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 missing only 40 home games. Since 2001 I have missed 10 home games. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 3 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 exhibition game between the Vernon Vipers & West Kelowna Warriors as the Warriors defeated the Vipers 4-0 in front of 700 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Sam Saskiw
West Kelowna Warriors: Ayo Ogini
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2nd Period: The visiting West Kelowna Warriors jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back as the Tribe dominated the middle frame. The Warriors scored three times to take a 4-0 lead, capitalizing on several Vernon turnovers. The Warriors were again physical, finishing there checks, moved the puck well, had several good looks and capitalized on their opportunities. West Kelowna should have had a 5-0 lead but a quick whistle from the officials on a loose puck in the crease, cost WK a goal. The Vipers didn't look good or play very good, were outplayed for most of the 2nd period. The Snakes struggled at both ends of the rink, turned over the puck often. Vipers starting goaltender Sam Saskiw was replaced by Marko Bilic midway through the period. Saskiw gave up four goals on nineteen Warriors shots. Vernon saw a lot of action in their own end, struggled to get across the red line and gain any play in the offensive zone. The Vipers powerplay struggled, didn't generate much on a lengthy two man advantage after Frankie D'Ancona was tossed from the hockey game with a five minute major. It was 4-0 Warriors after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 12-9 for Vernon.
3rd Period: Down 4-0 to start the final frame, the Snakes come out with a much better effort. Vernon was able to gain some early puck possession and carried the play early as the Vipers were the better team in the final period. The Snakes stepped up there play, played with a lot more jump, started to lay the body and be a little physical at times, were able to create/generate some open ice and get a couple of looks. With West Kelowna ahead by four goals, it looked like the Tribe took their foot off the gas as WK didn't see a whole lot of time with the puck or in the offensive zone. Vernon played better but didn't get any real quality opportunities. Rorke Gilmour beat Warriors starting goaltender Ayo Ogini but not the crossbar late in the contest. West Kelowna opened the preseason with a 4-0 victory in Vernon. Shots were 8-7 Vipers.
Vernon Vipers Top Performers:
Zhenya Miles I thought was one of the Snakes better d-men in the loss. Acquired from West Kelowna last season, Miles was facing his former team.
Vinny Ipri committed to the Vipers for the 2024-25 season, isn't the biggest kid but was another defenceman that impressed me tonight. I thought Ipri can skate, played well on the blueline in his first exhibition game.
Jakub Galnor committed to the Vernon Vipers for the 2024-25 season, was impressive in his preseason debut. This kid can skate, move the puck, has some skill/wheels and was one of the more better forwards. Galnor was involved in the play, make plays happen and generated some opportunities.
Koji Gibson also committed to the Vipers for the 2024-25 season, was another forward who caught my eye and impressed me. This kid has some size, was involved in the play, went to the net, created/generated some chances and was hard to defend
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- Tonight was the Vipers first of four preseason games
- Vernon went 0-5 with the man advantage
- Payton Struck, Bronson Ross and Zhenya Miles were the three lone players returning from last season who were in the lineup this evening
- The Vipers and Warriors will meet six times during the 2024-25 regular season
- I liked the Snakes first half of the opening frame and parts of the 3rd period
- The Vipers made too many mistakes tonight and it cost them on a couple of goals
- The Vipers went 0-2 in the preseason vs West Kelowna last season
- Vernon's powerplay struggled. The Vipers had a full two man advantage in the 2nd period, had a couple of looks but otherwise didn't do much
- The Vipers next exhibition game is Saturday in Penticton
- A good sized crowd for the first preseason game
- Starting goaltender Sam Saskiw was replaced by Marko Bilic halfway through the middle frame. Saskiw gave up four goals on nineteen Warriors shots
- Vernon went 1-4-0-0 vs the Warriors last season
- The Snakes turned over the puck a ton and it cost them on a couple of goals
- Vernon went with a younger lineup tonight
- The Vipers weren't very physical, didn't finish their checks, were outhit a lot in the loss
- Vernon has twelve players returning from the 2023-24 season
- The Vipers were badly outplayed and outworked in the 2nd period. Vernon saw a lot of play in their own end, struggled to get through the neutral zone. The Snakes didn't see much time with the puck in the offensive zone
- Defenceman Zhenya Miles was acquired in a trade last season from the West Kelowna Warriors
- Vernon played disciplined, only taking one minor penalty
- The Vipers & Warriors will meet again September 27th in West Kelowna
- The Snakes struggled offensively tonight. Vernon had some good looks/opportunities but not a whole lot of quality chances
- With the loss, Vernon falls to 0-1 in the preseason
West Kelowna Warriors Top Performers:
Elias Callgren (1 goal) Scored on the PP, I thought played well on West Kelowna's backend
Luciano Bruno (1 goal & 1 assist) Opened the scoring late in the 1st period. This kid can skate and has a quick released, scored a nice goal.
Frankie D'Ancona (2 assists) Was having a heck of a hockey game before being ejected in the 2nd period, was given a five minute major and game misconduct for high sticking
Dylan Krayer (1 goal & 2 assists) Was the Tribes best forward and gave the Vipers all kinds of trouble. This kid played very well, was hard to contain/defend
Laz Giardina (1 goal) Scored the Warriors second goal, early into the 2nd period, has some size. This kid is physical, plays hard and hard to play against
Ayo Ogini (30 saves-shutout) Wasn't tested often but when tested, stood tall to make the saves when needed. A big goaltender that covers alot of the net. Doesn't give up any rebounds/second opportunities. I thought was his best early in the hockey game when the Vipers had the majority of their quality chances
Game Thought's: West Kelowna Warriors
- Tonight's the first game of a two game road trip
- Including the preseason and regular season, the Warriors were 4-0 in Vernon last season
- West Kelowna looks to have their team picked, with most of the players having their names on the back of their jerseys
- The Warriors went 1-1 with the man advantage
- West Kelowna's next preseason game is Saturday in Cranbrook
- The Tribe has some very skilled players that gave Vernon's defenders difficulties tonight
- Warriors Head Coach/GM Simon Ferguson played with the Kelowna Rockets Memorial Cup Championship team
- Tonight was the Warriors first of four exhibition games
- The Warriors went with a more older roster
- I spotted a small handful of Warriors fans in attendance
- WK was very physical, finished their checks, really used their size to knock around a few Vernon players
- The Warriors have three players returning from the 2023-24 season
- West Kelowna was by far the better team and it not only showed on the scoreboard but also the play on the ice. The Warriors didn't make a lot of mistakes other then getting into some penalty trouble, looked like a well oiled machine in the 2nd period
- The Tribe have some size, skill and speed along with good defence and solid goaltending
- I thought West Kelowna did a great job at shutting down Vernon's offence, took away their time and space and limited their chances
- With the win, West Kelowna improves to 1-0 in the preseason
Vernon Vipers Lineup/Roster:
Forwards:
Reid Rabinovitch 08
Jakub Galnor 06
Kasen Harrold 07
Weston Field 06
Simon Binkley 06
Keeghan Dunn 07
Charlie Kresl 06
Sean Gibbons 05
London Taylor 08
Payton Struck 05
Bronson Ross 06
Koji Gibson 07
Defencemen:
Max Kelly 07
Zhenya Miles 06
Vinny Ipri 06
Roarke Gilmour 06
Joey Mugaas 05
Russell Weatherhead 06
Goaltenders:
Marko Bilic 05
Sam Saskiw 07
West Kelowna Warriors Lineup/Roster:
Forwards:
Elias Callgren 04
Dion Schraeder 07
Lucas Brassard 07
Maddox Watson 06
Luciano Bruno 06
Logan Flint 07
Frankie D'Ancona 04
Dylan Krayer 07
Laz Giardina 06
Caden Kemkaren-Humble 05
Eliot Compton 07
Kelsen Podworny 07
Defencemen:
Brady Flynn 06
Quinlan Parry 07
Luka Graziano 07
Brock Heidecker 08
Kaiden Schaupmeyer 05
Aidan Malone 06
Luke Schraeder 05
Goaltenders:
Dawson Labre 04
Ayo Ogini 05
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
No scratches were announced
West Kelowna Warriors:
No scratches were announced
Three Star's:
1st Star: Ayo Ogini (30 saves-shutout)
2nd Star: Dylan Krayer (1 goal & 2 assists)
3rd Star: Luciano Bruno (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.
2 comments:
Always love the recaps, thank you.
For those worrying too much about the score just remember these exhibitions are about testing out new and potential up and coming players, chemistry, systems etc.
Vipers have a made a conscious decision to add speed and skill at the sacrifice of some size. There were some flashes of this early in the 1st and in the 3rd.
I won’t double up on some of your observations so here are a couple of my own.
Some good physicality by Struck who was one of the Vipers speediest players last year. He had a really nice clean neutral zone hit while playing the puck. Resulted in a warrior being shaken up but skated off under his own power. He finished a lot of checks and pinned individuals in corners allowing his line mates to capitalize.
Kresl showed some skating ability with a couple nice zone entries at speed. If some viper trailers are able to follow him in some good things can happen there.
Mugaas made a nice jump on the puck when warriors were trying a stretch pass to clear and brought it in for a good quick shot.
An area for development was that the Vipers committed too many turnovers in neutral ice. This is most likely a product of youth, nerves, and lack of experience playing together, but those turnovers are costly and really disrupt the flow of the Vipers attack. We need to shut those down. Too often our speed was neutralized by our own team making an ill advised stretch pass or trying to do some fancy stick handling. Make the easy, quick pass and gain the zone. Keep it simple.
Lack of physicality. This is understandable early on, especially with more speed/skill players, but to survive in this league you’ll need some grit. You don’t have to blow guys up to be physical. Take the body, be disruptive and pin guys when needed. Owen Kim was great at this last year and he was one of the smaller players.
Looking forward to tonight’s game and see what adjustments they can make. Go Vipers!
I drove up from Kelowna to watch the final two periods. it worked out good as that's when the Warriors got most of their goals. The Vipers didn't look good at all
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