernon after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 7-6 Prince George.
3rd Period: The Vipers were the better team, having a slight edge over Prince George. I thought the Snakes had more control of the play, more zone time, puck possession and re-grouped from a terrible 2nd period. The Vipers played with the lead in a period where it saw the momentum change a few times. The Spruce Kings didn't quit and kept clawing their way back but as soon as they got to within a goal, they seemed to give up a goal. PG looked good at times but not good at other times. The Spruce Kings had trouble gaining puck possession and zone time for more then a couple of shifts, before turning the play back over to Vernon. The Spruce Kings would get Ryan Sanborn to the bench for the extra attacker with about 2:20 remaining. PG would get to within a goal before Hank Cleaves put the game away with an empty netter, giving Vernon the 4-3 victory. The Vipers outshot the Spruce Kings 11-7.
Vernon Vipers Top Performers:
Julian Facchinelli (1 assist) I thought played very well and looked good through out the win tonight. Made a strong play along the boards, that resulted in a goal. Played hard, played with pace/energy and was generating offence/opportunities. Was hard to defend and play against
Carson McGinley (2 assists) Got off to a bit of a slow start when first joining the Snakes, but had really come on and settled in nicely as of late. This kid is quick, can move the puck, has soft hands, hard to defend/contain and is shift, creates/generates offence. Played very well this evening
Hank Cleaves (1 goal & 2 assists) Was recently named Honourable mention for Player of the Month, had a strong game tonight. I thought Cleaves played hard, another forward who played with a lot of jump, was in on the play, going to the net, created/generated chances, looked good through out the game
Luke Pakulak (2 goals) Opened the scoring, scored Vernon's first two 1st period goals, played well and looked good. Pakulak was strong in on pucks/the forecheck, going to the net, finishing checks, always plays hard, competes
Isaac Tremblay (2 goals) Another forward that had some good looks/opportunities, was in and around the net, played well and looked good through out the game.
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The Vipers have five regular season home games left
- The Vipers & Spruce Kings play each other three more times this regular season
- Tonight's the first game of a two game home stand
- The Vipers are two points back of 3rd place Salmon Arm
- Vernon has won six of their last seven home games
- The Snakes were wearing their 3rd set yellow jerseys
- I really liked Vernon's start. I thought the Vipers had a couple of early looks/opportunities, were by far the better team in the 1st period. I thought the Snakes carried the better of the play, had more zone time, puck possession did struggle to get pucks to the net
- Another large crowd on hand this evening. Tonight's attendance was announced at 3,060
- The Vipers went 1-3 with the power play
- The Vipers are 15-5-1-0 at Kal Tire Place
- After a great opening period, Vernon didn't show up in the 2nd period, looked awful. The Snakes were badly outplayed, outworked, outshot and outscored. The Vipers couldn't make a pass, turned over several pucks, were making mistakes, looked flat footed and didn't have much jump/energy in their game
- Vernon played a very disciplined game only taking two penalties all night
- The Snakes are five points ahead of 5th place Trail
- The Vipers are 4-1-0-0 vs Prince George
- Vipers Head Coach/GM Jason McKee wasn't behind the bench tonight
- The Vipers have nine games remaining in the regular season
- The Vipers & Spruce Kings meet again March 22nd in Prince George
- I thought the Vipers re-grouped after a terrible 2nd period and played much better in the 3rd. I don't think Vernon played as well as they did in the opening frame but played better then then middle frame. I thought the Snakes had the edge in play, had more puck possession, zone time and scored three goals
- The Vipers struggled with their passing tonight, made lots of missed passes, also caused lots of turnovers
- How great has the attendance been this season? Another large crowd tonight. The atmosphere and large crowds add to the games and make the games more enjoyable
- Lots of rumors going around the arena tonight that Vipers Head Coach Jason McKee has been fired/let go
- The Vipers have won three of their last five games and won six of their last ten games
- I have noticed the Vipers have been blowing leads lately. Tonight the Vipers blew a 3-1 lead and allowed the Spruce Kings to get to within a goal after holding leads of 5-3 and 6-4
- I have heard from a reliable source Jason McKee is gone
- The Vipers next game is Saturday vs the visiting West Kelowna Warriors
- Vipers Assistant Coach Lukas Lomicky was an Assistant Coach with the Spruce Kings from 2020-2022
- One thing I have noticed this season with the large crowds, is the concessions aren't big enough to cater to this many people at once. Long lineups constantly at almost every Vipers home game this year
- These are games the Snakes have to win down the stretch if they want to try and stay ahead of Trail and maybe catch Salmon Arm
- With the win, Vernon improves to 27-17-1-0 sits 4th in the Interior Conference
Prince George Spruce Kings Top Performers:
Aidan Souligny (1 assist) The former Salmon Arm Silverbacks defenceman collected 1 assist in a well played game on the Spruce Kings blueline
Skogen Schrott (1 assist) Not the biggest kid but quick on his feet, played well. Generated some offence, was denied on a 1st period breakaway
Luca Primerano (1 goal) Looked good at times, had some looks
Kilian McGregor-Bennett (2 goals) Scored both of Prince George's first two goals, was hard to contain/defend, is very skilled, and another forward that looked good for the Spruce Kings
Ryan Sanborn (23 saves) Allowed five goals but did make some big stops early in the hockey game to keep the Spruce Kings in the contest. Sanborn had some puck luck but also if it wasn't for a few saves, the Vipers may have blown this game open and not given PG a chance to stay in the hockey game
Game Thought's: Prince George Spruce Kings
- The Spruce Kings are 0-3-0-0 in Vernon
- Prince George didn't get a single power play tonight
- The Spruce Kings have lost seven straight road games and have just two wins in their last seventeen road games
- I spotted a couple of Spruce Kings fans in attendance tonight
- The Spruce Kings next game is Saturday in Merritt
- PG didn't get off to a good start and was outplayed for most of the opening frame other then a couple of shifts
- The Spruce Kings are nine points back of 7th place Cranbrook
- The Spruce Kings were wearing their red 3rd set jerseys
- The Spruce Kings opened the scoring on just their second shot of the 1st period
- Skogen Schrott was denied by Colin Reay on a 1st period breakaway
- Give this Prince George team credit for not folding the tents and packing it in. The Spruce Kings were down 3-1, 5-3 and 6-4 continued to battle, didn't go away, made the Vipers earn the win
- The Spruce Kings looked and played their best in the middle frame, with a very strong 2nd period. PG badly outplayed Vernon. The Spruce Kings were skating, moving the puck, winning races, puck battles, forcing the Vipers into turnovers couldn't continue this into the 3rd and final period
- Tonight's the first game of a four game road trip
- The Spruce Kings have been outscored 21-7 in three games played in Vernon
- The Spruce Kings have lost four of their last five games and lost eight of their last ten games
- PG has nine regular season games remaining
- Your not going to win many hockey games with no more then eight shots in a period
- The Spruce Kings are 3-18-1-0 on the road this season
- With the loss, Prince George falls to 14-28-3-0 sits 8th in the Interior Conference
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Zhenya Miles
Payton Struck
Owen King (Injured-Out for season)
Ewan McPherson
Bronson Ross
Prince George Spruce Kings:
Trent Ballentyne
Aidan Carolan
Alex Coventry
Charlie Zolin
Energy Player of the Game:
Carson McGinley (2 assists)
Three Star's:
1st Star: Isaac Tremblay (2 goals)
2nd Star: Luke Pakulak (2 goals)
3rd Star: Kilian McGregor-Bennett (2 goals)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
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1 comment:
No Coach behind the bench, rumour that he is fired, big news like that and nothing from the Vipers, officially!
I heard rumours also, that it was after the loss to Prince George last Saturday, about an incident on how he disciplined the players. Also, heard there was a mini player uprising something like, him or us have to go!
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